Chapter 06 · Governance & regulationGovernance, Ethics & Risk
Climate governance
Definition
The set of rules, practices, institutions and accountability mechanisms by which organisations and societies direct and oversee responses to climate change. At corporate level it means board responsibility for climate risk and strategy (articulated in the World Economic Forum's Climate Governance Principles); at public and international level it covers the treaties, ministries, laws and multi-level arrangements that produce climate policy.
References
Definition; WEF Climate Governance Principles (eight elements); governmental governance via MEAs; accountability gaps; subnational and city networks.
Public-sector climate governance principles (accountability, structure, strategic integration, incentivisation, transparency).
Overview
What it means
Climate governance operates at two linked levels.
In boardrooms, the WEF's eight principles — climate accountability at board level, command of the subject, board structure, material risk/opportunity assessment, strategic integration, incentivisation, reporting and disclosure, and exchange — have become the reference standard for what "board oversight of climate" concretely means, and are embedded in TCFD's governance pillar and benchmark tools like the CA100+ Net Zero Company Benchmark.
In public governance, the term covers the UNFCCC–Paris architecture, national framework climate laws, independent climate councils, and the polycentric layer of cities, states and investors acting below and beside national governments. The accountability gap — agreements without enforcement — is its perennial critique.
How it is used
Boards adopt climate-governance structures (committees, expertise, incentive links); regulators embed governance expectations in disclosure and prudential rules; governance quality is scored in investor benchmarks; scholars analyse polycentric climate governance across levels.
Why it matters
Targets without governance are wishes; climate governance is the machinery that determines who inside an institution or system actually owns the transition.