Governing Green: Defining and Enabling the Sustainable Organization

Peter A. Soyka, President, Soyka & Company, LLC

The environmental performance of organizations is now scrutinized as never before, and there is growing appreciation of how environmental issues (particularly climate change) can affect an organization's risk posture, competitive positioning, and public image. These are all issues of great interest to boards of directors. Accordingly, there are growing expectations that boards and senior executives will play an active role in identifying and managing the opportunities and possible threats posed by emerging environmental issues. Increasingly, these issues are addressed under a broader framework - "sustainability" - that also includes social, economic, and governance concerns.

In this session, we will review the ways in which environmental and broader sustainability issues can exert profound impacts on organizations of all types and sizes and why boards and their members must be involved in directing the organization's activities concerning the environment. We also will discuss a number of key issues that offer logical entry points for boards to begin to engage and become involved in establishing/refining policies, programs, and ongoing activities to understand and manage risks; enhance the organization's capabilities and responsiveness to its stakeholders; improve environmental and mission performance; and, in the long run, become more sustainable.

List of Sessions