The number of boards that have appointed a committee to address issues that fall under the broad banner of sustainability continues to rise. In total, 81 out of the top 150 FTSE companies have such a committee (54%). Since the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) came into force in January 2023, all companies generating over EUR 150 million in the EU market must start reporting according to European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). This places an additional burden on FTSE companies and many sustainability-related committees will be taking responsibility for overseeing these reporting disclosures.
We identified 39 unique names among the 81 committees, an indication of the wide range of topics covered, including climate change, energy transition, biodiversity, sustainable development, and much more besides. While a number of standalone ESG and sustainability committees exist, more and more boards are choosing to combine remits, for example: health, safety, security and environment (as seen at Carnival); safety and sustainability (National Grid); science, sustainability and excellence (Smiths Group); and technology and sustainability (Weir Group).
57% of sustainability-related committee chairs are women, down from 64% in 2023.
Fees for chairs and members of sustainability-related committees are considerably lower, at £23,719 for chairs and £13,471 for members on average, than those available to members of audit, remuneration and nomination committees, although there are outliers. Glencore’s health, safety, environment and community committee pays the highest fees of any sustainability-related committee at £98,750 for the chair and £31,600 for members, followed by Standard Chartered (sustainability and culture), which pays £70,000 for the chair and £35,000 for members, and NatWest Group (sustainable banking), which pays £65,000 for the chair and £32,000 for members).
The full list of committees, the number of meetings, and fees for each FTSE 150 company can be viewed in our searchable committees table.