Recap - A governance roadmap to sustainable value creation

On November 23rd we concluded our two days training programme “A governance roadmap to sustainable value creation”, created with Belgian’s 40U40 and supported by Chapter Zero Brussels. The goals of this programme were twofold: first, to provide insights on the role of governance in the sustainability transition; and second, to assess the impact of the transition on the functioning of the boards.  

Because a lot is written, talked about, discussed and studied about ESG, sustainability, CSR etc, but how do we capture the essentials for the board?  

With our group of participants, we explored different Belgian case studies and analysed the governance factors in the sustainability narrative. We differentiated sustainability strategies from sustainable transformation. We traced down the different roles of the board and related them to ESG.

The EU regulations on ESG reporting and director’s due diligence were in-depth discussed, bearing in mind the specificities of each organisation. We listened to inspirational stories and took a deep-dive into sustainable leadership and sustainable remuneration.  

Our key lessons?  

• We can learn from each other. Best practices inspire and sharing helps 

• ESG has an impact on every kind of organisation – not to the same degree – but an impact nonetheless 

• The EU directives and taxonomy need de-mystification. Education is key! Awareness is the first step, but informing yourself as a director is essential 

• In today’s world, it’s up to the directors to act, and to act thoroughly.  

With this call to action, we concluded our programme. We thank the speakers and our participants for their contributions!