Starting your ESG and sustainability journey

Organizations see many benefits to having an environmental, social and governance (ESG) and sustainability programs. These programs can be utilized to achieve operational cost savings, brand recognition and supply chain optimization if implemented effectively.

ESG is not a new concept – many aspects of it are already embedded in a lot of what companies do day-to-day. What is new is compiling the many aspects of it together and consistently reporting on it. This allows for transparency and comparability between companies and what they’re reporting.

Every company is on a journey with its ESG and sustainability goals, though some may find it challenging to evaluate where to start on these initiatives to provide their company value. These are the steps companies tend to follow on their journeys.

Reporting

1. Awareness and education – Before crafting a strategy or program, a company must have insight and awareness of the ESG and sustainability landscape. This is where they start to understand what’s important when it comes to ESG and sustainability, how to evaluate these different initiatives and how to develop the strategy to incorporate them within their organization.
2. Strategy development and refinement – Once a company has the proper awareness and education, it should develop a strategy that is aligned with its business objectives. They should understand and be able to articulate how ESG initiatives align with the business strategy and how Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) tax credits can be utilized to deploy some of these strategies.
3. Reporting preparation – Whether ESG reporting is voluntary or required, organizations must develop or refine reporting processes to support their disclosure requirements. This could be as simple as greenhouse gas emissions reporting or as specific as metrics around certain social or governance pieces of their strategy.

Assurance

1. Assurance readiness