Key ESG data disclosure remains low despite overall increase in sustainability reporting

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Industry-relevant ESG disclosure levels remain low despite a widespread increase in overall sustainability reporting, according to ESG Book, a sustainability data and technology firm.

ESG Book has analysed nearly 10,000 companies globally, launching the ESG Performance Score, which provides in-depth, real-time insights into material areas of sustainability performance.

According to ESG Book’s analysis, European companies are ahead of their global counterparts in terms of ESG practices, led by corporations in France with an average ESG Performance Score of 54.9. In contrast, US-based companies on average have a score of 50.1, while Japanese companies score on average 49.5.1

Globally, European corporations lead in overall ESG disclosure, benefiting from emerging regulations such as the EU Taxonomy and Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) that shape the reporting landscape.

The research also disclosed that ESG regulations worldwide have surged by 155% in the past decade. Despite excelling in the overall disclosure of ESG-based metrics, European companies experience a significant decline in reporting industry-relevant sustainability data.

This type of information is crucial as it directly affects a corporation’s enterprise value, thus essential for investors and financial institutions seeking precise insights into material sustainability performance aspects, ESG Book stated.

Daniel Klier, chief executive officer of ESG Book, said: “We are transitioning from a world of simplistic and opaque ratings to an increasingly more advanced sustainability data landscape, and moving on from the past when a single score would be used to explain how a company is performing on ESG and climate issues.”

He added: “With the launch of the ESG Performance Score, we are empowering investors and corporates with a more accurate tool to determine financially material ESG risks and opportunities, and greater transparency to enable more sustainable outcomes.”

The ESG Performance Score is accessible through ESG Book’s platform, offering two options: ‘Core’, which measures corporate sustainability performance based on publicly available data at a specific time, and ‘Plus’, which incorporates media and NGO coverage to consider the public perception of a company’s performance.