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What is ESG Reporting & Why is it Important?

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George Philip
Sr. Vice President (Data Analytics and Emerging Technologies)
September 30, 2025

Table of Content

What Is ESG Reporting?

ESG reporting provides a structured view of a company’s Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance. It measures impact like carbon footprint, how they treat employees, and whether leadership upholds strong ethics and transparency.

These reports provide investors, customers, employees, and others with a clear understanding of how a company operates beyond just its financial performance.

For example, a company might report on its water usage and waste management practices to show its environmental responsibility. On the social side, companies may report on diversity and inclusion data alongside their community outreach efforts. Governance disclosures often cover board independence and anti-corruption policies. Together, these pieces provide a more comprehensive view of the company’s values and operations.

Why Should You Care About ESG Reporting?

It goes beyond simply being “green” or “woke.” It’s about how a company anticipates and manages real risks and opportunities. Investors today are interested in a company’s ability to manage risks such as social unrest or climate change.

Consumers favor brands with substance. Workers prefer to work for organizations that share their beliefs. And, ESG reporting is a regulatory requirement in most countries. It helps businesses take advantage of new possibilities and flag risks early. For example, a manufacturer who is conscious of the environmental impact of its supply chain can take proactive steps to cut emissions, lower costs, and reduce regulatory risk. Similarly, businesses with inclusive cultures tend to have more innovative and satisfied workers. Transparency is essential in a society where information spreads quickly and scrutiny is intense. It is a strategic requirement.

How Do You Get Started?

  1. Know what matters. Start by identifying ESG issues critical to your business and stakeholders. Materiality assessments can help pinpoint high-impact areas like emissions, diversity, or ethical sourcing.
  2. Create a strategy. Set measurable goals, assign clear roles, and build internal ESG awareness.
  3. Use the right tech. ESG data lives everywhere—in HR systems, supply chain software, spreadsheets, and more. A unified, secure, and AI-driven platform like KOR ESGenius helps centralize, clean, and report this data efficiently.

It’s not about gathering data for the sake of it. It’s about turning data into insight, and insight into action.

Frameworks You Should Know About

Several popular frameworks are available to help companies organize and report their ESG data. Choosing the right ones depends on your industry, geography, and audience.

  • GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) is widely used and covers a broad range of sustainability topics. It’s especially helpful for companies wanting to provide detailed disclosures across environmental, social, and economic impacts.
  • SASB (Sustainability Accounting Standards Board) focuses on industry-specific standards with a strong financial materiality lens, meaning it highlights issues likely to affect a company’s financial performance.
  • TCFD (Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures) is gaining momentum worldwide by guiding companies on how to report climate-related risks and opportunities in a way investors can use.
  • CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project) specializes in environmental disclosures, particularly around carbon emissions, water security, and forests.
  • CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) is an EU regulation that requires companies to publish detailed, audited sustainability reports, emphasizing both financial and environmental/social impacts, known as double materiality.
  • BRSR (Business Responsibility and Sustainability Report) is a mandatory reporting requirement for India’s top listed companies, introduced by SEBI. It requires companies to give an ESG performance report focusing on responsible business practices across environmental, social, and governance metrics.

KOR ESGenius doesn’t just support these; it accelerates alignment. With over 163 prebuilt disclosures, it gives you a massive head start.

Many companies combine frameworks to meet the diverse needs of different stakeholders. For example, a multinational might use GRI for broad sustainability disclosures, SASB for investor-focused reporting, and TCFD for climate risk management.

Collecting and Managing Your ESG Data

This is where many companies stall: data lives in silos, the formats vary, and manual collection turns into chaos.

KOR ESGenius solves that by:

  • Automating data ingestion across systems using a lakehouse architecture.
  • Mapping and cleansing data to remove duplication and inconsistencies.
  • Providing customizable dashboards and 54+ report-ready visualizations.
  • Integrating Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions tracking—even in the basic plan.

