Skip to content

11 July, 2025

  • Saved Articles
  • My Account
  • Subscribe
  • Log In
  • Log Out

Board Agenda

  • Governance
  • Strategy
  • Risk
  • Ethics
  • News
  • Insight
    • Categories

      • View all
      • Governance
      • Strategy
      • Risk
      • Ethics
      • Board Expertise
      • finance
      • Technology
    • EU sustainability

      Omnibus package must not undermine EU sustainability

      Now is the time for Europe to speed up green transition, rather than slow it...

    • high pay

      Pay gap transparency needs to be better

      It’s not unknown for a CEO to earn 500 times as much the median employee,...

    • executive pay

      Executive pay trends in 2025

      Opposition to remuneration reports has grown sharply, according to Georgeson’s analysis of voting outcomes in...

  • Comment
      • View all
    • EU sustainability

      Omnibus package must not undermine EU sustainability

      Now is the time for Europe to speed up green transition, rather than slow it...

    • high pay Pay gap transparency needs to be better

      It’s not unknown for a CEO to earn 500 times as much the median employee,...

    • future-proof governance levers How to future-proof your business

      For boards to bolster resilience and create value in a polycrisis, a combination of hard...

  • Interviews
      • View All Interviews
      • Podcasts
      • Webinars
    • UK Corporate Governance Code Board meetings ‘are not up to scratch’

      Nearly three-quarters of board members believe the board’s performance in meetings needs improvement, an expert...

    • financial sanctions Tariffs chaos drives boardroom focus on resilience

      Business leaders will prioritise the resilience of their organisations in the face of economic upheaval...

    • supply chain oversight Act now on supply chain oversight, boards warned

      Board directors need to critically engage with the business’s supply chain activity, a panel of...

  • Board Careers
  • Resource Centre
      • White Paper Downloads
      • Book Reviews
      • Board Advisory & Corporate Services
    • C-suite barometer: outlook 2025 – UK insights

      Forvis Mazars draws UK insights from its global study and looks at UK executives’ strategic...

    • Talent Management 2025 Mind Gym

      Talent Management in 2025

      From rethinking leadership to wrestling with AI, MindGym's report reveals the trends shaping talent strategies...

    • Korn Ferry CHRO 2025 (Copy)

      On The Highwire: Being a CHRO in 2025

      Korn Ferry surveyed 750 senior HR leaders (including 450 CHROs) to understand their key priorities...

  • Events
  • Search by topic
    • Governance
    • Strategy
    • Risk
    • Ethics
    • Regulation
    • ESG
    • Investor Relations
    • Careers
    • Board Expertise
    • finance
    • Technology

Women on boards ‘are driving progress on ESG’

by Gavin Hinks on November 1, 2021

The Sustainability Board Report says boardrooms need more women if action on ESG issues is to improve further.

Woman holding leaf

Image: Black Salmon/Shutterstock.com

As the COP26 climate conference launches in Glasgow, are boards prepared for dealing with the demands of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors? A new report suggests they have improved markedly. But it also finds that women are pushing the progress—and there is more work to be done.

Research from not-for-profit The Sustainability Board Report, says 71% of the boards at the world’s largest 100 companies have a relevant committee overseeing ESG topics, up from 46% in 2019. While that sounds like good news for the planet, the research finds that only 40% of directors on these committees can be described as “ESG conscious”.

And there is a distinct gender difference. Among the members of ESG committees, 52% of the women are ESG conscious, while only 36% of the men can be said to have the same awareness. The finding leads The Sustainability Board Report to conclude that “women are driving the board-level conversation on sustainability”.

Some evidence of that can be found in the makeup of ESG committees. The research finds 42% are women, while women make up only 29% of total directors.

The results come in the same week that other research finds that many companies are failing to spot the link between gender and the pursuit of climate goals.

Women and ESG preparedness

Meanwhile, the corporate world is braced for the policy decisions that will emerge from COP26, while many campaign groups have rushed out research ahead of the gathering in an attempt to influence the policy debate.

Boards have become ever more central to the climate, now occupying a position managing frontline policy decisions. The Sustainability Board Report says its findings mean boards need more women if ESG preparedness is to improve further. The report says the research results make “another business case for greater gender diversity on board and in senior management”.

