Spencer Stuart’s and Diligent’s report “Sustainability in the Spotlight: Board ESG Oversight and Strategy,” revealing the results of their recent survey of 590 directors worldwide (72% US) across industries and company types (78% public companies), included these key US-specific takeaways in comparison to non-US companies:
- Boards are nearly equally likely to delegate ESG oversight to the Nom/Gov Committee as to retain responsibility at the full board level. Only 10% of boards delegate oversight to an ESG/Sustainability Committee compared to 26% of non-US boards.
- US boards are more likely than non-US boards to incorporate ESG goals and metrics into director appointments, executive and employee recruitment, and executive team evaluations, but are less likely than non-US boards to incorporate ESG goals and metrics into the strategic plan and integrated risk management plan.
- US boards are more likely than non-US boards to conduct ESG-specific board effectiveness reviews to identify current gaps in directors’ ESG fluency and competency. However, US boards are less likely than non-US boards to provide director education/training, conduct ESG risk scenario planning, seek new directors with ESG expertise, and bring in outside consultants to increase directors’ fluency.
Looking at the respondent group as a whole (US and non-US companies), by industry, Financial Services companies are more likely to delegate primary ESG oversight to the full board; Energy companies are more likely to delegate primary ESG oversight to an ESG/Sustainability Committee; and Healthcare Services companies are more likely to delegate primary ESG oversight to the Nom/Gov Committee than the overall population.
See Spencer Stuart’s release and additional resources on our Sustainability page.
This post first appeared in the weekly Society Alert!