Decision rights and responsibilities
Most governance failures in a crisis are not failures of knowledge but of authority: nobody was sure who could decide, who had to be consulted, or who would answer for the result. The Global Risks Forum (GRF) helps institutions make decision rights explicit before they are needed: which mandate applies, which actor is responsible, what has been delegated and to whom, and where responsibilities fall between institutions. GRF records the agreements that institutions reach. It never takes a decision that belongs to them, and its own decision rights are limited to the programme it governs.
- 01In briefThe short answer
- 02Four elementsWhat a decision-rights map records
- 03NotationFrom a RACI chart to a decision-rights record
- 04Workshop formatHow a mapping session runs
- 05The methodHow a responsibility map is built
- 06GRF's own decision rightsWhere GRF decides, and where it does not
- 07Key termsTerms used on this page
GRF · Institution · service level R0
The short answer.
Decision rights are the explicit answers to who may decide, who must be consulted and who answers for the result when a shared risk arrives. GRF helps institutions record them before a crisis: which mandate applies, who is responsible, what has been delegated to whom and where responsibilities fall between institutions.
Jurisdictions in the Aral Sea Basin.
The jurisdictions that hold authority over this question: countries, their first-level divisions and capitals, shown for the Aral Sea Basin as an example geography for this subject.
What a decision-rights map records.
The source of authority
The law, instrument or charter that gives an institution its authority, and its limits.
Who decides and answers
The office or person who decides and is accountable for the decision.
Who acts for whom
What has been delegated, to whom, under what conditions and how it can be withdrawn.
Where authority is unclear
Decisions that fall between mandates, or that several institutions believe are theirs.
From a RACI chart to a decision-rights record.
Project managers use RACI charts to say who is responsible, accountable, consulted and informed. Public decisions need two more columns: the legal basis for the authority and the condition that moves a decision from one holder to another, such as a declared emergency or a threshold on a gauge. A decision-rights record therefore names the decision, the holder, the instrument, the trigger, the people who must be consulted and the route of appeal or review.
| Field | Example entry (illustrative) |
|---|---|
| Decision | Release water from a reservoir ahead of forecast inflow |
| Holder | Dam operator under its licence |
| Instrument | Operating rules set under the licence issued by the water regulator |
| Trigger for escalation | Forecast exceeding a stated return period, at which point the basin authority directs |
| Must consult | Downstream municipalities, civil protection |
| Review | Regulator's post-event review |
How a mapping session runs.
- Each institution brings its own instruments: statutes, licences, emergency plans, delegations of authority.
- Facilitators walk one scenario hour by hour and ask at each step who can lawfully act and who believes they can.
- Gaps and overlaps are logged as they appear, without attribution of fault.
- The draft map returns to each institution's legal adviser before anything is recorded as agreed.
- Disputed entries stay on the record as disputed, with each institution's reading.
The method is shared with the Governance Nexus decision-rights page and applied in each specialist field; GRF holds no decision on the map it helps to draw.
How a responsibility map is built.
- 01
Choose a scenario
A plausible event that crosses institutions, such as a prolonged power outage affecting hospitals and water supply.
- 02
List the decisions
The decisions the scenario requires, from warning to recovery.
- 03
Assign each decision
For each decision, the mandate, the responsible actor, those who must be consulted and those who must be informed, as each institution states them.
- 04
Surface disagreements
Where institutions disagree or no one claims a decision, the record says so plainly. Silence is never recorded as agreement.
- 05
Test and revise
Test the map in a controlled exercise and revise it with the institutions concerned.
A responsibility map records what institutions agree about their own authority. It does not create, transfer or interpret legal authority, and it is not legal advice.
Where GRF decides, and where it does not.
| Decision | Who holds it |
|---|---|
| Nexus Universe mandate, mission admission, gate decisions and publication authorisation | GRF, within its instruments; see programme governance |
| Evidence, methods and the technical build | The Global Centre for Risk and Innovation (GCRI) |
| Finance and insurance readiness questions | The Global Risks Alliance (GRA), never an approval or a transaction |
| National agenda and participation | Competent national structures |
| Policy, operational and financial decisions | The relevant government, operator or licensed institution |
Terms used on this page.
Each term as this page uses it. Where a standard-setting body defines the term, the wording follows that body.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Decision rights matrix | A table showing which body proposes, approves, executes and oversees each decision. |
| Risk owner | The person or entity with the accountability and authority to manage a risk. |
| Delegation register | A record of the authority delegated to each role and its limits. |
| Competent authority | The body that a law or regulation designates to exercise a given power or duty, such as a supervisor, a civil protection agency or a ministry; only it can take the decisions the law assigns to it. |
Where this page's references lead.
The bodies and documents this page is read against. Status and editions change; each link goes to the issuing body.
Questions and answers.
Can GRF tell us who should decide?
Is a responsibility map binding?
Where is the method applied?
How do we start a mapping exercise?
Around GRF.
Start with an enquiry.
The current service level is R0: information and enquiries. An enquiry receives a reference and names the next step; applications, payments, compute allocations and registrations open only when their team, terms and review capacity exist.