Sustainability in the Spotlight: The Balancing Act of ESG

The third annual global Sustainability in the Spotlight survey, conducted by Diligent Institute and Spencer Stuart, asked public and private company directors across industries and geographies about their companies’ sustainability strategies and oversight. We also asked respondents to provide their perspectives on and involvement in defining their organization’s ESG vision and strategy, as well as their role in overseeing results. Toward this end, we sought directors’ answers to the following questions:

• Organizational vision: Which of the major issues on the sustainability agenda are most important to their organizations? Where does ESG provide the greatest value? Where do their ambitions for ESG lie?
• Strategic focus and integration: Which stakeholders drive ESG strategy and action? What ESG goals and metrics are
  in place? What are the biggest obstacles to ESG? Has ESG backlash affected their organizations? How is regulation affecting ESG action? How will their ESG strategies change in the next five years?
• Board oversight: Has the board’s responsibility for ESG oversight shifted in the past year? What level of priority does the board assign to ESG? Who reports to the board on ESG? What insights are needed to enhance oversight?