Identifying and discussing the challenges for boards to manage ESG measures

Abstract

The major research question of this paper is what are the challenges for boards of directors to help their companies manage, assess, and track performance with environmental, social, and governance (ESG) measures? There are currently no global required ESG measures, just a variety of choices that make comparisons and analyses very challenging for various stakeholders (Waygood, 2021; Buffett, 2021). This paper studies the evolution of ESG measures and provides a comprehensive review of different types of ESG measures, including voluntary measures, those required in the EU and the UK, and those with the potential to be required in the U.S. and globally. Our findings suggest that management and boards of directors may employ a measurement theory perspective to assess and apply various ESG measures for specific benchmarks, targets, and reports. Future research could investigate these board challenges with case studies or empirical studies, especially to study how various ESG measures are used.