Key issues that will have huge outcomes for the future of our planet are not being prioritized enough in boardrooms across the globe. In a recent PWC governance insights report, 40% of director respondents believed that climate change should ‘not be taken into account at all in company strategy’.
Going, going, gone…Green
The challenge of going green is of course a considerable one. Complying with environmental regulation is a rising cost companies grumble with adhering to. But compliance today is not supposed to increase profitability. While shareholder value will not be increased-it will- and this is the vital point– be protected.
However, the tide is turning, and consumer awareness of environmentally friendly companies is at an all-time high. Thanks to pointed dialogue, stakeholders in 2019 are weighing up their organisations impact and commitment to sustainability, from entry level employees to investors. Deloitte, in a 2018 report cited ‘corporate citizenship’ as an almost mission critical strategic asset citing that this enhanced corporate social responsibility ‘is now a CEO-level business strategy-defining the organisation’s very identity’. Broad societal issues are forcing their way inside the boardroom. This is in part reflective of the intense lens placed on enterprise transparency, a growing and conscious millennial workforce and brand identity that is tied up in positive social impact.
So how can businesses adapt to this pressing challenge in the new year and coax reluctant board members to effect change? Experts argue that the initial shift is a people centered-one, that management, senior executives and directors need to firmly steer. Richard P. Wells, Vice President and Director at a Cambridge based corporate environmental firm, advises enterprises that the key to ‘maintaining continuous environmental improvement is management’ and that management systems need to ‘identify, prioritise and evaluate environmental opportunities’.
Below are four key points that your enterprise needs to consider in order to tackle to green governance at board level:
4 Key Things to Consider before Implementing Green Governance
- Establish business goals and strategies for going green within and outside of the boardroom
- Sketch out in depth how your organisation will define decision outcomes and the processes involved to get there sustainably
- Outline how your business should design and implement green governance decision making, particularly the role of the board and its members
- Decide the company approach to green governance. This should report investment, costs, compliance procedure and indicate measures of success for approved targets
Start with going paper-free
Crisp white paper reams are as much of an office staple as coffee and droopy plants. However, the lure of printing and scrapping paper for employees is eviscerating both the planet and company profits. Office waste in the UK costs British business at least £15 billion pounds a year and data shows that approximately 70% of office waste is recyclable, but on average only 7.5% reaches a recycling facility.
The unnecessary printing of documents is one of the costliest activities in offices and businesses. According to Forbes, in the U.S $930 million is spent by the government annually on unnecessary printing costs- with $28 million spent every on the printing of copies of congressional records (which are available online). For U.S. businesses, the annual cost of filing, storing and recovering paper was estimated by Gartner to be between $25bn and $35 billion.
Adopting a board portal is one sure fire way to do something positive for both your business and the environment. Corporate secretaries can save on time and paper by uploading (instead of posting documents) to all board members. It allows members access to key documents, meeting archives, debates, polls and more, on and offline.
DiliTrust Exec is an online board portal solution that dramatically reduces your consumption and cost of using paper while allowing you to achieve your business goals sustainably. Contact us today for more information on how we can help you save time and money while going green.
