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Teneo’s review of 250 of the S&P 500 sustainability reports published January 1 through June 30, 2023, revealed noteworthy insights, statistics, and trends.

Among the insights and trends: more detailed management and board governance disclosure and discussion of how the responsibilities for ESG are allocated among management.

Noteworthy stats include:

Communications-related

• Average page count has increased from 70 pages in 2021 to 82 pages in 2023.
• The use of press releases to announce the report publication has declined to 50% of companies in 2023 from 70% in 2021 and 62% last year.
• Disclosure of ESG microsites has soared from 27% last year to 88% this year.
• The inclusion of ESG data tables has declined from 75% in 2021 to 70% last year and 54% in 2023.
• Reports were most commonly published in April, May, and June (26%, 25%, and 23%, respectively).

Content-related

• Companies overwhelmingly use or reference SASB (92%), followed by the TCFD (77%) and GRI (69%).
• External assurance has increased from 53% in 2021 to 62% in 2023.
• External assurance providers are most commonly not associated with the Big Four:

• Nearly 80% of reports referenced a materiality assessment, up from 52% in 2021.
• A majority of reports included a materiality matrix, while more than one-third included a legal materiality disclaimer. More than 90% of companies used a single materiality approach.
• Nearly half of reports include a standalone section on the progress of their ESG goals.

Governance-related

• Report cover letters are most commonly signed by the CEO only.
• A majority of companies identify their Nom/Gov Committee as having primary board ESG oversight responsibility.

• As shown above, CSOs are most commonly tagged with primary ESG oversight responsibility among the management team (27%).

Access additional resources on our Sustainability page.

               This post first appeared in the weekly Society Alert!