As part of the sustainability reporting obligation, companies must evaluate and report on environmental, social and corporate governance issues. As these are broad subject areas, some examples of content relating to the ESG criteria are shown here.
Environmental:
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- Climate change: Measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, adaptation to climate change, use of renewable energies.
- Energy efficiency: Initiatives to save energy, utilisation of sustainable energy resources.
- Resource management: Responsible use of water, waste, raw materials and biodiversity.
- Environmental pollution: Measures to reduce environmental pollution and pollutant emissions.
Social:
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- Employee rights and working conditions: Equal opportunities, diversity, fair pay, health and safety in the workplace.
- Human rights: Respect for human rights in business activities and in the supply chain.
- Customer security and data protection: Protection of customer rights, secure products and services, data protection.
- Community engagement: Collaboration with local communities, social investment, charity work.
Governance:
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- Corporate governance: Compliance with ethical standards, transparency, independence of supervisory bodies.
- Business ethics and integrity: Combating corruption and bribery, ethical behaviour.
- Risk management: Identification, assessment and management of business risks.
- Stakeholder engagement: Stakeholder involvement, dialogue and collaboration.
The areas outlined illustrate that ESG is a comprehensive and complex subject area. Only through a careful and digital tool system can the impact on the environment, society and corporate governance be assessed holistically. Among other things, this can form the basis for the automated creation of a sustainability report.
Read our article to find out what opportunities and risks ESG presents for companies.