Companies are increasingly expected to be able to speak as confidently on their sustainability indicators as they do their financial performance.
This expectation is being driven as much by investors as consumers. It’s no longer considered ‘just the right thing to do’ to mitigate environmental and social impacts; A deep working knowledge of these impacts along with a genuine remediation plan is now regarded by investors as good risk management.
However, unlike the very clear rules and regulations that govern a company’s financial performance reporting, ESG reporting is murky. The ESG industry is still in its infancy and the landscape is shifting at a rapid pace. What is considered ‘material’ is different across industries. The risk of greenwashing is high for companies that don’t have a strong grasp on what constitutes ‘due diligence’ for ESG.
In 2022, I became a globally certified Sustainability Practitioner through the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), one of the most recognised, independent standards organisations that helps businesses, governments and other organisations understand and communicate their impacts on issues such as climate change, human rights and corruption.
I combine my certification with my communications experience to help businesses undertake ESG due diligence and formally report their ESG performance to GRI’s standards, and in a way that makes sense for investors and consumers.