How to engage the Board on sustainability
In the contemporary business environment, it has never been more important to frame sustainability as a strategic priority linked to the broader business strategy. Rather than a nice-to-have, sustainability is integral to risk mitigation, business resilience and long-term value creation.
Boards of Directors have a pivotal role to play in embedding this understanding into the heart of corporate governance. Yet for many sustainability leaders, engaging the board remains one of their most persistent challenges.
Recently, we’ve focused on this issue at a series of Sancroft events where sustainability leaders have shared their approaches to more effective board engagement.
The insights that have emerged offer practical tools and strategies that will help you connect with your board with more confidence and impact.
Why this issue matters
There may be a lot of noise around some quarters calling for roll back of ESG demands. But these do not change the underlying reasons for addressing ESG and in other quarters the external pressure is in fact intensifying on organisations and their boards. Pressure in relation to both their performance against ESG commitments and the language they use to frame sustainability.
Equally, shareholder votes, reputational risks, and the growing threat of climate litigation make it clear that boards can no longer afford to remain passive, especially in an era where lack of engagement on ESG topics is increasingly considered an active choice.
There is also a strong business case for boards to take a more active role in sustainability. The prevailing evidence indicates that businesses who integrate ESG priorities into their growth strategies consistently outperform their peers.
Embedding sustainability at the board level is no longer merely desirable – it is essential to how modern organisations must operate.
The reality gap: High expectations v. low readiness to engage
However, while expectations for board involvement have risen, boards’ capacity or readiness to meet them has often not progressed at the same rate. Recent global research by Heidrick & Struggles, INSEAD, and BCG, for instance, found that more than two-thirds of board directors feel that sustainability has little impact on financial performance today. Only 10% believe not integrating sustainability into the business will negatively affect medium-to long-term financial results. The research also showed that only 29% of global board directors feel knowledgeable enough to challenge or monitor execution on sustainability. As many as 9 in 10 rely solely on management updates to stay informed on sustainability issues.
Another challenge is that sustainability is still often seen as a compliance issue by boards rather than a strategic driver and business opportunity. This can result in box-ticking and a compliance-only focused approach that misses the point.
Another hurdle for sustainability leaders is the challenge of evidencing return on investment to the board. Many businesses have already pursued the ‘easier’ wins – like operational efficiencies or improving supply chain transparency – but the next phase of sustainability work might involve more complex, longer-term initiatives in areas like nature and biodiversity where ROI and short-term gains can be harder to quantify.
With current concerns of ESG pushback, particularly in the US, there is also an increased risk of boards operating as though sustainability and value-creation are in conflict without the right engagement.
So how do we redress this imbalance and move forward?
One of the clearest learnings from our recent events is that how you engage your board matters just as much as what you engage them on.
Practical strategies to engage and upskill the board
Six key takeaways have emerged that are important for sustainability leaders seeking to make board engagement more effective:
1. Start with purpose, not sustainability
One of the most powerful ways to connect with board members is to link sustainability to the company’s core purpose. Rather than framing sustainability as a standalone or separate topic, ground it in what the business exists to do – its mission, long-term resilience and societal relevance.
This approach helps shift sustainability from a perceived cost or compliance burden to a driver of value, making it integral to business strategy, rather than a siloed agenda.
When purpose-led framing isn’t enough – particularly when leadership remains unconvinced – you may need more tactical approaches. Drawing on customer insight, or highlighting where competitors have encountered significant issues through climate impact can help spark action.
Also, demonstrating that others in the market are moving ahead can create a compelling case for change – especially when the risk of being left behind becomes clear.
2. Language matters: Avoid jargon, focus on what counts
Sustainability professionals often risk defaulting to overly complex technical language and acronyms. To engage boards effectively, communication must be clear, business-focused and grounded in relevant, compelling examples.
Focus on the material risks and opportunities relevant to the company. For example, rather than referencing the TCFD in the abstract, explain how climate scenario analysis can identify financial risks, expose business blind spots and inform a strategic roadmap that improves resilience in a fast-changing world. Eliminate the jargon, use plain language and emphasise tangible outcomes.
In sectors like food, for example, using relatable benefits such as nutrition, ingredient quality or provenance can serve as an entry point for broader sustainability efforts. These consumer concerns often reflect broader environmental realities – from soil health to biodiversity – and can help secure buy-in where more abstract arguments might struggle.
