How to Begin Your ESG Sustainability Reporting Journey

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Over the last about 100 years, efforts to address global challenges, especially global warming, human trafficking, and loss of biodiversity, have borne little results. Even major efforts, such as the Kyoto Protocol and voluntary corporate social responsibility, have not yielded much. Now, we can get a sigh of relief because a solution has finally landed: ESG sustainability reporting.

 

ESG sustainability reporting is the disclosure of a company’s environmental, social, and governance impacts. The goal is to demonstrate a company’s sustainability efforts to stakeholders so that they can make the big decisions, such as whether to buy, invest, or become part of your brand’s community. Today, over 90% of S&P 500 listed firms publish their ESG reports. Where do you begin if you have a new company, project, or start-up? Keep reading to learn more about ESG sustainability reporting and how to get started.

 

Understand How ESG Reporting Works 

 

The first thing when it comes to ESG sustainability reporting is to understand how it works. As we mentioned already, the process is targeted at creating a comprehensive report about the company’s sustainability efforts. It is guided by the key principles of ESG reporting, including:

  • Materiality: This principle is aimed at ensuring that you focus on areas that have the greatest impacts on sustainability.
  • Comparability: When your report is finally published, this principle is aimed at ensuring that stakeholders can compare the company with others to make the right decisions.
  • Accuracy: This is perhaps the most important of all the principles. It aims to ensure that the information you give in the report is correct. So, if you indicate that the company managed to cut emissions by 10% or support the course for justice, the information must be accurate to avoid the effort getting labelled greenwashing.
  • Other principles include verifiability, continuity, balance and flexibility.

Appreciate the Benefits of ESG Sustainability Reporting  

As a starter, you are only sure of getting the process of ESG sustainability reporting right when the benefits are clear. The benefits help you to understand the process more effectively and direct more resources into ESG reporting. So, here are the main benefits to anticipate:

  • Better understanding of your company’s key opportunities and risks.
  • Compliance with different laws and policies. You also avoid getting into conflict with the law.
  • Helps your company to increase production efficiency.
  • Cutting down the overall cost of production for your facility.
  • Increases engagement with your stakeholders.
  • Satisfaction from knowing you are helping to address the global challenges.

Identify the Preferred Software for ESG Reporting 

One thing that you need to appreciate about ESG reporting tool is that it can be challenging because you are dealing with multiple parameters. For example, you might want to capture data on emissions, staff development, and efforts to promote social justice in the community. When you combine all of these with information on financial performance, it can get pretty complex, but you can simplify it by selecting and working with an appropriate ESG sustainability reporting software.

 

ESG reporting programs allow you to visualize the entire process, helping to simplify data collection, analysis and report generation. You can even set the app to notify you when specific levels of the selected reporting parameters are reached.

 

ESG sustainability reporting is very important for your business, and it is prudent to ensure it is done in adherence to the set-out principles. Make sure to use the right reporting app for your report to get the expected impacts. If the process still appears challenging, consider bringing on board a professional to help your team. Reach out to Diginex.com for more help with your sustainability reporting.