OVERCOMING THE REPORTING CHALLENGES FOR ESG
Until recently, sustainability and environmental, social and governance (ESG) were of primary interest to environmentalists, liberal-leaning political action groups and non-governmental organisations.
Over the past several years, however, a confluence of major political, economic and social shifts has transformed ESG into one of the most topical business issues of our times. The term ESG has reached remarkable search-popularity on Google, hitting the maximum possible score of ‘100’. And major new best practice and regulatory requirements have only brought further attention and urgency to the topic of ESG.
Currently, more than a dozen major global reporting frameworks, with a dizzying array of acronyms, prescribe a host of best practice and regulatory-driven disclosure and reporting requirements. Among the most notable reporting frameworks are Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), Climate Disclosure Standard Board (CDSB), Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), UN Principles for Responsible Investing (PRI), Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
On the regulatory side, in March 2021, the European Union’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) came into effect, requiring financial firms such as fund managers, insurers and banks that provide financial products and services to comprehensively disclose and report on their level of sustainability with regard to their investment activity. Under the SFDR, there are transparency specifications at both the entity and product levels.
Oct-Dec 2021 Issue
GRMA