With high-impact weather events on the rise, natural resource scarcity increasing, and the other looming impacts of climate change, boards of directors are facing intense pressure from stakeholders to get more involved in environmental sustainability governance. Diligent Institute set out to understand how directors and boards globally are engaging with this complex set of issues.

The report found that Australian and New Zealand boards are world leaders when it comes to tackling environmental and sustainability issues. Diligent’s research found that 60% of Australian and New Zealand respondents had environmental sustainability conversations at the board level at least annually, well above the 46% level reported globally. Meanwhile, 40% of boards discussed it quarterly or at every meeting, again well above 34% around the globe.