The EY Center for Board Matters new report: "Five ways boards can unlock ESG’s strategic value" offers a logical framework for boards to successfully tackle ESG oversight. The instructive, appropriately high-level thought piece generally addresses:
- The importance of boards' understanding of the lay of the land, e.g., how the focus on sustainability may impact the company's access to capital and investor relationships
- The expanding ESG ecosystem that includes various disclosure frameworks, data aggregators, raters, and regulators
- Sustainability governance features, i.e., identification, prioritization, goal-setting, and incentivization, of the most business-relevant ESG topics, as well as board oversight structure (which varies by company)
- Integration of ESG with corporate strategy and risk
- Communications/disclosure principles
Among other things, the report makes clear that board engagement on sustainability increasingly is no longer optional if companies expect to maximize their capital markets opportunities and mitigate their risks. A series of questions for the board to consider at the end of the report may be used to facilitate discussion on this topic in the (virtual) boardroom.
Access additional resources on our Sustainability/ESG page >> Board Oversight. This post first appeared in the weekly Society Alert!