Corporate governance and sustainability: the role of the board of directors

This chapter provides a review of the literature on the relationship between the board of directors and sustainability performance. It draws on the categorisation of Ludwig and Sassen (J Environ Manage:301. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.113780, 2022) to separate the research into four sub-categories of board variables (board diversity, board independence, board size, and the existence of a board sustainability committee) and their effect on sustainability performance. The findings show a mixture of research methods, with both qualitative and quantitative studies, and the results tend to be inconclusive. On balance, the results of the studies would recommend that to enhance sustainability, boards should look to be larger, more independent, more gender and age diverse, and include directors with sustainability expertise.