12/13/2021: When we talk about sustainability in the corporate world and in the financial sector, the term ESG often comes up. This stands for Environmental Social Governance. A company that attaches importance to it lives up to its responsibility in precisely these three areas and makes a contribution to the sustainable development of the economy, voluntarily and beyond minimum legal requirements. The commitment starts with reporting and disclosing ESG data, but this is exactly what either does not happen or at least happens inadequately and, above all, very heterogeneously. In order to be able to compare companies and financial institutions with regard to ESG criteria, they, together with investors, have launched the so-called ESG Book, an online platform that collects and presents corporate sustainability data and is thus intended to be an effective tool to increase transparency in the field of ESG.
The platform is filled with company data, among which are metrics on biodiversity. Basically, the main purpose of the platform is to tap into the data and query or report on it using common frameworks, standards and regulatories. In other words, company stakeholders (e.g. investors, banks, insurers) can use the platform to request relevant biodiversity metrics from established frameworks (e.g. SFDR, GRI, etc.) from companies or companies themselves can proactively publish them directly through the platform.
The demand for transparent ESG company data exists and is trending upwards. Asset managers, for example, have an increasing need for this information in order to serve the demand of sustainability-oriented investors in a well-founded manner.
The founding partners of ESG Book are: The International Finance Corporation, UNCTAD, Global Reporting Initiative, Bridgewater Associates, Swiss Re, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, HKEX, Cardano Development, Glass Lewis, Quick, Allianz, Bank Islam, Goldbeck, Werte Stiftung, WBCSD, Climate Leadership Coalition, Climate Governance Initiative, Climate Policy Initiative, Climate Bonds Initiative, Responsible Jewellery Council, GeSI, Arabesque.
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www.esgbook.comAuthor: GNF