The evaporation of generalized sustainable governance proposals continues in 2023, driven in large part by a continued slide in board diversity proposals and a dearth of requests to produce sustainability reports. While women and people of color remain underrepresented on boards, a more representative group of corporate leaders long sought by investors is emerging. Further, it is now rare for a major company to say nothing about how it affects society and most explain—some in great detail—how they oversee and manage sustainability.
In 2023, resolutions about sustainable governance are split between those about boards (17 on diversity and specific types of oversight) and 17 on other high-level sustainability approaches (seven each on ESG pay links and investment practices, but only two seeking metrics disclosure. The total is down 70 percent from a high back in 2019 of 112.
