2/3 of those responsible for ESG reporting say their company isn’t prepared

As noted in this report, Workiva recently conducted a survey of 1300 in-house professionals worldwide that handle ESG reporting and strategy and the results included:

– 68% of organizations globally have put in place specific roles to oversee ESG reporting and initiatives.
– 75% have started formally reporting on their ESG, climate and sustainability or corporate social responsibility data over the last three years.
– 63% of decision makers see formal stakeholder engagement informing ESG materiality to a significant extent.
– ESG reporting has generated a positive impact across customer retention and recruitment (72%), cost savings (71%), insurance or credit agency engagement (71%), and reduced long-term risk (71%).
– 63% of decision makers currently feel unprepared to meet their ESG goals and government and regulatory reporting mandates.
– Environmental issues are their biggest concern with their top two challenges being related to this area: calculating carbon accounting level data and greenhouse gas protocols for Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions.
– Over the next 12-18 months, 43% of organizations’ internal ESG budget will be devoted to addressing environmental factors.
– 76% of decision makers believe technology is important to compiling and collaborating on ESG data.
Only 35% believe they can use technology and data very well to make decisions on advancing ESG strategy.