While sustainability policies, standards and frameworks are now common buzzwords in most corporations, especially listed issuers, there is one aspect of sustainability that is least understood by most organisations – Sustainability Governance.

As Governments and regulators require more transparency and proper sustainability disclosures, companies are feeling the pressure of sustainability compliance. As such, there is a great temptation for organisations to immediately assign a group or individual within the organisation to embark on sustainability reporting. Some organisations prefer to outsource the entire sustainability reporting to external consultants or experts.

Whatever the approach is, even before issuing the first directive to begin sustainability directives, organisations have to look inwards and ensure that their internal controls are in place for the management of all sustainability aspects of the organisation. This is what is known as Sustainability Governance.

But what exactly is Sustainability Governance? It refers to the organisational structures, policies, processes, and institutions that guide and control how companies, organisations and governments pursue sustainability goals. Effective sustainability governance ensures that environmental, social, and economic dimensions are integrated into decision-making, helping to create systems that are not only resilient and ethical but also future-proof.

Sustainability governance and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards are deeply interconnected, forming a foundation for transparent, responsible, and impactful sustainability reporting.