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GLOBAL STUDY REVEALS BEST AND WORST OF AUSTRALIAN ESG REPORTING
Alcoholic drinks retailer and hotel operator Endeavour Group Ltd is the top ASX 50 company for environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting.
That’s according to The 2022 Global ESG Monitor: Australia report, which assesses the largest 197 companies on four major stock exchanges: ASX 50, S&P 50 (Asia), S&P 50 (USA) and the EUROSTOXX.
Australian and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ANZ) and Newcrest Mining Ltd ranked equal second, followed closely by QBE Insurance Group Ltd and Woodside Petroleum Ltd.
The 2022 Global ESG Monitor: Australia uses a model that analyses transparency in terms of balance, comparability, accuracy, timeliness, reliability and relevance across ESG topics.
“While global standards set the rules for sustainability reporting, The 2022 Global ESG Monitor: Australia assesses how well these rules are being applied,” explains Mark Paterson, of Currie, a corporate sustainability specialist.
As well as ranking individual companies, The 2022 Global ESG Monitor: Australia identifies trends in reporting and what Australian companies do and don’t do well compared to their global counterparts.
Australian companies tend to be more transparent about their key non-financial risks, their operating environment, and their use of climate related recommendations and frameworks.
However, they are less clear about indicators for measuring progress, their use of and impacts on nature and their processes for managing critical sustainability concerns inside the company.
Overall, Australian companies’ reports are less transparent than those from Europe and, to a lesser extent, Asia. Our reports had the same average score as those from the US – 53 out of a possible 100.
Mark Paterson says this is the second year of the global report and the first year an Australian deep dive has been produced. This year, the study has grown to look at more companies and more elements on ESG reporting.
“The biggest differences in transparency between Australian and high scoring European companies is Europeans provide more information about calculation methods, the monitoring of targets and milestones and their integration into everyday business,” says Mark.
“Investors, regulators, workers and customers are demanding greater transparency about how companies are managing the non-financial impacts from and risks to their operations.
“The 2022 Global ESG Monitor: Australia aims to help companies improve the transparency of ESG reporting and help stakeholders to hold companies accountable for their non-financial risks and impacts.”
He points out that the study does not measure the outcomes from corporate ESG efforts. It measure what companies disclose about them.
“Should we be wary of those companies with low scores for transparency? Maybe. At the very least we should be asking: Why are they not disclosing as much as they could be?!
Register to receive the full The 2022 Global ESG Monitor: Australia report via email at https://globalesgmonitor.com/download-report-form/
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Contact: Mark Paterson, tel. +61 409 411 110, mark@curriecommunications.com.au
The Global ESG Monitor is a unique study that examines transparency in non-financial reporting by many of the largest companies in the world. The goal is to help companies provide better ESG reporting for their stakeholders. Transparency is measured using the GEM ASSAYTM a research tool developed specifically for this purpose. The GEM ASSAYTM is based on the relevant guidelines of Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), ISO Standard 26000, World Economic Forum and Accountability and Transparency, 2010a. The Global ESG Monitor compares publicly listed companies across sectors, regions and globally.
Currie is a Melbourne-based corporate sustainability specialist. As a proudly certified B Corporation, a participant in the United Nations Global Compact and a founding partner in The Global ESG Monitor, Currie believes in the power of business as a force for good for people and planet.