There has been a steady increase in the number of boards that have established a committee to address issues that
fall under the sustainability banner — 55 in total, nine more than 2022. Newly constituted committees appeared
at seven companies: Airtel Africa, Aviva, Bridgepoint, Bunzl, Shaftesbury Capital, Smiths Group, and Softcat. (Five
companies joined this year’s sample with a committee in place; three companies removed from our sample also
had one.)
The exact names of these committees vary, as do their remits, which cover a wide range of topics, including climate
change, decarbonisation, biodiversity, human rights, labour standards, good citizenship, workforce engagement, and
diversity, equity and inclusion. For the purposes of this survey, we have taken note of the different names used by
boards and subdivided these 55 committees into three categories: corporate social responsibility, sustainability,
and ESG.
Breakdown of sustainability-related committees (top 150 FTSE companies)
There are five more ESG committees than last year. Four are new constituents (Bridgepoint, Energean, Grainger, and
Haleon) and United Utilities renamed its corporate social responsibility committee to ESG.
Chairs of sustainability committees receive, on average, a higher fee (£27,016) than corporate social
responsibility committee chairs (£21,482) and ESG committee chairs (£19,228).
The full list of committees, the number of meetings, and fees for each FTSE 150 company can be viewed in our
searchable committees table.