Book contents
- Reviews
- The Cambridge Handbook of Corporate Law, Corporate Governance and Sustainability
- The Cambridge Handbook of Corporate Law, Corporate Governance and Sustainability
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Contributors
- Forewords
- Preface
- Introduction
- Part I Global Business and Fragmented Regulation
- Part II Corporate Law, Financial Markets and Sustainability
- Part III Corporate Law, Corporate Governance and Sustainability: Case Studies
- Part IV Potential Drivers for Change
- 37 Disclosure Regulation and Sustainability
- 38 Sustainability Reporting in Africa
- 39 Global Supply Chains and Sustainability
- 40 Aligning Social Investing with Nature’s Timescales
- 41 Shareholder Stewardship
- 42 Green Bonds and Beyond
- 43 Conflicts and Coalitions
- 44 Gender as a Catalyst for Corporate Reform
- 45 Amenable Controls
- 46 Social Enterprise Law
- 47 Certifying ‘Good’ Companies
- 48 The Cooperative as a Platform for Sustainable Business Operations
- 49 Realising the Potential of the Board for Corporate Sustainability
- Conclusion
- Index
49 - Realising the Potential of the Board for Corporate Sustainability
from Part IV - Potential Drivers for Change
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 November 2019
- Reviews
- The Cambridge Handbook of Corporate Law, Corporate Governance and Sustainability
- The Cambridge Handbook of Corporate Law, Corporate Governance and Sustainability
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Contributors
- Forewords
- Preface
- Introduction
- Part I Global Business and Fragmented Regulation
- Part II Corporate Law, Financial Markets and Sustainability
- Part III Corporate Law, Corporate Governance and Sustainability: Case Studies
- Part IV Potential Drivers for Change
- 37 Disclosure Regulation and Sustainability
- 38 Sustainability Reporting in Africa
- 39 Global Supply Chains and Sustainability
- 40 Aligning Social Investing with Nature’s Timescales
- 41 Shareholder Stewardship
- 42 Green Bonds and Beyond
- 43 Conflicts and Coalitions
- 44 Gender as a Catalyst for Corporate Reform
- 45 Amenable Controls
- 46 Social Enterprise Law
- 47 Certifying ‘Good’ Companies
- 48 The Cooperative as a Platform for Sustainable Business Operations
- 49 Realising the Potential of the Board for Corporate Sustainability
- Conclusion
- Index
Summary
The board has a crucial role in determining the strategy and the direction of the corporation. However, currently the function of the corporate board is constrained through the social norm of shareholder primacy, reinforced through the intermediary structures of capital markets. This chapter argues that a reform of EU corporate law is key to integrating sustainability into mainstream corporate governance, into the core duties of the corporate board, to change corporations from within. While previous attempts at harmonising core corporate law at the EU level have failed, there are now three drivers for reform that may facilitate a change: the EU’s Sustainable Finance Initiative, which concentrates mainly on the environmental aspects of sustainability; the push to introduce legal requirements for due diligence on human rights; and experimentation by some national legislators within the EU with reforms of their own.
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- Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019
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