Creating sustainable value from good governance

Guidance: Creating sustainable value from good governance (PDF)

Sustainability Governance Maturity Matrix: How equipped is our organisation? (PDF)

Media release: Helping New Zealand businesses create sustainable value through good governance (PDF)

This guide helps directors and executive management ask the right questions to:

• understand the maturity of sustainability in their organisation, and identify critical steps for improvement.
• Improve oversight of environmental, social and governance risks and opportunities
• align the organisation’s strategy with sustainability
• respond to stakeholder interests while protecting and creating financial value.

We live in an increasingly volatile, global, tech-driven and competitive economic environment, which is subject to growing socio-economic and environmental disruption and uncertainty. Maintaining short-term returns while ensuring sustained long-term growth and value creation is no easy task.

Growing investor, shareholder, regulator and consumer expectations are placing greater scrutiny on business performance and the transparency of decision-making, particularly in relation to environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks.

Overseas, these issues are already central to a board’s role and responsibilities. This was reinforced by the G20’s Financial Stability Board on climate risk disclosure. And here, in New Zealand momentum is building, following the release of the revised NZX Corporate Governance Code and the FMA’s Good Corporate Governance handbook.

Corporate governance has always been a way to bring new thinking to decision-making. Leading companies are embedding sustainability in a more integrated way to navigate these new responsibilities. It helps them shape strategy, manage risk and ensure long term viability and business growth. Boards have a unique role to play to bring sustainability and ESG issues to the forefront of corporate strategy.

The publication was launched at a business leaders breakfast in Auckland. Rob Perry was there: read the blog.