RWS AR 23 Final Single pages - Flipbook - Page 50
Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (continued)
GOVERNANCE
a. Board oversight of climate-related risks
and opportunities
The Board is responsible for overseeing and directing
the overall RWS strategy, including agreeing the Group’s
position and commitments on key sustainability and
climate-related matters. Climate-related issues are
discussed during Board meetings, in addition they receive
monthly reports on sustainability and ESG issues from the
Head of Sustainability and ESG.
The climate-related issues raised to the Board inform and
in昀氀uence business strategy decisions, including annual
budgets, major plans of action and associated capital
expenditures, remuneration, transition plans and targets.
Some good examples of this include:
(1) The approval of a signi昀椀cant digital transformation
programme on large portions of its core systems and
processes. Moving to less energy-intensive technologies
is a major investment and a strategic move that will
help RWS reach its climate-change management and
sustainability goals.
The CEO heads the Executive Team, which is responsible
for identifying climate-related risks and opportunities, and
managing implementation of any key actions approved
by the board. The Executive Team committee includes the
following members:
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Chief Executive O昀케cer
Chief Financial O昀케cer
Chief Language O昀케cer
Chief People O昀케cer
Group Corporate Development Director
The General Counsel and Company Secretary
President, Enterprise Services
President, IP Services
President, Regulated Industries
President, Language Services and Technology
(2) The individual climate-related goals given to members
of the Executive Team are linked to the group bonus
structure.
The Executive Team assists the Board in providing
additional localised implementation support of the
Group’s policies, programmes, and risks that related to
key sustainability and climate matters.
The RWS Board includes the Chairman of the Board,
the Chief Executive O昀케cer ("CEO"), the Chief Financial
O昀케cer ("CFO"), and 昀椀ve other independent Non-executive
Directors. Two of the Board’s members (the CEO and CFO)
are also core members of the Executive Team, ensuring
the key topic of sustainability 昀椀lters to several layers of
top management. The General Counsel and Company
Secretary also attends scheduled board meetings and is a
member of the Executive Committee.
As mentioned above, the CEO oversees the sustainability
and climate agenda. The Executive Team reports to the
CEO on all climate-related issues. The General Counsel
and Company Secretary, in addition to holding overall
responsibility for legal and governance functions, is
responsible for co-ordinating the Group’s overall risk
management programme. This includes the preliminary
identi昀椀cation, assessment, and prioritisation of top
strategic, operating, and business risks.
The Board is assisted by the Executive Team providing
detail and more focused oversight of the Group’s
policies, programmes, and related risks that concern
key sustainability and climate matters. The CEO has
direct oversight of the sustainability and climate
agenda, including strategic decisions and performance
management. The CEO and General Counsel and
Company Secretary co-ordinate reporting by the
Executive Team on progress on risk mitigation e昀昀orts
to the Board, including those for any identi昀椀ed climaterelated risks.
Regular monthly reports are made to the Board by the
Head of Sustainability and ESG and Executive Team
members. These monthly reports cover a wide range
of corporate sustainability topics, such as updates on
climate change risks. In addition, the Board formally
reviews climate-change topics at least once annually,
with supplementary formal meetings called as required
to address primary identi昀椀ed risks.
The Board’s oversight of progress against climate-related
goals and targets includes the submission of the Group’s
science-based targets to the Science Based Targets
initiative ("SBTi") in December.
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b. Management’s role in assessing and
managing climate-related risks and opportunities
RWS Holdings plc — Annual Report 2023
STRATEGIC REPORT
RWS also o昀昀ers 昀椀nancial incentives for achieving
climate-related goals, ensuring that sustainability is a
crucial topic for every member of the Senior Leadership
Team. The Executive Team and Senior Leadership Team
have climate-related targets and KPIs that are linked to
additional remuneration.
