Sustainability reporting and governance, risk, and compliance are growing more crucial in the modern world. As a result, businesses in the Asia-Pacific region are urged to deliver globally consistent and reliable sustainability reporting standards, addressing a broad range of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues.
But what are some essential components of sustainability reporting? Here are a few requirements applicable throughout the Asia-Pacific region:
- Stakeholder engagement - Your sustainability report must include insights from stakeholders. It should also address critical topics whose information can be acquired from a materiality assessment. Almost all companies across the APAC region disclosed material topics, with 62% disclosing up to 20.
- A materiality assessment can be held with your organisation’s key stakeholders, including internal and external stakeholder groups and the company’s leaders.
- Support from frameworks - A sustainability report needs to align with various frameworks such as the Global Reporting Index (GRI), Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), and the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP).
Sustainability reporting frameworks provide an additional layer of validity to your information. Different framework areas focus on different topics, so refer to the one most suitable for your industry. For instance, the GRI Standards are used by all organisations, while the SASB focuses on disclosure by companies to their investors and other providers of financial capital.
Governance, risk, and compliance
A sustainability report must also include an analysis of the organisation’s governance and responsibility. These insights allow a company to manage sustainability across all aspects, including employee capability, policies and procedures, and organisational structure and technology. Moreover, it helps link ESG performance to remuneration.
Unfortunately, not all organisations in the APAC region can provide insights on governance. Only about 24% of companies disclosed such topics in May 2022. To gain these insights, it’s best to work with a corporate services provider offering governance, risk, and compliance analysis services.
Make sure to find a corporate services provider that can help across the board, from identifying, assessing, and managing risks relevant to your organisation to implement changes as necessary. In addition, consider working with experienced providers aiming to bring a global perspective to your business.
About the author:
Name: Garry Taylor
Garry is a corporate financial management and corporate governance professional. He has extensive experience across extractive industries, manufacturing and international trade in the listed, private and non-profit sectors. Garry is a member of CPA Australia and the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants; a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Secretaries, and a graduate of the University of Western Australia’s Executive MBA program.
The United Nations put forth a new of set of 17 universal goals, known as “Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)” to address the environmental, social and economic challenges across the globe, which was adopted by 193 countries of UN General Assembly in 2015.
These SDGs were built on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which was started as a global effort to reduce extreme poverty, child mortality, HIV/AIDS and other diseases, etc.
In addition to MDGs, the SDGs also include issues such as, natural resource management, sustainable consumption and production, effective institutions, good governance, the rule of law and peaceful societies.
All the countries have a shared responsibility towards achieving the SDGs’ target by 2030 and have a significant role to play locally, nationally as well as globally.
Since the adoption of the SDGs, there have been many positive initiatives.
Many countries have started incorporating the goals into their national budgets, plans/strategies and have set up coordinating structures for coherent implementation of goals across the sectors.
Which are the leading companies in AIWith AI enjoying more and more major role in trendy software system and services, every of the foremost tech companies is battling to develop strong machine-learning technology to be used in-house and to sell,
