ESG Reporting - are we keeping pace?

PwC’s analysis of ESG reporting in Australia and what’s missing

Change has become part of our everyday. The way in which organisations communicate to stakeholders is not immune to this. What companies report and measure themselves on has become increasingly complex. Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) reporting is nascent - but stakeholder demand is increasing and international pressure for social progress growing.

To better understand ESG reporting in Australia, PwC analysed Australia's top 200 companies (ASX 200), finding a broad range in both quality and consistency. Our analysis compared ESG reporting of companies against PwC’s Building Public Trust Insight’s framework.

We found that while some organisations are increasing their focus, many have a long way to go to meet maturing stakeholder expectations for robust, consistent and comparable ESG reporting.

Key findings include:

ESG reporting falls short of the standard for financial reporting, and therefore below stakeholder expectations
Companies need to reshape how they think about and report on their corporate strategy
Lack of clear targets and accountability limits trust
Integrity of ESG reporting needs to be upheld

Our findings are cause for concern for executives and investors alike. ESG shouldn’t be thought of as an afterthought or purely a risk-mitigation strategy. Stakeholders across the board are expecting more, and those that meet those expectations are positioning themselves positively for the future.