How to tackle ESG reporting by getting organized

Here’s this note from Dominique Chantale Alepin:

The wave of ESG regulation and reporting has caused some companies to freeze in a state of inaction. This is totally understandable – just as a polycrisis can create decision paralysis, the presence of multiple new challenges to tackle all at once can make it difficult to chart a path forward. And in sustainability, tackling regulation and reporting feels especially difficult when it means trading priorities that make a difference for “compliance.”

Here are some recommendations to get clients out of paralysis, while also identifying ways to cuts costs and maximize efficiencies:

✅ Map out all regulations that the company will be subject to in the next 3-5 years globally. Lay out enforcement consequences for these regulations, paying special attention to market access consequences.
✅Group the regulations and reporting into buckets, and highlight overlaps. See below a high level example of buckets.
✅Place sustainability business priorities into buckets that fit.
✅ Map out places where the company has already made investments and may be able to leverage previous work.
✅Get an understanding of where there are overlaps between strategy and regulation, where there are high enforcement consequences, and where the company might already be doing well.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. A simple mapping exercise can help companies exit any internal paralysis that they may be facing, and get them started on their ESG compliance journey.