In PracticalESG.com’s “ESG Accounting Needs More than Accountants,” seasoned veteran (in the environmental auditing space) Lawrence Heim explains why he believes traditional financial auditors are generally not well-suited for ESG assurance services due to the fundamental differences between financial and ESG data. As previously reported, some organizations have been advocating for auditor assurance of ESG information, whereas most companies that have opted to obtain some level of external assurance have used engineering or consulting firms in lieu of outside auditors for this purpose.
See our prior reports: “ESG Information: External Assurance Primer,” “ "Auditor Assurance of ESG Information," “S&P 500 ESG Disclosure Benchmarking,” and “S&P 100 ESG Disclosure Benchmarking,” and additional information & resources on our Sustainability page - Assurance and our Audit & Audit Firms page. This post first appeared in the weekly Society Alert!