Global System Required for Disclosure

According to the report, these companies report on sustainability in more detail and more comprehensively than in the past and also have this information confirmed to a greater extent. However, the use of different sustainability standards and frameworks continues to make it difficult for investors, lenders and other stakeholders to identify consistent and comparable sustainability information. It is therefore necessary for companies worldwide to develop a global system for the disclosure of sustainability information.

On a positive note, more than half of the companies use the standards of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and the framework of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). This should facilitate the transition to the standards published last year by the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB).

Situation in Germany

With regard to the situation in Germany, the study found that 100% of the companies included reported on ESG matters in 2022. Where assurance services were obtained, 95.6% of these were performed by an audit firm (usually in accordance with ISAE 3000).

It is also worth noting that the time lag between issuing the audit opinion and signing the ESG assurance report is less than a week in Europe, but still more than three months in the USA and Canada.