From HR metrics to supplier audits, ESGenius brings all your data together in one place and keeps it audit-ready and real-time.

The Benefits of ESG Reporting

Even as some may question the effort, companies that do it well see tangible benefits.

Builds Investor Confidence

Accurate ESG data lowers perceived risk and improves access to capital. With real-time dashboards and analytics , ESGenius helps you showcase your long-term viability.

Identifies Operational Improvements

You can’t fix what you don’t measure. ESG reporting highlights inefficiencies—from energy waste to attrition rates—so you can act fast.

Enhances Your Brand

Consumers care. ESG reports signal your values, which leads to stronger loyalty, higher retention, and even pricing power.

Attracts Talent

Purpose-driven professionals are the future workforce. ESGenius helps you show, not just tell, your commitment to making a difference.

Future-Proofs Your Business

With fast-changing regulations, auditability matters. ESGenius ensures you’re compliant by design, not by scramble.

Drives Long-Term Strategy

Beyond reports, ESGenius enables predictive analytics, scenario planning, and AI-driven optimization —helping you build a resilient, future-ready business.

Common Challenges and How to Beat Them

ESG reporting isn’t without hurdles:

  • Data can be spread out and hard to collect,
  • Changing rules can be confusing,
  • Quality of data may vary
  • Some people resist the change

The trick is to start with what matters most and build from there. Good leadership and teamwork go a long way.

Future of ESG Reporting?

Expect ESG reporting is getting more demanding and granular. Audited, comparable data will be the norm. We’ll see more integration with financial reports, use of AI to predict risks, and real-time sustainability tracking. Companies that treat ESG as a priority will be the ones that thrive.

Final Thoughts

ESG reporting isn’t a compliance checkbox. It prepares your business for tomorrow’s risks and opportunities. When it is done with integrity, it builds resilience and trust. Whenever you are on the ESG journey, the important thing is to start and keep improving. ESG is about what you measure, how you act, and the responsibility you own.

Turn ESG data into decisions see ESGenius in action. Get a walkthrough today!

Dynamic-Knowledge-Base

    FAQs about ESG Reporting

    ESG reporting is about showing how your business impacts the world beyond just financial results. It covers three areas: Environmental (like emissions and energy use), Social (how you treat people, from workers to communities), and Governance (your leadership, ethics, and transparency). It’s not just numbers. It’s also about your policies, goals, and progress. Think of it as telling your story, backed by data.
    A wide range of people such as investors, regulators, customers, and even employees read ESG reports. Investors often rely on standardized ESG reporting frameworks like SASB and TCFD to assess risk and long-term value. Regulators, particularly in regions like the EU, look for compliance with directives such as the CSRD. Customers want reassurance that companies follow credible standards like GRI, which provide transparency on sustainability practices. And employees are increasingly drawn to organizations that commit to measurable goals, often reported through these same frameworks. ESG reporting, when done right, builds trust across the board.
    It depends on where you operate and what kind of business you are. In some places, like the European Union, ESG reporting is becoming legally required for many companies under rules like the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). In other regions, it’s still voluntary, but expectations are rising fast. Even where it’s not mandatory, being proactive puts you ahead of the curve. The difference between ESG and sustainability reporting lies in their focus: ESG reporting centers on financially relevant environmental, social, and governance risks and opportunities, while sustainability reporting often looks more broadly at a company’s environmental and social impacts, even if they aren’t financially material. Understanding this difference helps businesses choose the right approach for their reporting goals.
    Honestly, it’s usually collecting and organizing the data. ESG information can be scattered across departments, hard to measure, or not tracked at all. Some companies also struggle with choosing the right framework or knowing how much detail to include. The good news? With the right tools and a clear process, it gets much easier over time.
    Start small and focus on what matters most to your business. You don’t have to do everything at once. Choose a few material issues. Maybe energy use, employee well-being, or governance practices and build from there. Use simple tools to track progress and be honest in your reporting. Remember, ESG isn’t about being perfect, it’s about being transparent and improving over time.

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