Chapter Zero Southern Africa Corporate Member Value Proposition

Capacitating for Sustainability and Climate Change Leadership

Chapter Zero Southern Africa (CZSA) provides a Continuous Learning Journey including monthly educational, dialogue, and networking events, briefings, podcasts, and access to programs and toolkits capacitating and mobilizing boards, decision- makers, and executives to proactively shape the business leadership agenda on sustainability, ESG and climate action strategy, to implement and deliver on these critical imperatives.

CZSA, hosted at Wits Business School, engages large corporates and organizations across Southern Africa, private and public sector, to maximise impact. Our commitment to the success of this initiative is reflected in the calibre and profile of our directors, patrons, thought partner networks, and our engagement with organized business leadership entities.

CZSA is a Chapter of the global Climate Governance Initiative, mandated by the World Economic Forum, to provide a platform for business leadership to drive climate action from the boardroom and business leadership teams. Focus areas include sustainability and climate related disclosures, regulatory and legislative frameworks, assurance, climate and sustainable development risks and opportunities, governance & strategy enablement, with embedding appropriate business systems. CZSA_ has broadened the curriculum focus to embrace social inclusion, biodiversity, water scarcity, and climate justice with energy transition, all added priorities for Southern Africa.

Understanding the critical importance of leadership cohesion, CZSA has expanded the CGI mandated ‘exclusive’ membership model (limited to non-executive directors) to an ‘inclusive’ membership model. This expands the target audience to include all governing body members, including sustainability, legal and Co-Sec executives, as well as key executive and organizationalteam leaders supporting the governing body.

The client as a Corporate Member will have access to:

  • The CZSA programme of best-in-class business education supported by the Climate Governance Initiative’s curriculum of content, a thought partner network of regional and international advisory firms, corporate and industry think tanks, leading learning institutions, and the global ESG Exchange. In addition CZSA provides facilitated access to capacitation programs and toolkits of CGI.
  • The CZSA Primary Program is delivered through a series of in-person and virtual learning events, curated conversations, podcasts, newsletters, updates from CGI and
    Global Chapters, and industry focused activities.
  • Extended participation privileges, allowing Governing Body executive committee
    members, inclusive of company secretary, sustainability, legal officer, together with
    executive leadership team members, to participate with full member access to the
    CZSA programs.
  • Individual Certificates of Attendance for all corporate attendees, whether attending
    online or in-person, certified for continual professional development (CPD) purposes.
  • Annual reports on the Client’s climate and sustainability competency progress
    based on participation in the CZSA program’s learning outcomes, and reporting on
    this progress in tailored or standardised reporting formats, such as TCFD, ISSB
    S2, JSE Guidelines, or the Integrated Reporting Framework.
  • Annual reports on the subsidiaries of the Client’s sustainability competency progress to the extent that these entities are signed up as individual corporate members and attend the CZSA education and immersion programs.
  • Governing Body and Leadership Team CZSA Onboarding strongly recommended upfront tailored two hour introductory dialogue with the Client’s leadership team to ensure collective understanding of, and effective participation in, the CZSA program. A key outcome will be the collective understanding of the importance of team participation in the learning journey. Although a once off induction event, it may be of interest to have an updated event in due course to provide for continuity through a rapid induction to the collective governing body intellectual repository for incoming and rotating board members.
  • Organisational Content Focussed Onboarding is available as an additional option following on from the Governing Body onboarding event to equip the lower tiers of the organisation leadership not included in the initial onboarding event in a customized and tailored program of sustainability, ESG, and climate change fundamentals relevant to the participants in the event.

Membership Information:

  • Annual Corporate Membership Fee US $7 500/ R150 000 excluding VAT.
    This would be appropriately reflected as ‘executive education’.
    This fee would be waived for a five year period for CZSA Founding Partners.
  • The Governing Body and Leadership Team Onboarding event fee would be agreed
    based on participation, length, and customization for the Client.
  • Organizational Onboarding event fees will be similarly agreed.
  • Each legal entity operating with a governing body is required to join as a
    separate corporate member to access the benefits for its governing body
    members.
  • As a corporate member, we invite the Client to appropriately disclose the affiliation
    with, and support for, the WEF’s CGI through the membership of CZSA. Reciprocally
    CZSA_ would seek approval to reflect the Client’s corporate membership on CZSA
    marketing material.
  • We appreciate the opportunity to partner with the Client and look forward to providing
    our contribution to a mutual collaboration in delivering meaningful support to the
    global efforts on sustainability and climate change action.

Are you a member of a board in Southern Africa? Are you wanting to know how to address climate change?