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Guidance on improving the quality of ESG information for decision-making

The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and FSR — Danish Auditors have published a first-of-its-kind guidance on how companies can improve the quality of, and confidence in, their environment, social and governance (ESG) information by considering the basic building blocks of internal controls.  It’s important for companies to pursue investment grade ESG data

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Increase in E&S Disclosure from 2018 to 2019 in SEC Filings

In light of the increased spotlight on environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) disclosures, White & Case’s Public Company Advisory Group conducted a survey of environmental and social (“E&S”) disclosures in the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filings of the top 50 companies by revenue in the Fortune 100. Our survey focused on 15 categories of common

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‘Single all-encompassing framework’ needed for sustainability reporting

Research by the Better Alignment Project highlights confusion over differing sustainability reporting frameworks and the language and taxonomy they use. When it comes to sustainability reporting, corporate accounting departments are confronted with a plethora of choices; a huge number of systems that could be used to report a company’s environmental, social and governance credentials. This

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Consultation findings on better alignment announced

Participants of the Corporate Reporting Dialogue – an initiative bringing together the major standard setters and framework providers globally – announced the findings of their global market consultation on building better alignment via a webinar this week. Through an online survey and a series of global roundtables held in 11 countries – Australia, Colombia, France, Germany, Italy,

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How CDSB approaches aligning climate disclosure

Michael Zimonyi, policy & external affairs manager at the Climate Disclosure Standards Board (CDSB), explains how the organization helps issuers identify the right ESG reporting standards Can you describe CDSB and its role in ESG reporting?CDSB is an international consortium of business and environmental NGOs committed to aligning the disclosure of environmental information in mainstream

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Auditors are key players in sustainability reporting

Auditors play a crucial role in testing and verifying the claims organisations are making about their sustainability, says the European Court of Auditors’ Eva Lindström. This week, the European Court of Auditors hosted the first EU high-level forum on sustainability reporting, entitled ‘Trust, transparency and the role of auditors’.  Together with agenda setters and key

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How GRI targets common language for ESG reporting

Tom Whittles, senior media relations manager at the Global Reporting Initiative, tells Debbie Miller how the ESG reporting framework was developed and how it should be used What is your methodology and approach to reporting on ESG matters? The Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI) methodology is encompassed through the GRI Standards, the most widely used sustainability reporting

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Top 5 Reasons Why Sustainability Reporting is Relevant to Every Business

A company’s ability to positively impact social and environmental change has become an increasingly relevant consideration for businesses. Environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors cover a broad range of issues that touch on everything from company culture and employee compensation to climate impact and sourcing standards. While traditionally absent from financial reporting, larger companies recognize

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EU Commission publishes guidelines to improve how firms report climate-related information

The European Commission has published new guidelines on corporate climate-related information reporting, as part of its Sustainable Finance Action Plan. These guidelines will provide companies with practical recommendations on how to better report the impact that their activities are having on the climate as well as the impact of climate change on their business. The Commission has

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Update to German translation of GRI Standards

Updates to two versions of the GRI Standards – ‘GRI 303: Water and Effluents 2018’ and ‘GRI 403: Occupational Health and Safety 2018’ – have been translated into German. They are now available to any German-speaking organization using the Standards. ​All of the German translations of the Standards can be downloaded free of charge on the