11 September, 2020

Governance week: Rio Tinto, ESG, climate risk, Aussie audit

Fallout for Rio Tinto The equivalent of going nuclear in governance is clearing out a company’s leadership. This week investors managed to detonate a bomb under Rio Tinto when the chief ex...

11 September, 2020

Board moves: Rio Tinto CEO resigns following Aboriginal caves scandal

Rio Tinto CEO Jean-Sébastien Jacques is to step down owing to investor pressure over the company's destruction of the Juukan Gorge Aboriginal caves in Australia. Jacques will leave the company by ...

9 September, 2020

Only 8% of UK businesses have ‘fully-fledged’ climate risk plan

Outside of Covid-19, climate remains the biggest agenda issue for society. And yet doubts are emerging over the readiness of big business to tackle global warming. Fresh research published this wee...

7 September, 2020

US rule change sets up clash with proxy advisers

A war of words has broken out over the latest efforts to regulate proxy advisers and their ability to vote on ESG (environmental, social and governance) issues in the US. The latest episode comes a...

4 September, 2020

Companies ‘need new mechanism’ to integrate stakeholder interests

Much has been written about how the pandemic compelled businesses to adopt more of a “stakeholder” approach to governance, thus elevating the interests of staff, customers and suppliers over those...

25 August, 2020

How to make the most of a chief sustainability officer

A novelty in the C-suite not so long ago, the chief sustainability officer (CSO) is fast becoming a fixture in companies of note as climate change and inequality increasingly dominate global attention...

21 August, 2020

Governance week: stakeholderism, US election, IoD departure, ESG blow

This week saw the Business Roundtable (BRT), a club for the largest corporations, mark one year since

20 August, 2020

ESG ‘not a factor’ in share price resilience during Covid-19 crisis

There’s bad news for supporters of companies who score highly on environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors. Academics claim that lofty ESG ratings failed to “immunise” the stock prices ...

17 August, 2020

Equality pays: the economic and social benefits of women on boards

The traditionally low representation of women in management positions is due to the so-called "glass ceiling", an invisible cultural barrier that prevents the best educated women from holding position...

4 August, 2020

Companies should embrace Europe’s roadmap to stakeholder capitalism

It is now de rigueur for for any company seeking to respond to the urgency of climate change and the imperative of responsible business conduct to pledge to "serve their stakeholders". The...