COP 26 PROJECT OVERVIEW
YOUTH
ON BOARDS
Bold action is needed by business to address the climate crisis. This action can have significant implications for the overall business model of companies - and in many cases requires the transition to a strategic transformation. These shifts require board level support and approval.
However, in some cases the board may not truly understand the risks posed by climate change, nor consider them across the time horizons required due to a misunderstanding of their fiduciary duty in terms of who it is owed to (it is NOT to shareholders only) and the relevant time frame (it is NOT the next four to eight quarters).
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Young people are often more up to date and keenly aware of the scientific and social challenges of the climate crisis and have mobilised in mass. Many are building on movements of the past and refining ways to speak truth to institutional power to call forward the urgency of this moment for action. They are moving hearts and minds with their clarity of focus and message. The commitment and conviction of their concerns can and should impact the decisions made today on the future they will inherit.
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Board governance and board diversity are important topics. Leading research has shown how valuable it is to have a range of different voices helping to steer the strategy of a business. Initiatives
Don't only give the 1.8 billion young a seat at the table, give them the table - Paul Polman
such as Women on Boards have emerged to support businesses in expanding from a more traditional board composition. Fresh thought on climate change is an as of yet missing voice in most corporate governance. Recent and relevant education on solutions and decarbonization pathways make informed young people highly important candidates for corporate governance structures facing the uncertainty and unconventional challenges presented by climate change.
We believe this is the right time to recruit, train and place a network of smart, passionate and courageous young people onto company boards that truly want to address the climate crisis and take meaningful climate action.
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i. Concept...................................................................
ii. Value Proposition for Businesses.............................
iii. Youth on Boards Pilot and COP26 Opportunity.......
iv. Working with Partners..............................................
v. Our Goal in Working with Partners...........................
vi. Our Guiding Principles............................................
CONCEPT
We propose a 3-step approach with a goal of placing young people on the boards of companies of all sizes. The initial focus will be on large companies with the potential impact for mitigating climate change.
This three step process involves:
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Recruit
Identify an initial cohort of competent young people (up to 35 years old) that are promising board candidates. This would be a diverse group of individuals - with different profiles and skills. Some might be informed activists, MBA grads, and young climate scientists amongst others. We would also aim for gender, racial and national diversity.
We will also recruit interested companies who would commit to placing young people at the end of the training program.
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Train
Working with leading board development specialists, we will develop and implement a specialised and rigorous training programme for young people so that they understand board governance and how to engage effectively in the settings they might find themselves in as board members. This would include specialist training on responsible business management and governance in the age of the climate crisis, including the latest research corporate alignment with the goals of the Paris Agreement.
We would also offer training sessions to companies for how to best take on board and integrate diverse perspectives.
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Place
Working through partners, including existing executive search firms and other business networks, we will explore ways to effectively match, place and support an onboarding process with businesses willing to engage in this initiative by allocating a board seat to a young person.
VALUE PROPOSITION FOR BUSINESSES
There are several ways in which a company would benefit from a young perspective on their board. This includes but is not limited to:
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Diversity of perspective: it has been well documented that diverse perspectives on boards, if well integrated, leads to more effective board governance.
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Customer demographics: the age profile of this initiative (millennials) represents the largest customer demographic globally (half of the world’s population is under 30). Companies that want to win the future will be well served by understanding this demographic
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Climate resilience: the climate crisis and associated risks for business have been well documented. This includes both the physical risks to assets and supply chains, as well as the transition risks to a net zero economy. This initiative can help companies understand and mitigate such risks by placing an individual with specialist training on this subject, on the board. These young people will be trained to both map the system in which companies operate, including their constraints, while bringing in new information in the shifting landscape of the economy under climate change. In this way they can help corporate leaders expand the solution space in which they operate.
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YOUTH ON BOARDS PILOT AND THE COP26 OPPORTUNITY
Our pilot will train up 10 young people in time to join boards by November 2021. We aim to set up a process where these trained youth can be ‘matched’ to boards of 5 - 10 willing companies at first.
To build excitement around this opportunity we would like to propose a series of recruitment and training events - for both companies and young people - in the lead-up to COP26. This would involve a series of ‘youth
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setting the agenda’ events - sharing how young people can and will continue to shape the strategy of businesses. We aim to explore ways to share the story of the initiative with a wider audience - perhaps through mini documentaries.
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WORKING WITH PARTNERS
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Recruit
We will work with a range of networks and universities to identify our initial cohort of board members. We would also like to explore how to bring in young people from non-traditional backgrounds.
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Train
We will engage with board training specialists to develop the training programme. We will also bring in leading academics and successful board members to support this teaching and training process for both businesses and young people. We would likely need to raise funding for this.
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Place
We imagine building a network of courageous companies willing to explore this opportunity by working in partnership with executive search firms as well as those businesses in existing climate action coalitions.
OUR GOAL IN WORKING WITH PARTNERS
We are looking for a home for this project. We’d like for partners to set their own goals which might include the following:
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Appoint a young person to your own governance model
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Set at science informed net zero target for your own firm well before 2050
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Commit to review choices from a justice lens in developing net-zero business plans. (This means resisting the temptation offered by short-termism and cost shifting onto both future generations and distant communities).
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OUR GUIDING PRINCIPLES
We embrace diversity in all its forms in the cohorts of young people
We are focussed on creating conditions for mutual mentorship - facilitating mutual learning for the young people and business leaders
We are focussed on placement on a supervisory board (not an advisory or shadow board)
We are committed to building an authentic learning community with opportunities for reflection, strategic thinking and feedback
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Commitment to immediate, science-informed climate action and solution seeking in the face of obstacles to the mitigation of climate impacts
Interested?
For more information please contact any or all of our team members