Boards are operating in ever more complex and challenging business environments. At the same time, their behaviour and standards are coming under increasing external scrutiny, for example through the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) and Walker Reviews in the UK. This publication champions the concept of a ‘mandate’ which sets out the ‘essence’ of the ‘character’ and distinctiveness of the company. We believe that this ‘working charter’ can help boards navigate their way through increasingly choppy waters by facilitating more effective strategic engagement: primarily between executive directors and NEDs to improve board effectiveness, but with the associated benefit that it drives communication externally with the key stakeholders, including investors, government and regulators, and society at large. Accompanying this document is a 'tool-kit' which provides an agenda for board discussions. Please download this here.  A series of case studies illustrating how the board mandate may,...

Natural capital – our ecosystems, biodiversity, and natural resources – underpins economies, societies and individual wellbeing. The values of its myriad benefits are, however, often overlooked or poorly understood. They are rarely taken fully into accountthrough economic signals in markets, or in day to day decisions by business and citizens, nor indeed reflected adequately in the accounts of society. The steady loss of forests, soils, wetlands and coral reefs is closely tied to this economic invisibility. So too are the losses of species and of productive assets like fisheries, driven partly by ignoring values beyond the immediate and private. We are running down our natural capital stock without understanding the value of what we are losing. Missed opportunities to invest in this natural capital contribute to the biodiversity crisisthat is becoming more evident and more pressing by the day. The degradation of soils, air, water and biological resources can negatively impact on...

Savings and investments form part of the central nervous system of a developed economy. The health of that system influences the behaviour and well-being of citizens and companies alike. The findings of this inquiry represent a vision of a better investment system, developed by those who work in it.

This Briefing Document, by Tomorrow’s Company, summarises the potential to create 'green jobs' through significant public investment in green technology and infrastructure as a key component of stimulus packages - in contrast with the impact of investment in 'brown' jobs or tax cuts.The Tomorrow's Company Briefing Documents are intended to provide the reader with a comprehensive introduction to a particular topic. You can find the full list of Briefing Documents on forceforgood.com here. 

The following is an extract from on-going discussions which started in October 2008 between Nick Gould, a corporate partner at Ince & Co, International Law firm, and several other interested parties. The matter has gained particular prominence this week following an article by Sir Kenneth Mac Donald a previous director of Public Prosecutor in The Times. Nick Gould is a partner in the City law firm and had spent much of the last two years or so gaining some understanding of a major piece of commercial legislation entitled “The Companies Act 2006”; the largest piece of legislation ever brought into UK law, consisting of some 1,300 sections, 16 schedules and,  200 pages of explanatory notes as well as numerous Ministerial statements, written statements, ‘Regulatory Impact Assessments’, briefs and dozens of statutory instruments to date. The Act took more than eight years of review, research and lobbying to produce, finally reaching the statute books in late 2006. It will take the best...