for the love of good governance

Jun 9

published 6.9.23 (originally published 5.18.23 as a newsletter intro)

The path of least resistance is not always the best. That’s definitely been my experience trying to invoke systemic change. I’m Erica - a qb. consultant based in Toronto (and the resident Canadian 🐝) focusing on the clean energy transition.

As a person trained in various policy areas, I’ve developed a love for the complex. Big problems deserve problem solvers with big lasting power. That’s why, even though my day-to-day lives in the ‘E’ of ESG work, I know that at the very heart of charting a path to net-zero emissions, electrification, and investing in energy efficiency retrofits are people, the foundation they build, and the operational excellence they adopt in order to deliver. And considering people in the climate equation gives us tension, challenges, and resistance.

At qb., we know that the people factor must be included; it’s people who build the social structures – policies, protocols, oversight – which allow us to be more impactful.

We often hear that governance is the under-appreciated player two. Many of us at qb. are self-proclaimed governance nerds 🤓, so we never let the ‘G’ be the one that got away. We understand that to have sustained and integrated ESG programs and impacts:

companies must look honestly at themselves and apply the highest level of scrutiny and controls at their centres of power.

Leaders working with accountability, adhering to ethical practices, pushing for the same excellence of conduct to partners and suppliers — this is hard work. This is slow work. It’s behavioural change from which transformational actions and programs can happen.

We can’t expect to have human rights be a tenet in our business relationships with communities of workers if we don’t have a set of rules and standards that we are beholden to. Ethics, equity, and inclusion are only as true as those who are most marginalized have a way to speak up and call shady stuff out if they want to. There is no intergovernmental panel with authority to ensure companies are setting and progressing towards emissions reductions. It’s employees, leaders, and boards who do this. Important decisions made by boards and executives are only as transparent as their consequences.

As many aspects of ESG work trend towards becoming regulatory compliance, there is no time like the present to reinforce your foundation. Ensure there’s a leader looking after your ESG strategy: that policies are updated and written to align with standards, financial controls are in place, disclosures are true and aligned to appropriate frameworks, and the board has diverse representation to prevent mob mentality, to challenge themselves, remain accountable, and do the right thing.

Without governance essentials, companies are simply not set up to succeed, let alone create systems change. And I don’t know about you, but I think we’re way overdue to make some very, very big changes. But we’re all in this field because we aren’t allergic to hard work — so, let’s chart the path of resistance together ✊.

Thanks for reading.