Using ESG Strategy to Drive Performance and Value, Part 2 – Podcast

Key Points

• ESG reporting is trending toward being a requirement. 
• There are ESG framework disparities and inconsistencies between different rating agencies. 
• Markets and investors want to know how companies are weighing risks. 

Greg Englert, Partner, and ESG Practice Leader, continues Beyond the Numbers, Weaver’s examination of ESG strategy to drive performance and value for companies in the second of a two-part series.

Englert provides a recap of topics covered in Using ESG Strategy to Drive Performance and Value, Part I before diving into several current trends in sustainability reporting to begin the discussion.

Topics covered in this discussion are:

• Recent trends in ESG disclosure reporting
• Common gaps between ESG reporting and investor community expectations
• Leading practices adopted by companies and key takeaways related to ESG reporting

Englert says investors want to better understand the companies they’re investing in and ESG disclosure reporting is a valuable tool for that information.

“We’re seeing more robust ESG reporting,” Englert says. “Most companies have adopted some form of sustainability reporting. We’ve moved past the days of corporate responsibility reports, and we’re starting to see more and more information disclosed each year.”

Regarding ESG disclosure reporting, Englert takes a closer look at the increase in the amount of specific environmental and social disclosures investors want to see incorporated into their reports. 

“We are not just talking about having ESG standards that encourage companies to disclose numbers related to an emission and putting that information together in a standard format. These investors are also pushing companies to provide the users of a company’s ESG report with further understanding of how the company went about gathering, compiling and calculating its reported numbers,” says Englert.

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