When it comes to emissions, uncertainty likely doesn’t cut it.
A consumer products company seeks increased clarity around its sustainability data through ESG assurance readiness and works to build trust with stakeholders.
ROAD MAPS ARE A LOT MORE HELPFUL WHEN YOU KNOW WHERE YOU’RE STARTING FROM.
The Situation
Sustainability leadership at a consumer products company had no doubt about where they wanted to go. Their robust department buzzed with ambitions and goals, envisioning road maps to future states in which greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions were reduced and more renewables powered the company’s operations. The future vision seemed clear. But understanding their current state? That was a little hazier.
The company’s plants and facilities sat in locations across the globe, and the process for calculating emissions and gathering waste and water usage data often varied from location to location. Without a cohesive framework of processes and internal controls to support those processes, pulling an accurate, meaningful picture out of the data took significant time and effort.
Much of that time and effort went toward producing annual reports that detailed the company’s performance across a number of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) metrics to measure the impact of its operations; track progress; and bring employees, investors, and customers along with them. While they were proud of this progress toward internal clarity and external transparency, sustainability leadership wanted to deepen confidence in their ESG reporting.
THE SOLVE
NO MATTER THE SUSTAINABILITY GOAL, ACCURATE REPORTING MATTERS.
The Impact
During the engagement periods, various announcements about proposals from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the United States and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) in the European Union revealed a future with different reporting requirements, with which many companies would need to comply. With the consumer products company’s sharpened and fine-tuned approach to reporting on ESG metrics, it may have a head start on preparing for what the future could hold.
Ready to respond:
As the company continues to improve and standardize its recording and reporting of ESG-related activities across the organization, it has become better prepared to respond to shifts in disclosure requirements from regulatory bodies around the world and produce a sustainability report more efficiently and effectively than before.
Clear about today, optimistic about tomorrow:
The company’s GHG emissions, health, safety, waste, and water usage data included in its global sustainability report can provide a heightened level of trust for its employees, investors, and stakeholders. For the members of the sustainability team, the greater confidence they have in their measurements today can foster more clarity about the steps they may take to get to the future they want.