My name is Basil Subhani. I do my best in trying to incorporate sustainability in all forms of my life. For me thus far that’s been working in climate-focused internships and raising awareness/funds for important causes as the President of Habitat for Humanity UWO. I love to spend time with friends going on hikes, playing sports, playing board games, and watching films. 

What is your personal definition of sustainability?

Sustainability is about the safe longevity of the planet we live on. In order to ensure the safety of Earth and its entire population, certain topics need to be addressed: climate change, poverty, biodiversity, water scarcity, etc. This definition alone does not address how or who is taking action against real issues that can, and already are affecting human life. In our context, it is important that businesses exponentially increase what they are doing in terms of sustainability due to the power and profitability for-profit corporations’ control.  

What role do you see sustainability playing in your professional career? 

I want sustainability to be my main focus throughout my entire career. Not only does the topic fill me with a sense of purpose, but it also feels like a responsibility to take care of the world that we live in for future and current generations.  

In the future, I want to take charge of a large corporation’s sustainability framework. Create an honest and executable framework that is completed after extremely thorough research and teamwork. I want to create such a framework that sustainability becomes an integral part of not just the current company, but of many others as well.  

Once I have accomplished real change in the for-profit sector, I would like to start my own non-for-profit that targets a specific issue in the world. Using my experience and business background/peers, I would hope to make real, international change.  

What sustainability projects have you been engaged in?

I have interned at RBC’s Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) Credit Team, as well as their Environmental & Social (E&S) Risk Team. I was fortunate enough to help the team set RBC’s first ever financed emission reduction targets. This involved thorough research to gather evidence and justification for set targets. It also included partnerships with several carbon emission databases and climate-specialist consultants. This made me more aware of what the most pressing issues are in the business world from a sustainability perspective and taught me what all the biggest players in the market are doing to mitigate these challenges.  

I am also lucky enough to be the President of Habitat for Humanity UWO. We are a USC club with the main focus of raising awareness & funds for the international organization. In doing this, we host several fundraisers & events such as sports events, movie nights, women shelter awareness, tree planting, etc. This year, we have paid a particular focus in hosting events for other pressing issues around the world that we believe need awareness. We raised funds for an organization that takes in Ukrainian refugees and hosted another fundraiser for disaster relief in Turkey.