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Research Centre

Our goal is to foster accountability by helping boards understand sustainability preparedness.

 

We aim to fuse theoretical concepts with practical recommendations on the business level, providing actionable insights to help companies improve their ESG performance.

ESG Preparedness Report

Our ESG Preparedness Reports (formerly The Sustainability Board Report), provide a snapshot of the ESG preparedness of global corporate board of directors. We have been running our flagship report since 2019.

modern structure

World's Most Future Ready Boards

We have created the ‘World’s Most Future Ready Board’ ranking to highlight ESG-prepared boards of directors that are resilient and able to respond to material sustainability issues.

scenarios of the future

Sustainable Business Leadership in 2030

Our scenario exercise explores the future of sustainable business leadership. It seeks to understand what a plausible future of sustainable business leadership will look like in 2030, including what factors will influence it.

  • Sustainability Board Preparedness in Large Public Family Businesses 2024 Global

    May 2024

    Report, 27 Pages

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    Our special report on publicly traded family businesses in 2020 revealed that sustainability oversight was lagging behind in comparison to our default sample of the Top 100 Forbes 2000 which contains mainly non-family businesses. However, directors on family boards were twice as likely to be engaged on sustainability than those in our default sample.

     

    Fast forward to 2024 and we find three key themes that have evolved.

  • ESG Preparedness of Boards for 2024

    February 2024

    Memorandum, 6 Pages

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    This memorandum outlines mechanisms that can enhance boards' accountability for ESG, highlighting our opinion as to the leading companies in each area based on our 2023 research. We encourage other organisations and directors to review these practices for potential adoption or comparison. 

  • 2023 Annual ESG Preparedness Report

    November 2023

    Annual Report, 30 Pages

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    Our findings in 2023 illuminate both strides made and challenges ahead. There is significant growth in sustainability governance, increasing from 50% in 2019 to 88% in 2023. This means, more boards have adopted sustainability oversight as part of their current committees or dedicated a specialist committee to it. However, stagnation in ESG engagement levels among directors indicates a need for renewed focus on individual sustainable leadership capacity. We must understand this 'engagement ceiling' and advocate for continued dedication to upskilling and engagement.

  • The Sustainability Board Report 2022 Data Book

    November 2022

    Data Book, 17 Pages

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    In addition to our collaborative report with Egon Zehnder (see below) that previews our TSBR 2022 findings, this data book contains additional data points on ESG board preparedness. This includes details about board committee setups and historical comparison of directors' ESG engagement.

    Boards: Stepping Up as Stewards of Sustainability (TSBR 2022)

    October 2022

    Collaborative Annual Report, 20 Pages

    This year we are going into our report’s fifth edition, tracking a global snapshot of boards and directors’ ESG engagement. We are delighted to be collaborating with Egon Zehnder on this publication, which includes our 2022 report’s key findings and combines them with Egon Zehnder’s own research and insights.

    There is a paradox inside boardrooms globally. While directors are growingly aware of ESG challenges, lack of preparedness and questions on how to create meaningful impact remain. Together with Egon Zehnder we shed light on this challenge and outline four recommendations for board leaders to step up as Stewards of Sustainability.

    The Sustainability Board Report 2022 Data Book
    Boards: Stepping Up as Stewards of Sustainability
  • The Sustainability Board Report 2021

    October 2021

    Annual Report, 19 Pages

    TSBR releases an annual report on ESG preparedness of corporate boards of the world’s largest publicly listed companies. In 2020 we reported that there is generally a very low level of hard ESG competence on boards.

     

    In 2021 we have found that boards are increasingly conscious of ESG matters. That has also resulted in the lines between consciousness (awareness and knowledge of issues) and competence (capacity to act on issues) becoming increasingly blurred. Discover how boards should prepare for a new dawn of sustainable leadership and who leads the conversation.

    The Sustainability Board Report 2021
  • Sustainable Business Leadership in 2030 Scenario Report

    June 2021

    Special Report, 27 Pages

    This report explores the future of sustainable business leadership. It seeks to understand what the future of sustainable business leadership might look like in 2030, including what factors will influence it.

    The scenarios discussed in this report have been designed to stretch the thinking of leaders, enabling them to contemplate events they may consider less plausible.

    Sustainable Business Leadership in 2030 Scenario Report
  • Family Business Special Report 2020

    December 2020

    Special Annual Report, 16 Pages

    Similar to the study conducted in the 2020 Sustainability Board Report, which examined the first 100 companies in the 2020 Forbes Global 2000 list, this analysis looks at the board composition of family-owned businesses.

    This Special Report finds that family-owned businesses, irrespective of their industry, are better equipping themselves for present and future challenges by staffing their boards with expertise and experience in sustainability.

    Family Business Special Report 2020
  • The Sustainability Board Report 2020​

    September 2020

    Annual Report, 21 Pages

    The Sustainability Board Report aims to showcase different dimensions of good corporate governance and the importance of sustainable corporate leadership.

    The 2019 Report found that, despite significant variation in the quality and quantity of sustainability reporting, including across regions, there were certain key elements and patterns that made certain companies stand out.

    Our 2020 report explores these issues once again with an added focus on what has changed in the past year. Three takeaways emerge.

    The Sustainability Board Report 2020​
  • COVID-19 Special Report

    The Acceleration of Stakeholder Centricity

    June 2020

    Special Report, 19 Pages

     

    The pandemic is not only a global tragedy, but an important opportunity to understand and influence change. Will the rise of stakeholderism be put under strain? Or will the constellation of stakeholder interests, and the balancing acts therein, come to the front of the corporate agenda?

     

    This report showcases the disclosed efforts of the world’s largest 100 publicly listed companies to balance their stakeholder interests.

    COVID-19 Special Report  The Acceleration of Stakeholder Centricity
  • The Sustainability Board Report 2019​

    November 2019

    Annual Report, 46 Pages

    The report’s purpose is to showcase the importance of good corporate governance with a focus on identifying leading organisations that have made their board of directors supervise the sustainability efforts of their executive teams.

    The aim of this report is to motivate companies to adopt a top-down leadership approach to create shared value, and so become a leader in a new era of capitalism.

    The Sustainability Board Report 2019​

All Reports

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