Why ESG management and reporting demand your attention today

Customers expect to see your performance around key risk areas

Customer preferences go beyond price

Your customers are now deciding to buy your product for reasons other than price. While price and quality remain important, how you do things is now equally significant. Your customers want to know who they are doing business with and your position on key risk areas, and they want transparency in your operations.

Businesses are expected to supplement financial reporting with ESG risk areas

Every business needs to manage many ESG and sustainability risk areas and report ESG metrics to customers and authorities.

Your reporting of key financial metrics must be supplemented with reports for a diverse set of other key risk areas.

Your stakeholders care about your ESG matters

No one wants to work with companies that disrespect workers, treat race or gender inequitably, pay bribes, pollute the environment or engage in unsustainable practices.  

Your focus needs to be to actively manage those areas and be able to tell your stakeholders and regulators about your achievements.

Managing key ESG areas, including ESG and sustainability, makes better business – and might save the planet

Prioritising ESG and sustainability drives value

Building key ESG risk areas will challenge you to look deep into your company’s purpose, values and principles. It will help you decide which sort of company you want to have, and it will help articulate that proposition to the market. Companies that prioritise ESG and sustainability will increase in value in the eyes of their customers and investors. How and why are now just as important as what.

It doesn't come easy. Just like your financial system that manages your financials, you need an ESG and sustainability system to manage these areas.  

ESG and sustainability help the planet

Destroying natural resources, polluting the environment, using fossil fuels for energy – none of these are good ways to differentiate your business’s value in a competitive market.  

Managing the vital areas included in ESG and sustainability is more than just reporting some metrics to appease regulators; it's about tackling these issues, building programmes to drive improvements and being transparent about the results.  

You can be the problem or part of the solution for the planet.

You need a system to manage your ESG matters

Companies struggle with ESG data to produce 'ESG reporting' for obvious reasons: they don't have a platform and/or they don't have underlying initiatives.  

Not having a system to manage the underlying issues you are trying to report on is like trying to produce financial reports without an accounting system. It is 1980s thinking.  

A common platform that manages all your ESG risk areas and helps build programmes – and therefore produces the required data – means reporting simply involves pressing a button.

Drive value in your brand by showing your stakeholders that more than just financial results matter

ESG and sustainability make your brand attractive

Leverage success in key ESG metrics to attract more customers through being a ‘safe’ option and actively showing customers how you manage and embrace areas within ESG and sustainability.  

Every large company chooses its suppliers using incredibly detailed qualification steps. These questions are about how you manage your business, how you manage risks, how you engage with key climate risks and how you manage sustainability.

Make your company more attractive with the right focus, the right answers, the right data and the right positioning.

Report on and assure your ESG initiatives

Your initial focus should be on having a platform to manage your ESG risks and produce ESG reports to show your achievements in key areas. This platform must be smart enough to produce reports according to the various reporting standards released across multiple countries.

The next step is getting that ESG report independently assured and validated as accurate and complete.

You achieve the ultimate performance by obtaining an independent certification, which is the best evidence to prove your commitment and leadership in the vital ESG areas covering ESG and sustainability risks.

Communicate your ESG performance

With an assured ESG report and a system full of data that has been independently verified with relevant ISO certifications, you are well on your way to leveraging your efforts in the market.

Respond to RFPs and other requests from companies, knowing precisely what they want to see.

Leverage your investments to build your brand relationships with your customers and partners. Leverage your efforts in key ESG risk areas to attract staff and build a stronger workforce focused on driving your key initiatives.

Being able to leverage your brand comes with excellent ESG performance and reporting.

The days of proudly displaying your financial results are gone. You are now expected to show both your financial and ESG results.

Mandatory and voluntary reporting for ESG issues is already here

More and more countries require ESG and sustainability reporting

More than 80 countries now require some form of reporting on ESG matters. The list is growing and will top 100 countries within the next year.  

Requirements to publicly release your ESG results are not going away. We predict that these will continue to expand to include more countries and companies over the next five years.

Even if not legally required, most companies will produce reports for internal use as well as for their customers, investors and board.

Spreadsheets are no longer enough

More than 2,000 ESG regulations and more than 1,500 reporting indicators exist globally. This is growing every month.

Some regulations are new, and some have been around for many years but are now seen in a different light, with ESG and sustainability issues creating a new purpose for old laws.

Whether you have to report publicly or not, you still need a system to manage all these initiatives. Simply using spreadsheets and policies to manage the wide variety of issues being covered as part of ESG and sustainability is clearly not maintainable – you need a SaaS platform to manage the volume of ESG issues.

The topics covered by reporting are significant and increasing

ESG and sustainability reporting in Switzerland

Swiss public companies, banks and insurance companies with 500 or more employees and at least CHF20 million in total assets or more than CHF40 million in turnover are obliged to report publicly on climate issues.  

Climate reporting is becoming a standard in ESG and sustainability reporting, with hundreds of other countries also adopting reporting requirements. If you are not tracking and reporting these issues now, you will be soon.

ESG and sustainability reporting in the Netherlands

Dutch companies that sell or supply goods or services to Dutch consumers must investigate and report on whether the production of their goods and services has involved child labour. They must also create a plan to prevent child labour within their supply chain, if applicable.

Similar laws already exist in over 20 countries. Managing these initiatives requires technology – not just a task management tool and dashboard, but a platform that helps drive the programmes, operationalise them and integrate them into the business and your corporate reporting.

ESG and sustainability reporting in Australia

Australia ASX Listing Rule 4.10.3, which applies to all companies listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, requires companies to annually disclose the extent to which they have followed the recommendations set by the ASX Corporate Governance Council.

This includes establishing and disclosing a code of conduct to address issues related to the community, pollution and environmental controls, and how sustainability considerations have been integrated into the company's risk management process.

ESG and sustainability reporting in India

In 2011, India released the National Voluntary Guidelines on Social, Environmental and Economic Responsibilities of Business.

These guidelines contain comprehensive principles to be adopted by companies as part of their business practices and a structured business responsibility reporting format requiring certain specified disclosures, demonstrating the steps companies take to implement the principles.

Build first. Report second. Assure third. Certify fourth.

First data, then reporting

It is wrong to focus everything on reporting – you need to have data in order to report. There is no quick fix for reporting because you need to have established programmes first.

Any platform you choose to help with reporting must start with performance.

Imagine using an accounting reporting solution to generate reports without the actual accounting system. This makes no sense.

ESG and sustainability reporting varies per country

Reporting will be different in different countries and will cover various risk areas. While there is some action to adopt common standards, these are unlikely to be generally accepted for the next 10 to 15 years.

You must build a system that helps you manage the ESG risk areas. Once your system manages the risk areas, you can generate reporting in any format to meet any regulatory or management need.

Streamline your ESG and sustainability reporting with a sustainability management system

When you have a fully operative platform that helps to design, implement, monitor, measure and track your initiatives with reports being generated as required, you can then focus on the assurance of those reports and certifications of the underlying programmes.

Building an ESG platform with integrated solutions across all the key risk areas you are focused on is critical. Speeki is that platform.

Why you shouldn’t ignore ESG reporting

Poor or inaccurate reporting is becoming an offence in some countries, with both criminal and civil liability.

Build a sustainable future

The planet needs you

The jury is back and has decided that the planet is suffering and needs active steps to improve the effects of climate change.

Sustainability needs technology

Establishing solutions for managing the effects of climate change can have direct profitability enhancements when those solutions are driven by technology.

Your stakeholders want you to help the planet

Your stakeholders, including customers, partners, vendors, suppliers and investors, demand that companies take their share of responsibility and drive new solutions to manage climate change.

Contribute to the sustainable future today

Sustainability also means taking a longer-term view of businesses and how they can contribute to a more sustainable and predictive future.

You need great ESG and sustainability to be a leader

Each company can choose to be a leader or a follower. Companies with great ESG and sustainability practices are leaders.

Build a better community

From CSR to ESG

The introduction of corporate social responsibility in the 2010s established a strong community engagement practice for companies. ESG and sustainability practices go beyond this to fuel further development and expansion of the community value of your initiatives.

You are responsible for your supply chain

ESG and sustainability will challenge you to think about value and supply chains. You will be held responsible for the adverse impacts that your value chain partners have on human rights and environmental issues. You are increasingly being held accountable for these adverse impacts – both criminal and civil, not to mention in the court of public opinion.

Engaging locally is key

The brand value of engaging locally and building strong community links helps develop goodwill and credit for challenging times.

ESG and workplaces

Your workplace is likely local or becoming more local as remote workers return to offices. Good ESG helps engage, develop and build a community around the workplace, which is essential to attracting talent in a demanding and ever-decreasing talent pool.

Drive human rights and protections

The ‘S’ in ESG

The 'social' part of ESG is growing in significance and, if implemented correctly, can help build staff rapport and reduce turnover.

Diversity, equity and inclusion in ESG

ESG and sustainable workplace practices help establish diversity, equity and inclusion and build a stronger workplace base. A strong workplace helps establish goodwill and consistency in the talent pool.

Reducing legal and reputational exposure

Social risk areas also help build a more robust value and supply chain by ensuring protections around human trafficking, modern-day slavery and environmental issues. Great ESG and sustainability will improve value and supply chain compliance and reduce legal and reputational exposure.

Building a culture of speaking up

All employees should have a sense of protection, fairness, equity and the ability to speak up without fear of retaliation. Building that strength across the workforce will create a culture of openness, speaking up and feedback.

Need help with ESG and sustainability management and reporting?

Speeki offers a comprehensive, all-in-one sustainability management system to help organisations build, track and manage programmes across more than 20 key ESG areas.

It serves as a system to build your ESG programmes, supports the creation and management of ESG-related data, aids in receiving and investigating ESG incidents and facilitates reporting on your ESG programmes to stakeholders.

But that’s not all: apart from technology, Speeki offers assurance solutions to turn your ESG initiatives into a valuable business process that creates a competitive advantage for your organisation.

Key features and benefits of Speeki’s sustainability management system

Here’s how Speeki’s sustainability management system can support your ESG initiatives:

• Centralised ESG management – document, track and report on your ESG programme in one place
• Enhanced reporting – build a high-quality dataset with generative AI for easy reporting
• Standards alignment – build once and disclose multiple times across frameworks such as ESRS (CSRD), IFRS (S1 and S2), GRI, TCFD and more, simplifying global compliance
• Efficiency tools – leverage tools like surveys, disclosure aids, communication resources, training modules and due diligence tools

How Speeki stands out in the ESG software market

Speeki is a platform built on decades of expertise and innovation. Backed by a team with over 20 years of experience in ESG and compliance, Speeki delivers a unique approach to sustainability management that blends deep industry knowledge with advanced technology.

At the core of what makes Speeki stand out is its proprietary ESG risk model and the Speeki Engage® framework. This framework simplifies ESG programme management by providing a consistent and intuitive process for building, tracking and reporting across all ESG topics, ensuring alignment with global standards.

Speeki’s flexible and scalable platform supports businesses of all sizes, making it a trusted partner for addressing ESG and sustainability challenges with confidence and precision.