You will soon find that no corporate board will hire a CEO or elect a new board member who doesn’t have experience in environmental sustainability and social issues. Why would I say this? And where would a corporate person gain personal experience in environmental and social issues?
Sustainability and CSR are moving onto CEO and board agendas
There are clear signs that corporate social responsibility (CSR) is not only on the CEO’s agenda, but it’s also moving onto the board of director’s agenda. Already, 65% of the Standard & Poor’s 100 companies have board committees with oversight of corporate responsibility issues. This information, from a new study from Calvert Investments and The Corporate Library, also indicates that “many investors have come to believe that these issues [environmental and social] have implications for capital investments, corporate strategy, brand, and reputation.” Among the study’s key findings and recommendations to investors is “to urge companies of all sizes to establish oversight of environmental and social issues.”
Further evidence of corporations focusing on sustainability comes from the new book, Sustainable Excellence. Authors Aron Cramer and Zachary Karabell tell the story “of how sustainability is now front and center when many companies make the most important decisions about their futures.” Their examples include Nike, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Walmart, IBM, Clorox, Exxon Mobil, Shell, Ford, Unilever, and many others. Cramer is President & CEO of Business for Social Responsibility (BSR), serving 250 member companies seeking to develop sustainable strategies and solutions.
Additionally, over 600 business leaders were among the 1,000 global leaders who participated in last month’s Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Sixth Annual Meeting; the pre-requisite for companies to attend CGI is making a significant Commitment to Action. For companies, that means a sizable financial commitment–often in the millions and tens of millions of dollars–via partnerships with NGOs and possibly other funders. Having interviewed heads of companies, corporate foundations, and senior vice presidents for CSR, I can attest to many deep and long term corporate engagements. Many were returning for their third and fourth years, such as Maria Eitel, President, Nike Foundation. Others I met with were first timers who were planning for the long term; one was Bill Hawkins, Chairman and CEO, Medtronic.
The emergence of environmental and social issues on corporate board agendas is a recent phenomenon. Company leaders are recognizing that in order to build shareholder value, they must concern themselves with the longer term availability and affordability of renewable resources; the public’s perception of their brand; and opportunities to develop new markets in developing countries. These goals require collaboration with NGOs and governments.
Nonprofit boards provide unique experiential learning opportunities for corporate executives on environmental and social issues