How to Bridge Corporate Sustainability Gap

A new study by Deloitte polled 220 board directors at U.S. companies with revenues of $1 billion or more. Most considered themselves to be well-informed about corporate sustainability. However, only half think their companies practice sustainability, and less than half think their board is committed of addressing sustainability issues.

Deloitte also published a whitepaper titled, The Responsible and Sustainable Board with recommendations for getting the board involved in sustainability, which include:

• Get consensus: Schedule a forum for the board to talk about sustainability issues.
  
• Ask the right questions of management.
  
• Examine your environmental and social impact

The whitepaper listed the following traits which companies with strong sustainability programs share:

• Set the tone at the top
  
• Establish sustainability commitments and goals
  
• Create a sustainability committee that will coordinate efforts
  
• Include sutainability metrics in CEO compensation
  
• Monitor sustainability performance with progress reports
  
• Include sustainability in new director orientation.