Laura Lightbody, Governance & Legal Counsel at UNEP FI, joined the Summit to present UNEP FI’s new Guidance on Effective Governance.
Against a rapidly evolving sustainability landscape, robust governance and internal culture are indispensable for organisations in navigating the technical, commercial and ethical complexities.
Sustainability governance, that is the organisational structures, systems and processes put in place to govern environmental and social strategies, plays a critical role in supporting sustainability progress and especially in overseeing delivery against sustainability commitments. Aligning internal operations and ways of governing with such commitments is an important step, promoting accountability and credibility.
Closely connected to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions institutional strength and soundness are elements which act to bind businesses to the communities in which they operate and serve.
This guidance was specifically developed by banks for banks together with UNEP FI and importantly with valuable input and advice from civil society organisations. It is designed to support and enable implementation of the Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB or Principles, used interchangeably throughout), specifically focussed on Principle 5: Governance and Culture.
Banks are facing a multitude of new sustainability regulation, while also balancing legal challenge connected with this agenda and increasing societal expectations. Drawing on key regional and global regulation, relevant international standards and best practices from signatories of the PRB, the guidance aims to help by:
- Inspiring and informing banks on effective sustainability governance practices
- Helping banks to navigate the significant internal transformation required to translate their sustainability commitments into action
- Supporting banks in approaching compliance with relevant governance-related sustainability standards and guidelines.