The audit committee frontier

This first issue of the Deloitte Global Boardroom Program’s new series, The audit committee frontier, seeks to answer the question: What are leading climate practices for audit committees?

The report features findings from a survey of more than 350 audit committee members in 40 countries. It reveals several obstacles standing in the way of progress, each of which points to a broader sense of uncertainty surrounding climate and sustainability in the boardroom and companies at large. The report also details potential solutions for audit committees that are struggling to help their organizations address climate change.

In addition, The audit committee frontier: Addressing climate change brings together insights from Deloitte climate and sustainability specialists as well as a collection of interviews with regulators, investors, and audit committee members.

Key highlights:

• Most audit committees worldwide don’t discuss climate on a regular basis, barely half consider themselves “climate literate,” and half don’t believe they’re well equipped to fulfill their regulatory climate responsibilities
• Forty-two percent of respondents say they’re disappointed in the strength and speed of their organization’s climate response, and 65% say their companies lack a clear climate strategy
  

This first report in Deloitte’s audit committee frontier series is based on a survey conducted in September 2021 in the Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The majority of respondents (56%) serve as audit committee chairs. The majority (67%) of respondents serve on audit committees at publicly listed companies, while 17% serve at privately owned companies, including family businesses.