The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu The leading online blog in the fields of corporate governance and financial regulation. Sun, 19 Apr 2026 11:30:34 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.8 https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/cropped-photography-4-e1706898544564-1-32x32.png Call to Action on Sustainable Corporate Governance – The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu 32 32 Call to Action on Sustainable Corporate Governance https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2021/03/09/call-to-action-on-sustainable-corporate-governance/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=call-to-action-on-sustainable-corporate-governance https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2021/03/09/call-to-action-on-sustainable-corporate-governance/#comments Tue, 09 Mar 2021 14:43:28 +0000 https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/?p=136836?d=20210309094328EST Posted by Mervyn King, Paul Polman, Kerrie Waring, Bob Moritz, and Gilbert Van Hassel, on Tuesday, March 9, 2021
Editor's Note:

Professor Mervyn King S.C. is IIRC Chair Emeritus and author of King corporate governance codes; Paul Polman is Co-Founder & Chair of IMAGINE and former CEO of Unilever; Kerrie Waring is CEO of the International Corporate Governance Network; Bob Moritz is Global Chairman at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP; and Gilbert Van Hassel is CEO of Robeco. This post is based on their open letter. Related research from the Program on Corporate Governance includes The Illusory Promise of Stakeholder Governance by Lucian A. Bebchuk and Roberto Tallarita (discussed on the Forum here); For Whom Corporate Leaders Bargain by Lucian A. Bebchuk, Kobi Kastiel, and Roberto Tallarita (discussed on the Forum here); Restoration: The Role Stakeholder Governance Must Play in Recreating a Fair and Sustainable American Economy—A Reply to Professor Rock by Leo E. Strine, Jr. (discussed on the Forum here).

As leaders in business, investment and financial institutions, and academia we welcome and encourage efforts in jurisdictions around the world to take action to embed the concept of sustainable development in corporate governance law, codes and initiatives.

Business sustainability, sustainable finance, corporate purpose and long-term value creation must begin with company boards and the systems of governance under which companies operate.

Director organisations have recognised the urgency of the climate crisis and the need to accelerate progress towards Paris and Sustainable Development Goals. To be able to do so, it is crucial that directors positively orientate towards long-term value creation rather than short-term profit maximisation for the company.

Business organisations have committed to move away from the concept of shareholder primacy towards fully addressing sustainability and ensuring that no stakeholders are significantly harmed.  Although the law already provides Board members with wide discretion when making decisions on behalf of the company on sustainability issues, incentives within existing corporate governance models too often prevent them from taking concrete steps to act on these intentions.

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