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driving relevant esg understanding at the top: board awareness sessions

From complexity to clarity: strengthening ESG competency in the boardroom 

at a glance

challenges

lack of clarity on ESG roles

Directors faced uncertainty around their responsibility in guiding ESG performance and disclosures. 

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shifting expectations

Investors, regulators, and stakeholders increasingly expect boards to understand and steer ESG risks and strategy.

outcomes

increased confidence

Board members gained greater clarity on their ESG responsibilities and how to fulfil them to give the greatest impact.

 

better oversight

Improved ability to scrutinise ESG disclosures, strategies, and investment proposals, gaining confidence to know how to best report and utilise ESG metrics.  

 

embedded ESG thinking

Clearer understanding of how ESG contributes to long-term value creation, boardroom decision-making and company resilience. 

As sustainability becomes more central to how businesses operate, board directors need to be able to understand, ask the right questions, and help shape ESG-related decisions. But many boards still see ESG mainly as a ‘compliance issue’, rather than something that can influence long-term direction and value.  

 

With expectations from regulators, investors, and society changing fast, it is now more important than ever for boards to be actively involved in understanding and overseeing sustainability risks and opportunities. 

 

A prominent UK oil and gas company engaged us to deliver a bespoke ESG awareness session for its board, ensuring alignment with the organisation’s materiality assessment, regulatory obligations and emerging stakeholder expectations. 

 

The session was designed to clarify ESG responsibilities at the board level, help directors better understand key risks and opportunities facing the business, and build confidence in using the language and concepts of double materiality to clarify risk and impact. 

objectives​

To equip board members with the necessary knowledge to: 

  • Identify and interpret ESG risks and opportunities through a strategic, financial, and reputational lens. 

  • Understand their governance obligations under relevant frameworks and how to report.  

  • Engage more impactfully in sustainability-related decisions and disclosures. 

steps taken

  • Developed tailored training session aligned with the company’s sector-specific ESG risks, emissions profile, stakeholder priorities and material topics. 

  • Mapped regulatory expectations to board responsibilities under industry and geographically relevant reporting frameworks. 

  • Delivered engaging board sessions with case examples, risk scenarios, and practical takeaways to make ESG issues more tangible. 

  • Supplied board briefing materials and a post-session reflection guide to support continued engagement and help further develop company culture and implementation of ESG. 

results

  • A more climate resilient and literate board - improved understanding of climate and broader ESG and the links between ESG and financial risk, strategy, and reputation. 

  • Board has greater confidence in scrutinising ESG strategies, disclosures, and investment decisions. 

  • Helped embed ESG in boardroom discussions so that ESG is now part of the bigger picture in boardroom conversations about risk, performance, and long-term direction. 

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