Is ESG board alignment too much to ask?

The world is undergoing a historic shift in the relationship between business and society. And so is the role of sustainability as a strategic corporate function.

Af CBS Efteruddannelse

The world is undergoing a historic shift in the relationship between business and society. And so is the role of sustainability as a strategic corporate function.

Hear from Virginia Dundas, Head of Strategic Environment Programmes at Ørsted, the largest Danish energy company, about their journey with sustainability, and CBS professor Kristjan Jespersen's insight on how Danish and Northern Europe's firms deal with environmental, social, and governance factors (ESG). Kristjan primarily focused on the role of corporate boards.

There's a universal understanding that risks attributed to environmental, social and governance (ESG) indicators result in financial consequences and market downturns for companies unable to respond or engage in these critical measures.

With asset owners, asset managers, commercial banks and insurance companies applying ESG metrics universally, one stakeholder group remains unaware and inconsistently educated on these essential risks: corporate boards.

The session illustrates that boards have little ESG-related expertise pertaining to critical material issues related to the companies they serve and offers solutions for strengthening Danish boards.

Roles and responsibilities of board members

Virginia and her team's mission is to take care of Ørsted's climate and environmental strategy. In this video from the event, Virginia speaks about the historic shift in the relationship between business and society, Ørsted's journey with sustainability, and how to become a globally recognised sustainability leader.

Kristjan then lets us in on how Danish boards are doing compared to other Northern European boards in terms of their board's competence to tackle future challenges, how to ensure that the transition towards sustainability is done right, and what the role of boards in supporting this transition is.

Virginia Dundas

As Head of Strategic Environment Programmes at Ørsted, Virginia Dundas works with Ørsted's climate and environmental strategy. She holds a MSc in Business, Language & Culture from CBS. With a decade of experience, she has successfully integrated sustainability into business strategies across diverse industries, including commodities, consumer goods, and transportation and logistics.

Kristjan Jespersen

Kristjan is an Associate Professor at CBS and, among other roles, the CBS Campus Sustainability Academic Director. He studies the expanding development and management of Ecosystem Services within developing countries. Kristjan's primary focus within the field lies in examining the institutional legitimacy of these initiatives and the overall compensation tools employed to ensure compliance.

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Course: ESG - Policies, Metrics and data

At Master of Business Development at CBS you can take this 3 ECTS course. The course aims to provide you with an overview of the key themes and considerations in the field of ESG and will provide the tools to analyse, apply and develop ESG metrics effectively. The course delves into each individual component of ESG and how they come together to impact a company and its stakeholders.

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