2024: Analysts Focus on Sustainability Data

With so much sustainability reporting activity starting this year, GLYNT has called 2024 The Year of Sustainability Data. Actual, consistent, auditable data makes all the difference.

Industry analysts agree. This blog post is a round up of the state of sustainability data practices, where the market is going and the value of great data – as seen by leading market analysts. Across the board, analysts emphasize the role of data to deliver reporting and operational efficiency. The evidence shows that strong sustainability performance leads to higher valuations. And it all starts with data.

The State of Affairs – We’re Just Getting Started

“More than half (54%) of sustainability professionals report that they currently use a manual process, including Excel spreadsheets.”

Increase in regulatory reporting across jurisdictions drives demand for ESG controller role

“87% percent of adopters depended on consulting services to address a variety of needs, from data organization and solution implementation to developing sustainability strategies.”

Emerging Tech: Tech Innovators in Sustainability and ESG Software

“80% of companies aspire to be sustainability leaders in the next three years, but less than 5% are systematically implementing advanced use cases.”

Future-Built Companies Embrace Sustainability

Do It Right and Out Perform

“You can have your cake, eat it too, and lose weight.”

– MIT Professor Andy Lo, on his findings that actively managed ESG funds outperform the market.

From skeptic to evangelist: MIT Sloan economist runs the numbers on ESG

“ESG activities correlate with higher performance.”

ESG activities correlate to stronger financial performance, reveals new study from Bain & Company and EcoVadis

“Companies that improve their sustainability and ESG performance outgrow their peers.”

The triple play: Growth, profit, and sustainability

Data Preparation Is the Biggest Challenge

“Data collection to support ESG efforts remains the biggest challenge.”

Six predictions for ESG in 2024: The year ESG emerged from fad to essential business

“67% cited complexity of data collection and reporting as a critical business challenge they faced when implementing sustainability and ESG software.”

Emerging Tech: Tech Innovators in Sustainability and ESG Software

“Organizations struggle to define and identify the right data sources pertinent to regulatory reporting on ESG matters required for legislation such as the CSRD. Excel spreadsheets, emails, and manual effort abound.”

Standalone ESG Reporting Solutions Do Not Help Clients Build Reliable ESG Management Platforms For CSRD

What’s Next? Better Data Methods

“Savings in simplicity of administration through automation in data ingestion, reporting and intelligent analytics across Scopes 1, 2 and 3 is critical.”

Emerging Tech: Tech Innovators in Sustainability and ESG Software

“The essential steps are in the process of defining and assessing the materiality of sustainability data across all three pillars, setting up reliable data collection practices, and ensuring the quality and traceability of the data to be processed.”

“Feeding in bad-quality data risks regulatory issues and accusations of greenwashing, so making the right choice here is crucial.”

Standalone ESG Reporting Solutions Do Not Help Clients Build Reliable ESG Management Platforms For CSRD

Making the Business Case for Sustainability

“The integration of financial and nonfinancial data is important for adopters who want to do a robust cost-benefit analysis to support their decarbonization strategy.”

Emerging Tech: Tech Innovators in Sustainability and ESG Software

“Address sustainability strategically through a CEO/CFO lens and is business focused versus technology focused.”

Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Business Services

“Data collected from all parts of a complex organization can be used to help spot inefficiencies, identify areas for quality improvements and even schedule plant maintenance.”

Emerging Tech: Tech Innovators in Sustainability and ESG Software

“Organizations struggle to define and identify the right data sources pertinent to regulatory reporting on ESG matters required for legislation such as the CSRD. Excel spreadsheets, emails, and manual effort abound.”

Standalone ESG Reporting Solutions Do Not Help Clients Build Reliable ESG Management Platforms For CSRD

“For most ESG leaders in search of a comprehensive solution, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to even pick up the phone when a standalone reporting provider calls…they do not focus on the most important aspects of an end-to-end ESG management program, which is to focus on getting and disclosing the right data.”

Standalone ESG Reporting Solutions Do Not Help Clients Build Reliable ESG Management Platforms For CSRD

“It doesn’t make a lot of sense to even pick up the phone when a standalone reporting provider calls.”

And the Power of Gen.AI

We close this round up with a peek at the future. While the IDC study cited below addresses the entire Salesforce footprint, GLYNT’s previous work has shown how sustainability data is also a key element of this change: Better sustainability data leads to better performance through gen ai.

“Focus on sustainability topics that directly affect the enterprise value and link ESG to corporate performance and offerings that can help clients leverage ESG for that purpose.”

Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Business Services

“Generative AI makes Sustainability Data More Valuable”

GLYNT in Forbes

“Aided by AI, the Salesforce economy — the impact of Salesforce and its network of partners on the overall economy — will generate more than $2 trillion in net new business revenues between 2022 and 2028 and 12 million new jobs.”

New IDC Study Details ‘AI Boost’ to Salesforce Economy Revenue and Job Growth

Jump Straight to the IDC Study

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