Corporate governance
Through our governance, we set clear responsibilities for our leaders, employees and partners.
Governance and risk management
Embedding sustainability in governance and risk management
At Equinor, our approach to sustainability is embedded in how we work. Our sustainability priorities – building a low-carbon advantage, ensuring responsible operations, protecting the environment and creating shared value – are closely linked with our three strategic pillars.
How we work to ensure an integrated approach to sustainability, is reflected in our corporate governance principles, performance and reward framework and management system. These elements are described in the Equinor book, available here.
We are committed in being a leader in the energy transition. We work actively to reduce emissions from oil and gas to maintain our position as industry leading in carbon efficiency, grow significantly in renewables and help society move towards net zero.
Safe and responsible operations are essential for our license to operate and an enabler of long-term value creation. We have set clear targets for continuous improvement of our safety records. We are managing our environmental impact, respecting human rights and promoting integrity and transparency.
We deliver energy to millions of people and create value for our shareholders. Through our core business and supply chain, we create economic value and opportunities for society and communities. We provide jobs, invest in employees’ skills and capabilities and work collaboratively with stakeholders to accelerate action and progress on pressing social and environmental issues in society.
Governance
At Equinor, the Board of Directors (BoD) and Corporate Executive Committee review, monitor and discuss safety, security and sustainability issues and risks on a regular basis, while the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is responsible for the day-to-day management of these areas.
BoD members are elected by the corporate assembly. In addition, there are employee-elected representatives as required by Norwegian company law.
The board’s composition is diverse in terms of background and geography. They have background from oil, gas, renewables, shipping, telecom, politics and climate policy.
The BoD has three sub-committees which act as preparatory bodies.
Supervises the company’s safety, security, sustainability, including climate, and ethics policies, systems, risks and performance.
Committee instructions can be found here.
Assists BoD on terms and conditions for employment of the CEO, and on the philosophy, principles and strategy for the compensation of leading executives in Equinor.
Instructions include achieving goals related to climate and energy transition, and how these goals are a part of the remuneration policies.
Ensures that the group has an independent and effective external and internal auditing system.
Supervises the implementation of and compliance with the group’s expectations, commitments and requirements for ethical conduct concerning financial reporting.
Group level functions responsible for sustainability-related issues include:
- The safety, security, and sustainability function
- The people and leadership function
- The legal function
These functions are responsible for setting strategic direction, give advice and report on risk and performance within the topics to the Corporate Executive Committee and the BoD, including relevant committees.
The business line is accountable for executing the company’s sustainability ambitions and for managing relevant risks and performance.
Risk and impact management
Management of sustainability-related risks, including climate-related risks, is embedded in our enterprise risk management process. We regularly identify, evaluate and manage risks to create sustainable value and avoid incidents. Our enterprise risk assessment and related actions are reviewed biannually by the corporate executive committee and the BoD.
We perform impact assessment everywhere we operate to ensure the best possible overall risk management process. We do this based on national requirements in the countries we operate, and guidance as set out in international standards such as the International Finance Corporation (IFC) Standards.
Want to know more about how we assess the impact of our work?
Performance framework
At Equinor, safety, security and sustainability are embedded into our performance and reward framework. The reward framework is an integrated part of our values-based performance culture and has been designed to contribute to the business strategy, long-term interests and sustainability of the company.
Management of sustainability performance is integrated in strategy, business planning, risk management, decision-making and management follow-up processes. Our performance framework translates our vision, values and strategy into actions and results. We measure progress and results in a holistic way, using key performance indicators such as the following when relevant:
- Serious incident frequency (SIF)
- Total recordable injury frequency (TRIF)
- Oil/gas leakages
- CO2 intensity (upstream)
