Renewed resolve not resolutions in the new year.
While 2021’s ESG conversations showed increased commitment to addressing the most pressing issues facing our global populations, economies, and environment, the FigBytes team is optimistic that in 2022, organizations will shift from declarations to demonstration.
The most important potential drivers of this shift are new government regulations that provide clear and critical guidance on mandatory disclosures and ESG Reporting, because the old saying still rings true: what gets measured gets managed.
However, as the world plays catch up on hitting critical carbon targets and adapting to current mandates, many ESG leaders are also looking at the regulatory horizon to get ahead of the complex data and reporting requirements sure to come.
The sustainability experts at FigBytes are closely monitoring these four quickly evolving areas of ESG:
Climate Accounting
In addition to the rise of voluntary net zero commitments, new regulations in nearly every industry from fashion to finance and across geographies are changing, representing seismic shifts in how companies manage, measure, and report on their carbon emissions. Keeping up with the rapidly changing reporting requirements will prove a daunting task and keeping commitments to both consumers and investors will be paramount to organizational success.
Water Stewardship
With water scarcity affecting every continent on our planet, new regulations and mandatory reporting requirements are on the horizon. Future-focused organizations know that addressing the water crisis by managing water footprints reduces their risk and positions them to take the lead as responsible water stewards for the communities where they operate.
Corporate Responsibility
The debate and dissection of the Great Resignation of 2021 rages on but employees have made it quite clear that not only do they have new priorities in evaluating employment, but they’re acting on them. Nearly 70 percent of employees say they wouldn’t work for a company without a strong purpose. Organizations that want to attract and retain talent in an increasingly competitive labor market must be able to credibly demonstrate commitments to both their communities and their employees.
Supplier Transparency
A seemingly perfect storm of challenges have revealed the critical and intricate network of dependencies that create risk in our global supply chain. While certain industries like mineral extraction and manufacturing have focused on shoring up supply chain risk for decades, 2021 showed us that supplier transparency is critical to nearly every organization. ESG leaders should have processes that help them assess environmental, social, and governance performance in their supply chain and provide benchmarks that allow them to mitigate risk in supplier selection and management.
Overwhelmed by the ESG regulatory horizon? FigBytes can help. Our comprehensive ESG Insight Platform automates reporting to evolving ESG frameworks and standards that ensure compliance with mandatory disclosures and alignment with mission critical KPIs.
