In recognition of this, Practical Law has published a number of resources to its Company Law module to assist boards to meet their sustainability goals and satisfy stakeholder expectations. The new documents are as follows:

• Standard document, Board briefing note: environmental, social and governance (ESG), a briefing note to the board on the importance of ESG matters, the associated risks and opportunities, and suggested actions or initiatives that can be put in place to manage those risks and respond to those opportunities.
• A suite of resources that can be used to establish a sustainability committee (sometimes referred to as an ESG committee or a corporate social responsibility committee), as follows:
  • Practice note, Sustainability committees, which outlines the structure, roles, responsibilities, membership and authorities of a sustainability committee;
  • Standard clause, Board resolutions: sustainability committee, a set of resolutions of the board of directors appointing a sustainability committee and adopting a sustainability committee charter;
  • Standard document, Sustainability committee charter, a standard form charter for a sustainability committee that outlines the structure, roles, responsibilities and authorities of the sustainability committee; and
  • Standard document, Sustainability committee self-evaluation, a standard form of questionnaire for members of a company's sustainability committee that can be used to self-evaluate the performance and effectiveness of that sustainability committee.

For a guide to Practical Law's resources relating to:

• Board committees, see Toolkit, Board committees.
• ESG, see Toolkit, Environmental, social and governance (ESG) toolkit: Australia and New Zealand.