The Company Secretary’s Role in Sustainability:

We’ve heard certain buzzwords- #ESG, #sustainablebusiness ….Is there a curtain call to the existence of humanity? No one knows, but the changing weather patterns and #globalwarming is definitely with us. The 2015 Paris Agreement – the treaty on #climatechange where nations came together to make efforts to limit the worlds’ temperature increase to 1.5 degree celsius above pre-industrial levels, was definitely the wake up call the world needed.

Is it that serious though? It probably would not be if we did not have the generation of #millennials and #GenZs who interview their potential workplaces to ensure that they are pursuing purpose above profits.

Enter the #governance of a company and beyond being an enabler to make the company attractive to the current workforce, it is the role of the leadership in an organisation to set the tone of how it intends to remain a responsible citizen. This would be through practices that protect the environment, have fair employment practices while ensuring #sustainablebusiness for external stakeholders and operating ethically with the right leadership on board.

In comes the Company Secretary (CS). What is the Company Secretary’s role in ensuring that #sustainabilitymatters to the organisation? Yes, the CS may not be the expert in such matters but just like a choir master, they just need to conduct the choir to belt out a good tune. The conversation on #sustainability has come at a good time as the CS role is gaining more significance and this is definitely a career pivot to consider.

The following are the basic steps to champion #sustainability at an organisation:
1. Ensure that the Board discusses the area of sustainability and give guidance in order management to develop an #esgstrategy for consideration. A sustainability expert can conduct a scheduled training as part of the annual work plan so that the right knowledge is built.
2. Thereafter, the #esgstrategy can be housed under the most appropriate Board Committee in order to develop frameworks, and as well as a monitoring and evaluation framework. The committee can also consider appointing a Sustainability Officer to own the execution.
3. Part of the #esgstrategy would include governance actions which the CS can ensure compliance and reporting is integrated to the CS tasks. It may include having governance frameworks in place, shareholder and stakeholder engagement and ensuring compliance to the #sustainabilityreporting .
4. Stakeholder identification and engagement. Being the champion, it may mean an increase in capacity and leadership to support #esgintegration. This may mean chairing sustainability projects, interacting with stakeholders including regulators, to ensure that the organisation is kept abreast of new #esgcompliance needs.

Sounds like too much? Well, we at Akira Consult are here to skin the elephant with you. Reach out at enquiries@akiraconsult.ke, because #sustainabilitymatters !