What and why
As part of the Embed Nature program, the A‑Track project will be offering Board Awareness sessions to build leadership buy‑in for transformative nature-positive action. These sessions are designed specifically for board members and C-suites, providing foundational knowledge and practical training on why nature‑related risks and opportunities matter, and how boards can respond.
Through case studies and discussion on internal business cases, participants will explore how to integrate nature into risk management, financial planning, and corporate strategy using tools such as natural capital accounting and assessment methods.
By combining board‑level engagement with organisational training, these Board Awareness sessions form part of the Building Leadership Buy‑in for Transformative Nature Action program. They are designed to secure effective leadership commitment while creating multiple entry points for nature integration in business strategy.
Sessions are delivered online and co‑led by Capitals Coalition, CISL, ICAEW, WBCSD, and other A‑Track consortium partners.
Audience
The target audience of these sessions is the boards of the organisations participating in the Building Leadership Buy-in for Transformative Nature Action programme, typically engaged through by their sustainability managers or finance teams. Organisations can broaden internal uptake by proposing a dedicated board session to their own leadership.
The sessions may bring together the board alongside the C-suite —such as CEO, CFO, CSO— or, if the board is unavailable, can be held with the C-suite alone. Each board session is organised individually for the participating organisation, ensuring tailored engagement and relevance.
Board session structure and content
Time commitment
Each board group is asked to commit two hours in total, structured as follows:
- 30 minutes of offline learning: pre-reading materials provided before the session to build foundational understanding.
- 90 minute interactive session: highly inspirational, with ample time to explore the organisation’s practical case in depth, discuss risks and response actions.
- Post-reading: sent after the session to deepen knowledge and outline recommended next steps, shaped by board discussions and the internal case.
Content
- Awareness of natural capital assessments, including impacts, dependencies, measurement, and valuation.
- Risks and opportunities nature presents to business models, and strategies for transitioning toward nature positive business models.
- Why nature matters to board members: key strategic decisions and dilemmas boards must consider.
- How board members can respond—actions they can take and ways to empower their teams, including suggested questions to ask.
- Real-world case study: examples of how other organisations have succeeded.
- Internal case presented by the business representative who participated in the training and Dolphin tank.
- Board discussion on the business case proposed, solutions to existing challenges leading to concrete next steps.
Learning objectives
By the end of the information session, board members will:
- Have expanded their understanding of why nature matters to their organisation and board, gaining foundational knowledge on impacts, dependencies, performance measurement, and valuation.
- Feel inspired and empowered to initiate strategic decisions on nature, aligned with their organisation’s level of ambition.
- Have a set of questions and information to look for internally.
- Have been exposed to specific risks or areas of the business related to nature as a challenge to solve to build and preserve business’ value
- Have discussed and advanced their own internal business case for nature with practical next steps for improvement of business actions and governance.
Next steps: how to join?
If you believe your organisation’s board could benefit from this opportunity, please register.