Public Sector Climate Governance

CLIMATE GOVERNANCE IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR

The public sector is required to contribute to meeting national climate policy targets. The Public Sector Climate Action Mandate highlights the climate action objectives for public bodies. It will be reviewed again in the context of the Climate Action Plan 2025 (CAP25).

The expectation that Boards will oversee the implementation by public sector organisations of their climate responsibilities is growing. Some Boards have established committees reporting to them on this subject. The Public Sector Climate Action Strategy 2023-2025 envisages the formal inclusion of climate governance oversight in a revised Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies. OBGD is working with public sector organisations to effectively integrate the oversight of these responsibilities into mainstream governance structures and processes.

OBGD PODCAST SERIES ON CLIMATE GOVERNANCE

OBGD has previously published a series of ten corporate governance podcasts on everything from Board evaluation to keeping the Board strategic; they are all available on our Resources page. We have developed a supplementary set of 3 podcasts on the subject of Climate Governance in the Public Sector.

Podcast 1 talks about public sector climate responsibilities. Podcast 2 proposes a framework of statements for Board members to consider in fulfilling their climate governance responsibilities. Podcast 1 and 2 are available now on our Resources page. Podcast 3 will look at the practical use of the framework of statements by the Board and the executive.

RESOURCES

Public sector Board members need assurances that climate governance responsibilities are being fulfilled. In podcast 2 of our mini-series on Climate Governance we propose a framework of statements to assist the Board and the executive to engage on this topic. It is available for download here:

Climate Governance Assurances: A Framework of Statements

SERVICES

As our work continues in this area, we will be providing services that include:

Workshops with public sector boards on climate governance obligations and how the oversight of these can be integrated into existing governance responsibilities under the Code of Practice
Focused evaluations, in partnership with Boards and Secretaries to Boards, on how to incorporate climate governance into governance structures, roles and responsibilities, and policies and procedures
Integration of climate governance into the external evaluations of public sector Boards.Whilst this is not yet a requirement of the Code of Practice, many public sector organisations have advanced their climate governance structures and the effectiveness of their initiatives can be evaluated as part of an external Board evaluation.