Less Than Half of Professionals Confident in Organizations’ ESG Reporting Capabilities: Deloitte

Less than half of professionals are confident in the abilities of their organizations’ finance teams to gather and report on ESGEnvironmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria are a set of standards for a company’s operations that socially conscious investors use to screen potential investments. financial metrics, according to new poll results released by global professional services firm Deloitte, with data collection and staffing shortages cited as the top ESGEnvironmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria are a set of standards for a company’s operations that socially conscious investors use to screen potential investments. reporting challenges.

The survey of over 3,000 professionals at an event discussing ESGEnvironmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria are a set of standards for a company’s operations that socially conscious investors use to screen potential investments. reporting readiness also indicated that very few organizations have put in place dedicated ESGEnvironmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria are a set of standards for a company’s operations that socially conscious investors use to screen potential investments. reporting professionals, despite significant perceived benefits.

The low confidence marks of the poll come as organizations globally will be expected to meet increasing regulatory requirements to report on their climate and sustainability-related risks, opportunities and plans, with new ESGEnvironmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria are a set of standards for a company’s operations that socially conscious investors use to screen potential investments. disclosure requirements being introduced across jurisdictions including the U.S., EU and UK, among many others.

Dina Trainor, Managing Director, Deloitte Risk & Financial Advisory, said:

“It’s concerning to see so few respondents reporting confidence in their ESGEnvironmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria are a set of standards for a company’s operations that socially conscious investors use to screen potential investments. reporting as we await new U.S. regulatory guidance on climate disclosure reporting requirements. Now is the time to take a close look at your organization’s current ESGEnvironmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria are a set of standards for a company’s operations that socially conscious investors use to screen potential investments. reporting capabilities and protocols and undertake improvements if needed. The good news is that there are clear actions organizations can pursue that have a strong correlation to building trust in ESGEnvironmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria are a set of standards for a company’s operations that socially conscious investors use to screen potential investments. reporting.” 

According to Deloitte, only 45.7% of poll respondents reported that they were confident in their organization’s finance team’s ability to gather and report on ESGEnvironmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria are a set of standards for a company’s operations that socially conscious investors use to screen potential investments. metric such as DEI, sustainability and governanceGovernance deals with a company’s leadership, executive pay, audits, internal controls, and shareholder rights. for regulatory compliance purposes.

The poll found, however, that confidence in ESGEnvironmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria are a set of standards for a company’s operations that socially conscious investors use to screen potential investments. reporting capabilities increased significantly if organizations had dedicated ESGEnvironmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria are a set of standards for a company’s operations that socially conscious investors use to screen potential investments. reporting staff in place, or if finance teams were involved in ESGEnvironmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria are a set of standards for a company’s operations that socially conscious investors use to screen potential investments. matters. Professionals at organizations with an “ESGEnvironmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria are a set of standards for a company’s operations that socially conscious investors use to screen potential investments. Controller,” or an individual focused on the financial reporting and controls aspects of ESGEnvironmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria are a set of standards for a company’s operations that socially conscious investors use to screen potential investments., in place reported 75.5% confidence in their organization’s ESGEnvironmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria are a set of standards for a company’s operations that socially conscious investors use to screen potential investments. reporting capabilities, fully 30 percentage points higher than those without such a position. Similarly, professionals at organizations in which finance teams had some level of influence on ESGEnvironmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria are a set of standards for a company’s operations that socially conscious investors use to screen potential investments. matters were more than twice as likely to report that they were confident on ESGEnvironmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria are a set of standards for a company’s operations that socially conscious investors use to screen potential investments. reporting, at 60.7%, compared to only 27.2% at organizations without finance function influence on ESGEnvironmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria are a set of standards for a company’s operations that socially conscious investors use to screen potential investments..

Despite the confidence gap uncovered by the poll, less than one in five (16.4%) of respondents said that their organizations have an ESGEnvironmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria are a set of standards for a company’s operations that socially conscious investors use to screen potential investments. controller, 41.6% reported no plans to hire one, and only 7.2% reported plans to add such a position in the next year. Similarly, just over half (53.4%) of the professionals reported that their finance teams have some level of influence on ESGEnvironmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria are a set of standards for a company’s operations that socially conscious investors use to screen potential investments. matters, with only 17.2% reporting a “high” level of influence such as attending board or management meetings, involvement in defining policies or issuing ESGEnvironmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria are a set of standards for a company’s operations that socially conscious investors use to screen potential investments. reports to management.

The poll also examined the challenges facing controllership teams on their ESGEnvironmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria are a set of standards for a company’s operations that socially conscious investors use to screen potential investments. efforts, with data collection cited as the greatest challenge by 26.3% of professionals, followed by shortage of staff appropriately skilled to support ESGEnvironmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria are a set of standards for a company’s operations that socially conscious investors use to screen potential investments. controllership issues at 17.6% and changing organizational processes to enable effective ESGEnvironmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria are a set of standards for a company’s operations that socially conscious investors use to screen potential investments. reporting at 17.0%. Professionals at organizations with an ESGEnvironmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria are a set of standards for a company’s operations that socially conscious investors use to screen potential investments. controller were much more likely to report data collection as the top challenge, at nearly 40%.

Deloitte Risk & Financial Advisory Partner Matt Hurley said:

“The basics of ESGEnvironmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria are a set of standards for a company’s operations that socially conscious investors use to screen potential investments. reporting are universally challenging. Surprisingly, those that have ESGEnvironmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria are a set of standards for a company’s operations that socially conscious investors use to screen potential investments. controllers in place report data collection challenges at a higher rate, possibly because that individual is more in tune with the unique challenges that ESGEnvironmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria are a set of standards for a company’s operations that socially conscious investors use to screen potential investments. data aggregation and controls can pose. It’s important that organizations focus on building the foundation — including sourcing, cleaning, and assuring data — to support successful, confident reporting on the back end.”   

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