Lucy Klinkenberg-Matthews is Group ESG Director at Paragon, where she leads the company’s environmental, social and governance strategy. Lucy works with teams across the business to embed ESG principles into day-to-day decision-making, governance and culture. She has been instrumental in guiding Paragon’s evolution from a traditional business model towards one that balances commercial performance with positive outcomes for its people, planet and partners.

Her ESG leadership is centred on moving beyond simply doing less harm, to actively doing more good, underpinned by a long-term ambition to help position Paragon as a net positive business. A core part of Lucy’s role is maintaining and strengthening Paragon’s sustainability accreditations and external partnerships. Working closely with Procurement and operational teams, she has helped elevate Paragon from a Gold to a Platinum EcoVadis rating, placing the business in the top 1% globally for sustainability performance. She also oversees Paragon’s climate disclosures, including the retention of a strong CDP ‘B’ score.

Through targeted initiatives and close collaboration with site-based Sustainability Managers and Champions, Lucy and her team play a key role in reducing Paragon’s Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions. She implements robust measurement frameworks, site improvement plans and regular board-level reporting, ensuring accountability and continuous improvement.

Lucy believes lasting change is driven by small, consistent actions compounded over time. She champions cross-industry collaboration through partnerships with organisations such as PrintGreen, Cranfield University and JICMAIL, and actively engages stakeholders to share best practice and accelerate meaningful, measurable change across the sector.