Environmental, Social & Governance Board and other Documents
Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) includes factors from climate change, environmental conscientiousness and sustainability to social aims and governance responsibilities.
The ESG Information pages provide a very useful introduction and background to the subject, with some suggestions about issues that businesses should be considering and taking on board. You can see those pages here.
ESG is increasingly being seen as a top priority for businesses and as a result they need to have a range of corporate ESG-related compliance documentation in place to help them to tackle ESG issues relevant to them.
This group of documents comprise some templates for board minutes and other formal documents that businesses might need in connection with ESG matters.
There are additional ESG document templates, which you can see here, which address a number of other ESG issues.
Environmental, Social & Governance Board and other Documents is part of Corporate. Just £38.50 + VAT provides unlimited downloads from Corporate for 1 year.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does our board legally have to consider environmental and social issues when making decisions? +
Yes, as part of the core directors' duty: in promoting the company's success directors must have regard, among other matters, to the impact of operations on the community and the environment. Small and medium companies do not have to publish a statement about it, but the duty itself has no size threshold. The practical discharge is simple: consider the impacts where relevant and minute that you did. The ESG-version board minutes here build that consideration in.
Is an ESG committee overkill for a company our size? +
Often, and that is fine. A committee earns its place when ESG workload is real: regulatory exposure, customer audits or investor reporting that a full board cannot track meeting by meeting. Below that, a standing ESG agenda item minuted properly does the job. If you do appoint one, define its remit, membership and reporting in terms of reference so it advises rather than usurps the board. Both the appointment minutes and the terms of reference template are here.
How do we adopt an ESG strategy so it actually has governance standing? +
By board resolution, minuted: the board considers the draft strategy, adopts it, assigns ownership for delivery and sets a review date. That single minute converts a document on a shared drive into a governance commitment auditors, customers and funders will accept as real. The Board Minutes to Implement an ESG Strategy template here records exactly that decision, and pairs with the strategy template in the sibling sub-folder.
When do formal ESG reporting duties actually kick in for a company? +
Broadly with size. Larger companies must publish how directors had regard to their s.172 duties in the strategic report, and energy and carbon reporting under SECR applies to quoted companies and to large unquoted companies and LLPs meeting two of: turnover over 36 million pounds, balance sheet over 18 million or 250 or more employees, with a low energy use exemption. Small and medium companies sit outside most of these regimes, so their ESG documentation is voluntary and commercial. Approaching the thresholds, take advice.
