After years and decades of searching, researching, and testing, a solution for most planetary problems has been found: ESG sustainability reporting. It is a process used by companies to showcase their environmental, social, and governance impacts with the goal of promoting a sustainable global economy. All about the best ESG software on the market.
As more governments and regulatory bodies appreciate the long list of benefits of ESG sustainability reporting, especially the potential to address global warming impacts, and they are now taking it to the next level by making it mandatory. This is why companies should put more effort on sustainability, performance, compliance, and risk management. All about ESG data management software and CSR reporting software.
In the EU, the introduction of Taxonomy legislation is expected to overhaul other sustainability-related laws. In other jurisdictions, from Singapore to Australia, the view and trend are the same as the respective governments’ target to leverage ESG sustainability reporting benefits.
Although some companies might not see it this way, the solutions brought by the focus on ESG sustainability will ultimately boost performance and success. However, how to manage the reporting process is never easy for many organizations.
To make compliance to environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting easier, systematic and professional, you need to look for an appropriate ESG reporting program.
This can be challenging because of many apps on the market plus the growing list of things to focus on, from health to energy use, in a business. So, how do you select the right software for corporate sustainability reporting in your business? Keep reading as we help you to view and learn more about the best sustainability reporting software for your company.
4 Things to Think About ESG Sustainability Reporting
With appropriate ESG sustainability reporting software, it is easy for your organizations to collect correct data, learn from it and prepare professional reports. As you select the preferred program, it is also important to think about the following:
● Sustainability Reporting Principles
These are the underlying guidelines that define the process of ESG sustainability reporting. The most notable of these is accuracy, which requires you to ensure the information presented in the report is factual. Other important principles of ESG reporting include materiality, clarity, continuity, accuracy and balance. For example, how accurate is the corporate data on health, energy, or other environmental solutions/ impacts presented in the report?
● The Preferred ESG Reporting Framework
To prepare a good ESG sustainability report, you also need to think about a good framework for compliance. One of the most preferred models is the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). The framework is preferred because it is easy to use and can work for both small and large organizations. Other frameworks you might want to consider are the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) framework.
● The Targeted Stakeholders
The process of ESG sustainability reporting starts with materiality assessment and stakeholder engagement. Identifying these stakeholders helps you to focus on what they want; perhaps they prefer you address waste management or emission reduction first, as opposed to your proposed focus on social justice. Let’s put it this way: the entire process should be based on what stakeholders want to increase acceptability when the report is finally released (know more about ESG consulting).
Benefits of Using the Best Sustainability Reporting Software
Using the best ESG sustainability management software in your firm comes with a long list of benefits that you cannot afford to miss. The most notable of these is that it makes it easy to follow the reporting process from the beginning to the end. Therefore, it serves as a platform to help you eliminate the risk of forgetting to collect useful information and compromising the entire report. Other benefits of using ESG software include:
- It helps automate the process of EHS sustainability reporting so that it can be easily managed even by a few team members. So, other employees can focus on the core activities of the enterprise and the software as a lean team collects data on every sustainability-related impact and prepare the final report.
- With good ESG sustainability management software, even new startups are able to easily assess their risks and opportunities, and generate good ESG or EHS reports that stakeholders can use to make decisions about buying, investing, or associating with them. That is one of the solutions for creating top-rated reports. All about SBTI on this article.
- Installing and using the corporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) sustainability reporting program can help to easily manage and cut down the cost of the process. Because the platform is able to pull out data from the company's management system, a lean team will be enough for the process. This ultimately translates to lower costs for the entire reporting process.
Selecting the Best Sustainability Reporting Software
To enjoy all the benefits of running a sustainable company, the software you select should have the following attributes and features:
● Real-Time Data Collection
The bulk of the environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting process is all about data. Because sustainability in a company touches different sectors of an organization, it is paramount to pick a platform that can simultaneously track data from all of them. For example, suppose you target cutting down emissions, shift to green energy, train staff on sustainability, and reduce water use. In that case, the program should be able to track the details concurrently and consolidate them for the final report without compromising its safety.
● High Data Security
The best sustainability reporting software should easily integrate with your company’s management system. This implies that it is likely to access sensitive information about the company. Therefore, you should go for an app that is easy to manage and guarantees optimal data safety. For example, it should come with the latest encryption to reduce the risk of hackers gaining access. In addition, it should have a good backup system as a safety alternative in case of a problem that results in data loss.
● Restricted Logins
Like other management apps, the EHS and ESG sustainability reporting program you select should make it easy for the company to grant a few people, preferably team leaders, access rights. Those granted these rights might also be allowed to track, modify and add data to the program for the report. Because some programs might have restrictions on the number of persons who can be granted rights, go for the model that allows the maximum number of users.
● Good Customer Support
Another important item of a good sustainability management program is professional customer support. With good support, it implies that you can easily learn and get assistance if stuck when using the program. For example, if the program is not generating the report of your organization as expected, the developer on the other end should be available on live chat, phone, or through emails with a solution.
● Easy Data Analysis and Report Generation
Another feature that makes using sustainability management software awesome is that you are able to manage progressive analyses for the collected data. ESG data management software is a key for your peace of mind.
This means that you can even generate and view periodical corporate ESG reports based on specific sustainability issues for progressive analysis or sharing with stakeholders. Again, the program should be able to work with your selected framework for accurate report generation.
Ready to get your ESG data management software and CSR reporting software
One program that meets all the above attributes is Diginex. It is designed to make the process of ESG reporting easy, fast, and fun. A closer look at the feedback from past users indicates it is a highly reliable app, and you should try it for compliance with local legislation and professional requirements.
Reach Diginex today for more information about ESG data management software and how to apply it in your company.
