Are boards well prepared to lead the next chapter of sustainable value creation?

How can governing bodies shape resilient and responsible business models that meet both environmental and social expectations? 

Together with its Sounding Board Committee on sustainability, GUBERNA organised an interactive event on evolving challenges in the area of sustainability. At the heart of any organisation’s risk management, strategic orientation, oversight and accountability lies its board of directors. Its collegial collective responsibility becomes even more critical when tensions between various stakeholders (including shareholders) arise; striking a balance between different constituencies as societies face increasing inequalities and climate change becomes thus a crucial responsibility for boards. 

A call for innovative business shifts 

Boards and their members should ensure that the three roles that are entrusted to them are effectively implemented. The board’s first role is a strategic one, making sure that the strategy collegially decided is creating sustainable value in the long-term and across the board. The board’s second role is a leadership one, appointing and supporting executive leadership, aligning incentives, and fostering the necessary responsible and inclusive working culture throughout the organisation. The third role of the board is a monitoring one, overseeing the accuracy of information received and the procedures of internal and external control. 

Traditionally, risk management has been planned to solve linear issues. However, today’s global challenges call for boards to rethink their approach — enhancing scenario planning, stress testing, resilience strategies and innovation as core governance tools. Practical exercises, such as simulation walkthroughs or ‘mock board’ scenarios, can help improve preparedness for such cases, particularly regarding complex topics such as geopolitical instability or environmental degradation. 

In this age of complexity, the companies which are most likely to succeed will be those that can: 

  • Anticipate systemic risks before they materialise; 

  • Translate sustainability pressures into strategic opportunities; 

  • Build resilience against disruptive and interdependent shocks; 

  • Cultivate transformative collaborations across value chains; 

  • Align stakeholder interests with the planet’s ecological thresholds. 

Strengthening these capabilities defines a foreseeing board. Boardroom dynamics also play a particular role in this regard. Ongoing board education, open dialogue, and a shared sense of strategic purpose are necessary to ensure alignment and clarity as well as to align the awareness and varying willingness to engage with sustainability issues. In family-owned enterprises, for instance, where interests are tightly held and external accountability may be limited, internal stakeholder engagement and shared understanding of ESG goals are also important. 

Legitimate, transformational shifts are rarely immediate. Yet building a future-proof company is a deliberate process, requiring time, innovation, and the ability to anticipate disruptions before they arise. Employee participation, for example, may foster greater ownership and innovation capacity through shareholding schemes or strategic involvement in sustainability goals. 

SBC Event

New challenges on the horizon 

The ability of a board to be prepared for such challenges allows companies to remain competitive and to lead responsibly, with volatility and innovation being at the core of the new business models. 

In past decades, companies have implemented experimental and incremental progress on sustainability, the framework now requires more structural and transformative approaches, by raising a central question: how can directors uphold their fiduciary duties in a world where conventional business models fall short of addressing systemic risks? 

While ESG practices are increasingly acknowledged at board level, there remains a lack of holistic understanding of what ESG practices include, as well as a path to move from ethical or compliance-driven approaches to fully integrated, visionary leadership. Stakeholder trust should be maintained through a continuous and meaningful application of transparency, credibility, and alignment between sustainability claims and operational practices. 

Boards are entrusted not only with steering long-term direction, but also with safeguarding the short-term operations that support it. Understanding the shifting environmental and social context becomes essential. A well-balanced board — in terms of age, expertise, skills and perspective — can better navigate this transition, as embedding ESG competence ensures that sustainability is not an isolated agenda item, but a strategic lens through which value creation is approached. 

The board’s role in stakeholder engagement is rapidly evolving. Beyond shareholders, directors must consider regulators, employees, consumers, suppliers, and communities — each with distinct expectations and influence. This includes younger generations, who increasingly expect brands to truly reflect their social and environmental values. A unique approach to engagement, supported by digital tools and transparent communication, helps strengthen both impact and legitimacy. In some governance models, future generations and the environment themselves are considered stakeholders, reinforcing the depth of the sustainability mandate. 

 

Transformation beyond the boardroom 

Ultimately, this invites a reconsideration of sustainable leadership. Boards are required to increasingly reimagine leadership development models to reflect emerging realities. This includes addressing corporate culture and values as enablers of transformation. As mandates are typically short, sustainable leadership must be organised in phases that align both board renewal and management continuity. 

Legal and regulatory developments further highlight the urgency of this shift. Frameworks such as the CSRD and Omnibus Directive should not be viewed as burdens, but as opportunities to demonstrate strategic alignment and good governance practices. Meaningful compliance allows companies to shape, rather than simply respond to, evolving expectations. 

Sustainable governance is no longer about reporting — it is about transformation: of business models, leadership perspectives, and strategic intent. In this light, boards are called to reflect: Are we truly prepared to lead the businesses of tomorrow, in service of the systems upon which all enterprises depend — beyond financial goals? 

 

*GUBERNA would like to thank all the members of its Sounding Board Committee on sustainability, especially its Chair Karen Dumery for her leadership and coordination of the SBC’s input and Danny VandeVyver (SBC member, Co-Chair of the GUBERNA Directors Council) for the excellent hospitality at Atos and all the participants for their involvement in this successful knowledge exchange event.