What is an ESG Report?
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) reports are becoming increasingly important as stakeholders and investors are demanding more and more, to see a company's impact on climate change and the environment, social ‘responsibility’ and good governance.
Why do you need an ESG report?
Along with the s172 statement, which aims to improve governance, an ESG report promotes transparency, good governance, environment and social impact. The s172 usually forms part of the annual report, and ESG report can be either a stand-alone document or incorporated into the year-end accounts.
An ESG report is an important communications tool and can add to an effective marketing mix. Companies should aim to maximise the impact and effectiveness of their report.
The report should state short-term and long-term goals demonstrating the risks, opportunities and strategy.
Designing an ESG report
An effective way of conveying the data is to use well-designed charts and diagrams and the use of infographics, ideally organising the data and reporting and associated strategies into sections and topics. For instance, you might break the structure down like this:
Environmental impact
Reducing emissions
Combating environmental change
Reducing water consumption
Improving air quality
Social impact
Workplace wellbeing
Equality
Community engagement
Human rights
Governance
Internal procedure and controls
Board structure
Policy and strategy
Defining a solid structure for an ESG report will help communicate the right messages to your stakeholders and potential investors. The key thing is to focus on your audience and how they would want to view your data and strategies.
The structure of an ESG report, like an annual report, is unique to an organisation.
As part of our annual report and ESG report design process delivery, we will assist in analysing the data and find the most effective route to present the data in an engaging and positive way; as well as advising on the structure of the report.
ESG reports offer a marketing opportunity, both internally and externally. Data within the report can be drawn out and used in company presentations and social media.
We design data to be easily repurposed into visual ‘sound bites’ that illustrate an organisation’s goals and achievements. Whilst governance may not present itself as the most exciting subject matter, when considering your reporting, always consider the human aspect. Human stories are the most compelling. We can help you with that.
A useful asset is to gather the top-level information and create an overview/‘highlights’ PDF or social media asset. These are particularly impactful when transformed into an animated video that can be pushed out on social media and embedded in the reporting section of the website.
Navig8 can help maximise your ESG reporting and turn a hassle into an effective communications tool.