And while preparedness might be improving, sustainability policymaking remains “lacklustre”. Boards need to jettison boiler plate sustainability statements in favour of confronting “material factors”. Boards, as a whole, should sign off ESG reports, its says.

Lastly, there is a warning that if boards fail to develop their ESG policies, other actors may step in to fill the leadership void.

“If BoD (boards of directors) don’t act,” concludes the report, “someone else will step in and push the agenda on sustainability. Hence creating ESG preparedness also functions as a defence mechanism.

“Directors need to upskill and become at least conscious about ESG issues, but better—competent. What that exactly means will be up to every individual and their specific context.”

Pressure on boards

The coming year is set to see more pressure fall on boards to act substantively on ESG factors, especially the climate component. Premium listed companies in the UK face implementing mandatory use of TCFD (Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures) guidance this year, while regulators under Joe Biden are pushing ahead with consultation on the introduction of mandatory ESG disclosures.

In Europe, following campaigns and many complaints, officials are at an advanced stage of replacing the Non-Financial Reporting Directive with a brand new law, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive.

Elsewhere, the International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation is working on the development of a set of new sustainability reporting standards set to kick off with measures for disclosing climate risk. The UK has already committed to adopting the standards once they are ready.

The pressure is mounting on companies to get behind the drive to tackle the climate crisis. The Sustainability Board Report indicates boardrooms may be changing. But they will need to work harder.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google+
  • LinkedIn
  • Mail

Related Posts

  • Sustainability strategy for boards
    February 14, 2024
    leading sustainability

    Leading the sustainability transition calls for the board to go beyond compliance and ask practical questions about ESG governance.

  • Sustainability governance is on the rise
    November 28, 2023
    sustainability governance

    But despite greater corporate attention being paid to ESG, directors’ engagement with it is losing momentum, global report finds.

  • Greenwashing threatens shareholders’ interests
    July 4, 2022
    greenwash

    ‘Companies that believe their own greenwash are embedding liability and storing up risk’, warns chair of UK Environment Agency.

  • Do ESG bonuses improve sustainability?
    January 25, 2024
    ESG bonuses

    ESG bonuses are on the rise: are they improving sustainability or just increasing executive wealth?

Search


Follow Us

Register Free

Stay in the know! Register to access the latest governance news; plus receive updates about our events and podcasts – Sign up here

 

Most Popular

Featured Resources

wef global risks 2025

The Global Risks Report 2025

The 20th edition of the Global Risks Report reveals an increasingly fractured global...
Supply chain management cover

Strategic Oversight in Supply Chain Management: A Guide for Corporate Boards 2025

Supply chains have become complex, interdependent and opaque and—according to research...
OB-Cyber-Security

Cyber Security: What Boards Need to Know

Maintaining firewalls, protecting servers and filtering malicious emails rarely make...

The IA’S Principles Of Remuneration 2024 2025

This guidance from the Investment Association is aimed at assisting remuneration...
Diligent 2024 leadership tech cover

Leadership, decision-making & the role of technology: Business survey 2024

This research report by Board Agenda and Diligent sheds light on how board directors...

Director Reference Guide: Navigating Conflict in the Boardroom

The 'Director Reference Guide' on navigating conflict in the boardroom provides practical...
Nasdaq 2024 governance report cover

Nasdaq 2024 Global Governance Pulse

This Nasdaq survey gathered data from more than 870 board members, executives, and...

Becoming a non-executive director (4th edition)

Board composition is the subject of much debate, while the role of the non-executive...
art & science brainloop new cover

The Art & Science of Creating an Effective Board

Boards are coming under more scrutiny and pressure than ever before from regulators,...
SAA First time NED guide

First Time Guide for Non-Executive Directors

The role of the non-executive director has never been more vital: to advise, support,...

Register Free

Stay in the know! Register to access the latest governance news; plus receive updates about our events and podcasts. Register


  • Editors & Contributors
  • Editorial Advisory Board
  • Board Advisory & Corporate Services
  • Media Marketing Solutions
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Board Director Network
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies
|

Copyright © 2025 Questor Media Group Ltd.

  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sitemap