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Has climate reporting got the temperature rising in your boardroom?

Bring clarity to sustainbility reporting in the boardroom.

Mandatory climate-related disclosures are on the doorstep of Australian businesses. While incoming legislation may be one driving catalyst for change, it’s certainly not the only force exerting power.

Market maturity and the rise of impact investing have shifted climate commitments in the last decade from an ambiguous promise to “do better”, to a complex and expansive integration into the heart of business strategy. And boards are being challenged like never before to identify, aim and strike a bullseye on climate targets. Yet the complexity and uncertainty of climate risks, lack of consistent reporting standards and the need for cross-functional data have boards struggling to get what they need, when they need it, to effectively execute their duties. The question on everyone’s minds is: how can organisations provide a renewable source of sustainable ESG information to drive smart decision-making in the boardroom?

To start, let’s look at some of the factors actively polluting climate reporting in the boardroom.

Poor-quality data leading to poor-quality decisions

One of the biggest board challenges is obtaining accurate and timely data that reflects the organisation’s ESG performance. Sustainability teams often struggle to collect, track and measure climate-related data that is frequently incomplete, inconsistent or fragmented across departments and systems. By the time the data makes it to the board, it’s often outdated and lacking context and consistency, leaving leadership ill-prepared to make meaningful decisions. Without a doubt, climate-related data needs will only grow in complexity and importance as ESG risks and opportunities constantly evolve, requiring more frequent updates and adjustments to reporting metrics and targets.

Deciphering the gist from the jargon

Once organisations finally obtain the necessary data, they often arrive at their second issue – the lack of consistency and clarity in information surfaced to the board. Sustainability teams are often tasked with reporting against certification frameworks or regulatory templates built for and typically only understood by subject matter experts. It’s all too common that boards are bombarded with lengthy, complicated and convoluted sustainability reports. The reality is they don’t need every data point – just the ones that matter. And since few directors (for now) are qualified environmental scientists or certified sustainability experts, they reach a ceiling in their ability to understand and effectively oversee complicated climate risks. Identifying innovative ESG solutions that could drive business value is also, frequently, out of reach. Consequently, boards rely on senior leadership to surface what matters most, to speak in a common language and report to them in a format that can be easily interpreted and actioned accordingly.

Matching market expectations to meaningful action

Possessing the highest quality climate-performance report means little if it’s not benchmarked against market expectations, industry peers and competitors. Benchmarking allows boards to evaluate and discuss progress in more meaningful terms. But gaining relevant industry data can often be a difficult mission. Outsourcing the research can be costly. Even then, it’s usually delivered in a fixed format with a short shelf life that’s out-of-date by the time it’s utilised. Boards need to be able to tell their holistic ESG story, but like any good story, there are always two sides. Whether you’re cast as the sustainability protagonist or environmental antagonist often depends on the quality of the story told by you versus your competitors. Organisations that omit quality performance benchmarking will never evolve from defending a competitive position to holding a competitive advantage in climate reporting.

Bring clarity to sustainability reporting in the boardroom

While sustainability teams have access to a wealth of technology tools, a dedicated and impactful way to deliver clear, contextualised sustainability reporting to the board has never existed…until now.

Diligent, a trusted boardroom partner to more than 750,000 directors and executives globally, has released Board Reporting for ESG, a first-of-its-kind board dashboard that combines company performance data with market intelligence to provide a comprehensive view of an organisation’s entire ESG posture. Built on the only platform that offers tools to support an organisation through its entire governance, risk and compliance journey, Board Reporting for ESG can be tailored to capture an organisation’s climate and other ESG data. This enables sustainability professionals to present the data that matters most, delivering reporting in an easy-read format for company directors and executive management.

Some of the key features of Diligent Board Reporting for ESG include:

  • Board-ready reporting dashboards designed to provide insight into the relationship between company performance and stakeholder perception on sustainability and ESG.
  • Visualisations of progress against carbon targets, peer benchmark disclosures and scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions as measured by Diligent ESG, the market’s most comprehensive ESG solution.
  • ESG scores from Clarity AI and S&P Global, benchmarked against industry averages to provide insight into how an organisation measure against competitors.
  • Board Reporting for ESG embodies Diligent’s vision of providing a connected ecosystem of solutions across governance, risk, audit, compliance and ESG. Starting with ESG, the Board Ready solution is anticipated to extend into other business functions, enabling key C-suite leaders to surface critical insights and information effortlessly and securely to their board and leadership teams.

Don’t wait for your board to get raked across the hot coals on climate reporting. Instead, get in touch with Diligent today to discuss how Board Ready for ESG and other expansive ESG offerings can help improve your company’s mission and margin.

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About Us

Diligent is the global leader in modern governance, providing SaaS solutions across governance, risk, compliance, audit and ESG. Empowering more than 1 million users and 700,000 board members and leaders with a holistic view of their organisation’s GRC practices so they can make better decisions, faster. No matter the challenge. Learn more at diligent.com/au.

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