Winning Over Your Board: How CSOs Can Gain Buy-In for Sustainability Efforts

Securing board support for your sustainability initiatives can be tricky. You not only have to appeal to different personalities but also touch upon topics that resonate with every member. 

The key to success? Strategically align your messages with what’s on most board members’ minds: strong financial performance, risk mitigation and sustainable long-term growth. 

Make the Case for Your Board

We’ll reap financial rewards. As shared in an earlier post in this series, hundreds of studies show that ESG initiatives often boost financial performance through increased innovation and efficiency while reducing waste.

• Opportunity: We can attract more money from eco-conscious investors and consumers by investing in — and touting — our environmental initiatives. Bonus: We’ll also qualify for sustainability-related tax credits, grants, and other financial incentives. 
• Opportunity: We’ll slash costs by cutting back on our energy consumption and curtailing unnecessary use of other resources.
  
  

We’ll mitigate risk. If we don’t act, we’ll end up exposing ourselves to regulatory fines, reputational damage — not to mention the chance of operational disruptions caused by climate change. Firms that don’t make sustainability a priority face scrutiny from consumers, regulators and investors, lawsuits  in the U.S. alone, there are hundreds of cases — as well as potential business losses from floods, wildfires, hurricanes and other natural disasters. 

• Opportunity: Use more renewable energy and carbon credits to combat climate change while reducing our dependence on costly (and diminishing) fossil fuels.
• Opportunity: Strengthen our defenses by broadening our supply chain and investing in more resilient infrastructure.
  
  

We can future-proof our company: What we do now will pay off for decades to come. Climate change is expected to intensify. To survive, we must prepare for future challenges now. 

• Opportunity: Get ahead of upcoming changes by investing in sustainability-oriented startups, supporting ESG-focused employee resource groups and developing green technologies.
• Opportunity: Infuse a sustainability-focused mindset in all employees so future leaders are prepared for upcoming challenges. The earlier we incorporate sustainable practices into our business strategy, the quicker we’ll benefit from greater innovation, more efficiency, improved brand reputation, and greater interest from eco-conscious investors, customers, and employees.

The beauty of a board is that each member brings different skills and experiences to the table. By working together, we can take a leadership stance while fortifying our company for decades to come.

Flowcarbon can help you, your C-suite peers, your CEO and your board deploy a holistic carbon emissions strategy. Learn more about how Flowcarbon can help your company’s holistic carbon emissions strategy at flowcarbon.com.

About Flowcarbon

Flowcarbon is a pioneering carbon finance and technology company working to scale the voluntary carbon market through innovative investment and carbon finance structures and sales.