Case Study: Nature on the Board at Faith in Nature

Under advice from Lawyers for Nature, cruelty-free and vegan cosmetics company Faith in Nature have appointed a Nature Director to their board.

This work began when Faith in Nature got in touch to ask if we would help them on their journey. Faith in Nature has long been working to be sustainable and have low environmental impact. They also hold B Corp status, which verifies companies having a positive impact on their workers, customers, community and the environment. We are proud to have been able to support the natural hair care and soap company in giving the natural world a significant voice within their business. Having someone whose sole role is to represent the natural world in Board discussions will assist other Directors and employees in working towards more harmonious relationships with the rest of nature.

Faith in Nature contacted us in 2021 and the change was implemented in August 2022 (including this wonderful short film about it). While placing ‘Nature on the Board’ was the most spectacular change, there was another significant change too: changing the objects clause in the company’s constitution. Now, part of the purpose of Faith in Nature is both to have a positive impact on Nature as a whole and to minimise harmful impact from business operations. This gives a clear commitment to being nature-positive right at the top of the organisation, as well as a secure basis to making decisions which are better for nature as a whole but which may be less profitable in the short term.

What is a Nature Director?

A Nature Director is a Director who has the specific role of speaking up on behalf of Nature in Board meetings and representing the interests of Nature, all species and the environment in general. Faith in Nature has appointed Brontie Ansell, Co-Director of Lawyers for Nature, as their first Nature Director.

How does it work?

The Nature Director sits on the Board of Directors, in the same way as any other Director. Changes are made to the company's duties and rules to enable the addition of this Director. The specifics of the implementation of a Nature Director at Faith in Nature can be found below in the Open Source Guide.

Open Source Guide

As well as advising on their adoption of Nature on the Board, we also collaborated with Faith in Nature and the Earth Law Centre to produce an open source guide to putting Nature on the Board. You can download the guide here:

Simeon Rose, Faith In Nature’s Creative Director and driver of the initiative, said this about the change:

“We’re delighted to be the first to do this but we don’t want to be the last. Our hope is that other businesses who take their responsibility to the natural world seriously will follow suit - and we’re really happy to share details of how and why we did this. We’ve always wanted Nature to be at the heart of what we do and this felt like this is the next serious step we could take to make that a reality. This is much more than spin: by changing our governance structure we are making sure we’re legally accountable and that what’s good for Nature informs our strategy.”

You can read more about this process and discover recent developments on the Nature on the Board website.

Interested?

We are now working to support organisations who wish to change their governance structures and processes to be Nature-Positive. If you would like us to support you with this, please get in touch.