Establish governance & accountability
Why is establishing governance & accountability important to embedding sustainability in my organisation?
Strong governance and accountability are central to the effective implementation of a sustainable development strategy, and to embedding sustainability in an organisation.
Good governance is about reaching sound decisions, putting measures in place to implement them and making clear the individuals and organisational structures accountable for delivery. In the context of sustainable development, governance implies increased transparency of decision making, involving greater stakeholder engagement in order to achieve the real integration of social, economic and environmental considerations. It is important to be clear that sustainability is not just about balancing these ‘three pillars’; it requires them to be identified, integrated and where trade offs need to be made, they should be clearly and openly addressed within the governance system, including mitigation efforts.
How can governance and accountability be establised to embed sustainability?
An overarching governance system will provide oversight and support consistent delivery across all material issues.
Good governance will have a number of different elements, which will include,
- Defining responsibility for management and delivery clearly
- Embedding sustainability performance in the organisation's reporting and appraisal structures e.g. in staff performance assessments
- Coordinating management structures across the organisation to ensure that the broad nature of sustainability issues does not lead to gaps in accountability emerging
- Operating clear lines of reporting.
The key steps to establishing an effective governance and accountability structure will follow from the ‘develop strategy’ module and are summarised below.
Sustainable development demands an approach to its governance based on integration and forms of inter-organisational collaboration.
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation