The Big Four accounting firms have developed a set of metrics for companies to use for environmental, social and governance reporting internationally.
The metrics were released Tuesday the 23rd of September by the World Economic Forum in conjunction with the fourth annual Sustainable Development Impact Summit, which coincided with Climate Week in New York. They come a week after five ESG standard-setters — the Carbon Disclosure Project, the Climate Disclosure Standards Board, the Global Reporting Initiative, the International Integrated Reporting Council and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board — agreed to work together more closely on aligning their various sets of standards and frameworks after being urged to do so by international securities regulators.
The ESG metrics are organized around four pillars of principles of governance, planet, people and prosperity. The metrics and disclosures aim to align the existing standards to enable companies to collectively report nonfinancial disclosures.
The metrics and disclosures were developed in collaboration with the Big Four firms — Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC — and come after a consultation process with representatives from corporations, investors, standard-setters, NGOs and international organizations. They aim to provide a common set of existing disclosures that lead toward a more coherent, comprehensive global corporate reporting system.
“This is a unique moment in history to walk the talk and to make stakeholder capitalism measurable,” said World Economic Forum founder and executive chairman Klaus Schwab in a statement. “Having companies accepting, not only to measure but also to report on, their environmental and social responsibility will represent a sea change in economic history.”
To read more about this news please click here.
To download the ‘Measuring Stakeholder Capitalism Towards Common Metrics and Consistent Reporting of Sustainable Value Creation’ please click here.
