Boards need to drive sustainability, says Carbon Trust

Corporate boards are failing to recognize – and act on - the risks and opportunities of climate change, says new research from the Carbon Trust.

The report, Titans or Titanics? Understanding the business response to climate change and resource scarcity, looks at why businesses action today is nowhere near sufficient to address the major environmental challenges faced by society.

Explaining the important role for boards, Tom Delay, chief executive of the Carbon Trust, said: “Businesses are both a problem and the solution. They bring together the productive, technical and financial capabilities to lead the global transition to sustainable, low carbon future. But it is crucial that boards properly assess and quantify the long-term risks and value-creation opportunities from climate change and resource scarcity, steering a safe course in dangerous waters.”

Sir Mark Moody-Stuart, chairman of the Foundation for the UN Global Compact, added his voice to the call for board members to take a greater role: “The report highlights the dichotomy of the two realities acknowledged by most businesses – the needs which must be met today, while beginning on what is often still a relatively modest process of change, and the very much more radical changes needed if we are to meet what can sometimes seem still distant challenges.

"This gap in perceived realities has closed only modestly over the last twenty years. Closing it at the required speed will regard unprecedented alignment and combined action by business, investors, governments and consumers. No one group can achieve progress without the support of the others.”

You can download the report here.