It’s also essential to link short-term operational issues to long-term systemic drivers. Challenges like sourcing marine ingredients often stem from larger shifts, such as ocean biomass decline due to climate change. Helping the board connect the dots between immediate issues and broader environmental trends sharpens risk perception and urgency.
3. Make regulation work for you, not against you
Regulation and policy can be a double-edged sword when engaging the board. New sustainability reporting mandates have helped put sustainability on the board agenda, but framing regulation as the only driver can lead to a compliance-only mindset that crowds out opportunity and ambition. This kind of reactive approach risks leaving businesses on the back foot and can be further undermined by the evolving regulatory landscape. By only making incremental changes while competitors innovate, manage risk and build resilience, businesses can also lose competitive advantage by failing to reengineer business operations. Acting early also allows companies to embed processes before they become legal requirements, avoiding costly, last-minute requirements.
Sustainability leaders should help board members understand not just what is required by law, but why and how new regulations can empower the business to improve its resilience, root out systemic challenges and secure its long-term future.
By explaining the intent behind regulations and highlighting the strategic opportunities that emerge from aligning with them – from access to capital to long-term risk mitigation – sustainability leaders can reposition compliance as a catalyst for transformation.
4. Find your C-Suite champion
It’s important to have a senior sponsor at the heart of the business to drive sustainability topics and workstreams – someone who is vocal, has confidence in the subject matter and whose support can open doors. Whether that is the CEO, COO, CFO or other member of the C-suite will differ depending on the organisation and the individuals. Work with them behind the scenes to refine messaging, anticipate concerns and build alignment. Encourage them to challenge you in private, so they can support you in public.
Outside of formal meetings, informal pre-engagement is critical. Identify key voices in the C-Suite and meet with them individually in the weeks leading up to a key discussion to share insights and test ideas. This not only strengthens relationships, it builds the groundwork for better boardroom outcomes.
Better still, take board members to the coalface. First hand exposure to suppliers or operational realities brings abstract issues to life and often sparks empathy and insight in ways that presentations or figures often cannot.
5. Engage from the bottom up as well
Getting ideas into and throughout an organisation builds momentum and gets it onto the agenda of the board. This is especially important, because while direction comes from the boardroom, innovation often happens on the ground.
One approach to align these two perspectives is to consider the journey of Optimisation (improving existing processes), to Innovation (introducing new ideas and solutions), to Transformation (fundamentally changing how the business operates). Different stakeholders will sit at different places in this journey. Help the board to visualise this by presenting stories and perspectives from across operations to enable the board to see where different functions and teams sit across the sustainability strategy. And, how their support can accelerate progress and bring people together.
6. Celebrate small wins and share stories
Another big challenge with gaining traction is the long-term nature of many sustainability goals or opportunities. Boards often face pressure from shareholders to demonstrate short-term performance, which can make it difficult for them to maintain support for sustainability initiatives with timelines that stretch to 2030 or 2050. To bridge this gap, identify and communicate nearer-term milestones that demonstrate progress and create value along the way. This helps to sustain internal engagement, maintain momentum, and show that sustainability is not just a future ambition but a present-day driver of returns.
While quantitative evidence is vital, it’s important not to lose sight of directional trends. Boards may fixate on exact ROI projections, but sustainability’s true impact often lies in broader shifts and early indicators. Helping the board understand what these trends suggest about future resilience and how this connects to the business strategy can be as powerful as specific numbers.
Just as importantly, tell compelling stories. Go beyond metrics and compliance to bring sustainability to life through real-world examples. These examples should illustrate how the company is living its purpose, improving its resilience and delivering value through cost savings, talent retention or product innovation. These narratives make progress tangible, link it to business outcomes, and help boards and internal teams stay aligned and motivated over time.
Final thoughts
The political and economic context may be shifting, and sustainability is facing pushback in some quarters – but that only heightens the need for stronger representation in the boardroom.
As our events have reminded us, this isn’t easy – but it is essential for organisations that want to avoid increasing their exposure to future risk. The boards that respond will be the ones shaping a better future for people, the planet and their profitability.
Read more
Discover how Sancroft helped the senior leadership of Castle Trust Bank to gain a deeper understanding of the fast-moving sustainability landscape, resulting in a Board of Directors empowered to make strategic decisions with sustainability in mind.
Get in touch
If you want to know how we can help accelerate your path to sustainability, get in touch via Laura.Gibson@sancroft.com