Put Return on Planet on your board's agenda.
You don't need to wait for regulation or an industry standard — the building blocks exist. What's needed is a strategic conversation most boards haven't had, or have had in a sustainability committee that never connected it to pay.
Five steps.
Start with strategy, not sustainability
The first conversation is about your strategy and where planetary and governance factors create risk, opportunity or both — competitive position, cost, regulatory exposure, access to capital, reputation. If the board can't make that connection, the metric won't survive its first proxy-adviser review.
Select pillars and set weights
Choose the pillars your strategy calls for — you don't need all eight. Weight them by strategic importance (0–50% each, 100% in total) and be ready to explain the weights the way you would revenue versus margin in the financial scorecard.
Choose indicators you can verify
Three or four per pillar, from established, independently verifiable sources. Don't build new measurement systems: the data usually already exists in your sustainability and compliance functions.
Set targets that could actually be missed
Three-year targets with annual milestones. Below-average performance means a zero payout, not a softened consolation. If a target can be hit without doing anything differently, it's a gift, not a target. Consider a shadow year to calibrate.
Disclose, review and adjust
Publish weights, targets and actual scores in the remuneration report. Review the configuration every year as strategy, markets and regulation change — recalibrating, never lowering the bar.
A 90-minute board session.
For the first joint session of the board, or the sustainability and remuneration committees together. Circulate the concept page and the readiness self-assessment as pre-reading.
| Time | Item | Purpose | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0:00–0:10 | Why now | Context: planetary boundaries, the weakness of current sustainability pay metrics, investor scrutiny. | Key stats |
| 0:10–0:25 | What goes wrong | Walk through two or three illustrative examples. Ask: could it happen here? | Evidence |
| 0:25–0:50 | Where the planet shows up in our strategy | Map strategic risks and opportunities to pillars. The most important item on the agenda. | Question bank A |
| 0:50–1:05 | Our current metrics, honestly | Stress-test existing pay metrics against the taxonomy of easy. | Stress test |
| 1:05–1:20 | A first configuration | Agree provisional pillars and weights live in the calculator; circulate the share link afterwards. | Calculator |
| 1:20–1:30 | Decisions and next steps | Owners, timeline, data review, and whether to shadow-run in year one. | Timeline |
Questions boards should ask.
A · Strategy
- Which of our revenue streams, cost lines or licences to operate depend on natural systems — climate, water, land or materials?
- Where could a planetary factor cause a step change in our cost of capital or regulatory access within five years?
- Which planetary factors do our largest customers and investors already score us on?
- If we could only reward management for two planetary outcomes, which would they be, and why?
B · Metrics and targets
- Which of our current sustainability pay metrics measure outcomes — and which measure activity, opinions or promises?
- What would management have to do differently to reach target? If the answer is “nothing”, why is it a target?
- Which indicators are independently verified today, and which would need assurance before they could drive pay?
- Is our sustainability payout history consistently above target? What does that tell us?
C · Credibility and culture
- If an engineer found a problem with our environmental data tomorrow, how sure are we it would reach this board?
- How does our speak-up rate compare with our sector — and do we treat a low number as good news or a warning?
- Where do our permits, inspections or carbon credits pass through high corruption-risk jurisdictions?
- Do planetary factors show up in capital allocation and procurement decisions, or only in the sustainability report?
D · Pay design and disclosure
- Is the ROP weight large enough to change a real decision, such as deferring an emissions investment?
- How does the LTI reward multi-year trajectory rather than one-year movements?
- What would trigger negative discretion — and have we written that down in advance?
- Could we explain our weights and targets to a sceptical investor in two minutes?
A typical first-year timeline.
Strategy and scoping
Board session. Readiness assessment. Pillar shortlist. Data quality review with the CFO and CSO.
Design
Indicators, weights and draft targets. Remuneration adviser input. Early engagement with major shareholders.
Calibrate
Back-test against the last two or three years. Confirm targets could be missed. Agree the verification approach.
Approve and disclose
Committee approval. Remuneration policy wording. Shadow-run or go live in the next performance year.
Sample disclosure wording.
Starting wording for the remuneration report. Adapt it to your jurisdiction and have it reviewed by counsel.
Want help running the session?
Speeki can facilitate an ROP strategy workshop with your board or committees, and benchmark the speak-up and anti-corruption data behind the credibility layer.