Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) Reporting in 2024

Corporate practices produce environmental and social issues. In 2021, we used 1.7 times more natural resources than the Earth regenerates in a year, we experienced many climate change related catastrophes that affect many regions. The usage of child labor reached a two-decade high, affecting 160 million children. The gap between rich and poor continues to widen. Gender inequality is still an issue and so on. 

As a result, Politicians, consumers, investors, and NGOs all demand change. This new paradigm forces businesses to publicly disclose non-financial data in order to demonstrate that they are contributing to the solution of global issues. 

In this article, firstly we introduce environmental social governance (ESG) reports in depth. Then, in the further readings section, we supply links and intros about our other articles that will assist executives understand topics like ESG reporting metrics, ESG reporting benefits, carbon footprint calculation, digital transformation and sustainability and so on. 

What is ESG reporting?

ESG reporting, is a public disclosure of a firm that aims to inform investors, consumers, NGOs, and, in some situations, regulators about an organization’s non-financial impacts. 

Firms publicly disclose information to all stakeholders concerning their negative influence on the environment and society, such as:

• GHG emissions.
• Gender inequality.
• Income inequalit.
• Human rights abuses, and so on.

To reveal their environmental and social impacts, they benefit from both quantitative and qualitative metrics

ESG reporting also informs all stakeholders about a company’s governance structure and its management of negative environmental or social externalities.  In this sense, comprehensive ESG reporting offers a realistic short- and long-term plan to mitigate the negative externalities of a firm. The ESG report includes KPIs that allow stakeholders to track the effectiveness of a strategy.

Further Readings

• ESG reporting metrics: According to PwC, many businesses struggle to determine which metrics to include in their ESG reports. We provide 14 metrics in total relating the environmental, social, and governmental elements of the firms in our article 3 Types of Metrics CEOs Must Use in ESG Reporting. In addition, we include our advice for executives to improve their ESG scores.
• ESG Best Practices: Because it is a relatively new concept, many businesses are unsure how to generate complete ESG reports and convey their ESG improvements to various stakeholders. Our Top 6 ESG Reporting Best Practices article aims to guide executives to improve their corporate ESG posture.
• ESG reporting benefits: To some extent, all executives are aware that a higher ESG score is linked to attracting more investors, customers, top talent workers, and government subsidies. However, only a few executives are aware of its true significance. In our article 4 Ways ESG Reporting Will Boost Your Business Performance, we use recent research from reputable organizations such as NYU, Deloitte, McKinsey, and others to demonstrate the true impact of a high-quality ESG report. We also offer CEOs our recommendations on how to increase their ESG score. 
• Sustainability Case Studies: Seeing the pioneers’ steps might be inspiring and encouraging for spreading the value. With this in mind, we wrote our article Top 10 Sustainability Case Studies and Success Stories. The ESG concept is used as a foundation for determining case studies in this article. As a result, we present case studies that help organizations improve their environmental, social, and governance standards.
• Sustainable Management: Getting closer to ESG goals necessitates a significant change in business operations. It would be naïve to anticipate a complete transformation without a change in management style. Our Sustainable Management: Definition, Importance & Practices article aims to prepare executives for the new management paradigm.
• Carbon footprint calculation: Carbon footprint estimation has become a prerequisite for businesses due to consumer and investor expectations. We explain how to calculate your organization’s carbon footprint in our article 4 Steps to Calculate the Carbon Footprint of Your Organization. We have mentioned some technologies that can help you with calculations. We also provide a world like example to further assist your team.
• Carbon footprint calculator tools: Carbon footprint calculator tools: The easiest way of measuring your carbon footprint is by using carbon footprint software/tools. Such calculators automate the data extraction process and ease interpretation and visualization of the data. We introduce 7 carbon footprint software in our Top 7 Carbon Footprint Calculator Software/Tools for Businesses article.
• Carbon footprint reduction: There are technology driven and management driven ways of reducing carbon footprint. By reading our 5 Ways to Reduce Corporate Carbon Footprint article you can find the best practices.
• Circular economy: Our corporate practices are not just affecting the environment by producing excessive GHGs. Furthermore, we consume too many virgin resources, which is both polluting the planet and reducing profitability. The circular economy, which encourages recycling, repair, and reuse, aims to increase both sustainability and economic value. We have three articles on the topic of circular economy:
  • What is Circular Economy? [Definition, Principles & Advantages]: Intro article to circular economy.
  • Top 10 Metrics to Assess the Circularity of Businesses: Advise executives in determining how to measure their company’s circularity by introducing 10 metrics with their formulas.
  • Top 6 Circular Economy Best Practices for Businesses: Introduce ways for enhancing circularity of the firms.
• Sustainable supply chain: For many organizations supply chain is the best department to improve ESG score since it is often the source of pollution and social problems. You can find 7 best practices to improve your supply chain sustainability by reading our article of 7 Ways to Improve Your Supply Chain Sustainability.
• Digital transformation and sustainability: If used appropriately, technology can be an enabler of sustainability. As a result, there is a way for firms to improve both efficiency and sustainability at the same time. Examples of dual transformation can be seen in our articles Top 4 Digital Technologies that Improve Corporate Sustainability, Top 5 Technologies Improving Supply Chain Sustainability and 5 Ways AI Can Make Your Business More Sustainable.  We also present real-world examples of how certain technologies have been implemented in these articles.

 You can look at our list of top reporting tools that helps to automate reporting tasks.

Please contact us for your any ESG reporting related questions: