Organisations are paying more attention to privacy protection than ever. Data management, analysis and security should, therefore, play a prominent role in environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies.
Effective ESG initiatives rely on robust data management. From collecting accurate metrics to ensuring data security, businesses must adopt best practices to meet reporting requirements, safeguard sensitive information, and support ESG goals.
This guide highlights key strategies for managing ESG data securely and efficiently, with a focus on analysis tools and privacy considerations.
Data management underpins the success of ESG initiatives. Accurate, reliable data is critical for:
Consolidate all ESG-related metrics into a single database to improve accessibility and consistency. This allows seamless integration of environmental, social and governance data from diverse sources, enhancing reporting accuracy.
Standardise data collection processes across the business to minimise any errors or misalignment. Also plan and perform regular audits to verify the accuracy and completeness of data.
Use automation to streamline the capture of key metrics, such as carbon emissions and energy usage. This reduces manual effort while lowering the margin for human error, improves data reliability.
Follow recognised ESG frameworks to ensure compliance and comparability. For example, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCF) provide guidance on key reporting metrics. Do your research and find one that works for yyour organisation.
ESG software can help manage and streamline data gathering and analysis. The best platform for your business depends on individual requirements and the industry you're part of. We offer five core tools that form the basis of our Compliance Portal.
Our policy hub provides a powerful solution that enables businesses to create, update, approve, and communicate the values, behaviours and ethics that define their culture. It’s a one-stop data collection and management tool that automates processes and demonstrates corporate responsibility and compliance to auditors, regulators and stakeholders.
Once you have an ESG policy in place, make sure employees understand it and their behaviour aligns with it. Our customisable courses are updated throughout the year, ensuring users have the latest and most relevant information.
Our digital declarations tool automatically collects and tracks employee disclosures like conflicts of interest and outside business interests, simplifying and streamlining the process for you. Moreover, the solution centralises data, enabling efficient analysis and the creation of audit-ready reports.
Gathering employee feedback is an important part of any ESG strategy, helping identify risks and knowledge gaps. Our customisable digital survey tool allows companies to collect ESG data and monitor topics like diversity, inclusivity, cybersecurity and well-being.
In line with social responsibility and related initiatives, companies can use a gift register to track charitable donations, volunteering and fundraising, as well as community and sustainability projects. Our efficient compliance registers tool allows organisations to manage events and actions in one place, analyse data and create audit trails.
This is a critical step in transforming raw ESG data into actionable insights. Businesses should focus on:
With the rise of ESG reporting, organisations must address data security and privacy concerns. ESG data often includes sensitive information, such as employee demographics, supplier details, and environmental metrics. Best practices for ESG data security include:
Data-driven ESG initiatives provide significant benefits for businesses. By embedding ESG data into strategic planning, organisations can:
Examples include greenhouse gas emissions, workforce diversity, equality and inclusion, supply chain ethics and board composition.
Lack of standardisation, data fragmentation, manual processes and data security.
Regulators, customers, partners, internal stakeholders and investors.
Our Essentials Library contains e-learning content designed to help organisations meet fundamental compliance requirements. If you are looking for focused training, our ESG Training Package offers a complete solution for your compliance programme. Courses in the libraries include:
We've created a comprehensive Enterprise Risk Management compliance roadmap to help you navigate the compliance landscape. If you would like to access leading insights and compliance tips, you can browse our free resources by topic to find guides, modules, compliance bites and more.
We also have additional free resources such as e-learning modules, microlearning modules, and more.
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