The State of ESG and Sustainability Reporting
BARC highlights the top ESG challenges, tools, and outlook for organizations around the globe
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) is increasingly important for improving sustainability, achieving compliance, and demonstrating substantive value to customers, employees, and business partners. However, ESG reporting can be a disruptive, data-intensive process. According to BARC, the two biggest challenges organizations face are a lack of data quality and reliability and too many different data sources.
Many organizations underestimate the challenge of collecting ESG data when forming a dedicated team for the task, discovering they lack the required integration and analytics capabilities and internal expertise. However, this disruption presents an opportunity for organizations to reassess and redesign the entire process based on the latest guidance. While the office of finance is a natural choice for driving ESG efforts, most finance leaders are missing out on the opportunity to act as a valuable partner.1
Organizations that embed ESG reporting into their overall business strategy – led by the office of finance – will be in a stronger position to reap the benefits, identify risks, and outperform the competition.
42% of organizations report that a lack of data quality and reliability is the number-one challenge they face in ESG reporting.
– BARC, The state of ESG and sustainability reporting, 2023
Have organizations published their first ESG report?
Who currently drives ESG reporting?
Source
1 BARC, The state of ESG and sustainability reporting, 2023
