ESG reporting

Stakeholders – from regulators and investors, to customers and the public – are putting your ESG metrics and disclosures under increasing scrutiny. They want access to credible, verifiable and comparable ESG metrics so that they can make decisions on areas that matter most to them. Meeting their expectations can mean going beyond mandatory requirements.

So, what should you include in your ESG disclosures?

Expectations of what you need to report on are changing rapidly, and there’s little consistency in how data is shared. The range of ESG metrics and disclosure frameworks used is vast and varies by sector, size and complexity, as well as location. Your performance will be ranked by many different indices, scorers and benchmarks. How do you articulate clearly what you’re doing in key ESG areas? 

Listed and private businesses across all sectors and all levels of maturity will need support with ESG know-how and technical accounting and reporting expertise.

It’s crucial that you:

1. Understand stakeholder expectations. 
Understand what your stakeholders expect you to report on and articulate your ESG performance clearly. ESG regulations are evolving so it’s important to complete a horizon scan in order to understand their applicability to your business.

2. Create effective corporate ESG reporting.
Provide training to your team and undertake materiality assessments or benchmarking. Get the right content identification and development, data requirements and reporting structures, as well as undergoing compliance reviews.

3. Align your ESG reporting with key mandatory and voluntary reporting frameworks.
These could include the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards, UK Climate-related financial disclosures and Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards.

4. Improve the quality and efficiency of non-financial reporting.
Identify data requirements, prepare methodology statements and review existing reporting processes to assess assurance readiness.

5. Understand the impact of climate change on financial statement disclosures.
Review your ESG disclosures for compliance with existing reporting requirements and benchmark against good practice.