To understand whether Boards of companies consider climate change a priority, Chapter Zero Brussels, Roland Berger, and Potloc surveyed 154 cross-industry Board Directors in July 2021 from Belgium and Luxembourg. This points out a certain level of inaction of companies with regards to climate change.
· "Climate is a less prominent issue in Boards of smaller companies" (54% of respondents, less than 499 employees), compared to large companies
· "Most Boards of larger companies are including climate change in their decision-making process, but still need to deliver": 75% of respondents mention actively including climate change in their decision-making process. However, this state of awareness has not yet translated into action, as demonstrated by:
o Only 31% of respondents have set short term goals (for the next year)
o Only 41% of respondents have done a full mapping of their carbon footprint
· "1 in 5 large Belgian companies are climate change role models": only 18% of the larger companies' respondents mentioned having multiple compliance initiatives in place (e.g., climate related annual report, clear metrics and targets in place, monitoring of government regulations). Many of these boards review climate strategy periodically, include the impact of climate change in investment decisions and ensure executives have climate-focused incentives.
· "Boards of Directors want to be more active on climate change": For Directors of large companies not already focusing on sustainability on their Boards, 86% would like to learn more on the issue.
Roland Berger is the only management consultancy of European heritage with a strong international footprint. As an independent firm, solely owned by our partners, we operate 50 offices in all major markets. Our 2400 employees offer a unique combination of an analytical approach and an empathic attitude. Driven by our values of entrepreneurship, excellence and empathy, we at Roland Berger are convinced that the world needs a new sustainable paradigm that takes the entire value cycle into account. Working in cross-competence teams across all relevant industries and business functions, we provide the best expertise to meet the profound challenges of today and tomorrow.
Chapter Zero Brussels is the European Union & Belux chapter of the Climate Governance Initiative (CGI), in collaboration with the World Economic Forum. We are a non-profit organization registered in Brussels as Climate Governance asbl/vzw and operating under “Chapter Zero Brussels”.
We help Board Directors across the European Union and Belux engage effectively in a strategic debate about the climate challenge for their businesses, and how they will contribute to achieving the EU’s target of net-zero emissions.
Our three main objectives consist in:
· Directors across Belux: enabling Board Directors across Belgium, Luxembourg and beyond to better understand the climate-related challenges their organizations are and will be facing and then to act on reducing their organizations' greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
· EU institutions: driving awareness of the CGI with officials at the European Union institutions (Commission, Council, Parliament).
· EU host & deployment: providing a home for EU Board Directors who do not have a national chapter and supporting the incubation and development of chapters across the EU where local chapters do not exist yet (~20 countries).
Potloc is a tech-enabled consumer research company that conducts survey sampling through social networks. With its sampling technology, Potloc can reach any niche audiences or geo-targeted survey respondents to provide businesses and organizations with valuable insights. Leading brands and top consulting firms worldwide leverage this sampling approach to acquire respondents, understand their consumer base, and solve strategic challenges.