ESG
Communicating your company’s ESG performance to best practice standards
We work with micro and small cap companies to develop and communicate their ESG proposition to the standard the market now expects. Our strategies always consider a company’s size, budget and resourcing capability.
We work to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) framework, supported by the TCFD and SASB frameworks as relevant. We can also align your proposition to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Our services enable you to talk more confidently about ESG, no matter where you are on your journey:
- ESG gap analysis and disclosure statements
Determine where you are right now in relation to industry standards, and disclose this position to best practice. This service enables you to respond transparently to investor surveys, without the risk of greenwashing, and demonstrate basic ESG proficiency to the market. Once we’ve developed your report, we’ll help you communicate your current position to investors and through your channels.
Determine which ESG topics matter most to your business through analysis and stakeholder engagement. A materiality assessment helps companies validate and direct their ESG budget, and respond to questions about ‘materiality’ in relation to ESG.
- ESG reports, webinars, roadshows…
And other investor communication materials in relation to ESG. For companies with a well-developed ESG proposition, or those who have defined their current position via an audit.
- ESG reports in accordance with leading frameworks (ISSB, SASB, GRI)
Due to the nature of best practice reporting requirements, these reports can only be produced for companies who have undertaken a materiality assessment.
Why engage an ESG specialist
The global movement toward a net zero economy, and the incorporation of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals into government legislation the world over, is having a seismic impact on the business landscape.
Fund managers and shareholders increasingly expect companies to be able to disclose their ESG performance just as they do their financial performance.
“More than 90 percent of S&P 500 companies now publish ESG reports in some form, as do approximately 70 percent of Russell 1000 companies. [1] In a number of jurisdictions, reporting ESG elements is either mandatory or under active consideration. In the United States, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is considering new rules that would require more detailed disclosure of climate-related risks and greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions.[2] Additional SEC regulations on other facets of ESG have also been proposed or are pending.[3]”
Lucy Pérez, Dame Vivian Hunt, Hamid Samandari, Robin Nuttall, and Krysta Biniek, Does ESG Really Matter – and why? McKinsey Sustainability, August 2022
A company’s ability to comprehensively disclose their ESG factors is a signal to investors that good risk management practices are in place.
ESG disclosures include, but are not limited to, carbon emissions, data protection and privacy, impacts on biodiversity, and the risk of modern slavery in supply chains.
Companies can provide information about their ESG performance on their websites and as a separate section in their annual reports, among other places.
What makes a ‘good' ESG report?
Companies may choose to communicate their ESG impact by adopting a formal reporting standard such as the Global Reporting Initiative (the standard recommended by the ASX), or they may choose a more informal style of update. Regardless of whether an update adopts a formal reporting framework or not, ESG-savvy investors will be consistently looking for one thing:
“That the company can demonstrate that it has applied due diligence to its ESG impact assessment process.”
Due diligence is the process of identifying, assessing, remedying and mitigating impacts. It’s a how a company can be assured (and reassuring) that it has avoided greenwashing.
“For companies who wish to report their ESG impact to a standard investors expect, and who have not yet undertaken comprehensive due diligence, the process can take some time. It’s important that you factor this in if you want to include a sustainability section in your next annual report.”
Ask us how we can help you undertake the ESG due diligence process and communicate your sustainability performance to the standard investors expect.
Read our blog: Getting started with ESG – what’s it all about?...
References: https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/sustainability/our-insights/does-esg-really-matter-and-why
