ESG Support Project
ESG Support
We worked with a FTSEAllShare company over a number of months to improve their ESG data collection, measuring and investor reporting. Already a good performer in terms of transparency and communication, the Investor Relations team recognised that investor interest and data needs was shifting quickly and and they needed to be proactive in managing this. A key question was what new data needed to be gathered and reported, and how to do this alongside the evolving sustainability strategy and reporting to reduce duplication of effort. The sector they are in has specific ESG issues to address, such as decarbonisation and staff wellbeing, and further planning was needed on what the investment community specifically needed to know in relation to these topics.
We also work with clients to undertake a materiality assessment, including engagement with stakeholders as required by Directors Duties and reporting & disclosure practices. We worked with a fintech company over a period of a year to help them understand their material risks and opportunities, looking at both internal and external sources, with a resulting materiality matrix bespoke to them, an exciting learning journey for the CEO and Board of Directors, and robust report for disclosure use.
What we did
We worked closely with the Investor Relations team to review what they currently reported to the investment community and through what platforms. The Group sustainability reporting was used to communicate data to stakeholders generally, but it was agreed that focused reporting was needed for investors, such as a Group ESG report. To avoid duplication of effort, the Group sustainability report was evolved into a Group ESG report, with each company within the Group taking ownership of a sustainability report at that local company level. This allowed those companies to use their reporting to focus on their bespoke stakeholders and their particular shared interests.
We discussed various ESG reporting standards and agreed that the UN Global Reporting Initiative was a good benchmark to work towards, whilst also identifying and highlighting the key areas that investors were interested in. A gap analysis was done to identify and prioritise what else needed to be reported on, and the reporting framework was updated accordingly. The client team surveyed investors and brokers to confirm what they especially were interested in, which confirmed and finessed the new ESG reporting framework and key messages.
Outcomes
The Group launched a new Climate Change Strategy using the new reporting approach: the annual ESG report focuses on the Group level sustainability framework and key issues such as cost of decarbonisation, climate change adaptation risk & opportunity management, and Board diversity. Each company are using the reporting template but with the flexibility to shape their local sustainability reporting to their specific audiences, especially local customers and local authorities. Each year there is a build towards full GRI reporting compliance for the ESG report. The process helped the company to identify what investors are especially interested in learning, pulled out key messages supported by data, and allowed for a suite of investor ESG comms to be developed off the back of a clear approach and data set.
