ESG Reporting Services

Support from an ESG Reporting Specialist

Annual ESG reports are an important opportunity for companies to weigh in on changing expectations around business value. As both a timestamp and guide to a corporation's strategic positions, they provide a vision of the future, the role of a business in shaping that future, and how the business has progressed so far to make that vision a reality.

Touching on environmental, social and governance themes, the best ESG reports don't shy away from discussing sustainability challenges. They acknowledge with transparency the realities businesses face related to climate change, supply chain due diligence, and stakeholder concerns while disclosing the paths businesses take to navigate these challenges.

As a certified ESG specialist, I support corporations preparing their annual sustainability reports and strategic communications narratives. I have worked on more than a dozen ESG reports as the lead copywriter or copyeditor. I have worked both with reporting consultancies and directly with reporting companies.

My expertise blends highly effective corporate communication skills with an in-depth knowledge of corporate sustainability regulatory policies, trends and reporting standards and frameworks.

I’ve supported annual ESG reporting projects for companies across diverse industries, including: IT, banking, commercial real estate, retailers, rail industry manufacturing, steel industry manufacturing, building supplies and energy infrastructure.

Here are more details about my ESG reporting process:

Reporting project Steps

Strategic planning

1. Determine project estimated length and deadline, as well as the relevant stakeholders to review the report to determine revision rounds needed. 

2. Review past reporting examples if available to understand the client's reporting strategy and maturity. Review brand guidelines and other background information about the business.  

3. Determine reporting guidelines and requirements, utilizing the client's materiality assessment, gap assessment, benchmarking and additional details. Conduct additional desk research as needed or provide support in the above-mentioned areas.  

4. Develop a substantive outline based on desk research of documentation, SME or stakeholder interviews and other data sources, and receive final approval from the client.  

Drafting

1. Develop a rough draft to include all content sections and design guidelines based on the substantive outline. 

   Standard project elements include: Table of contents, executive letter, value chain overview, sustainability strategy overview, stakeholder assessment and engagement, materiality assessment, material topics list, sustainability governance and board overview, risk management approach, overview of significance of material ESG topics (including impact, risk and opportunities perspectives), management approach of material ESG topics (qualitative data), targets and metrics of ESG material topics including a description of measurement methodologies (quantitative data), activities completed in the reporting period, and changes to methodologies or restatements of information in the reporting period.

   Optional: Prepare the content indices drafts with placeholders for missing disclosures. 

2. Provide draft to the core sustainability review team for revisions and brand alignment.  

Revision process

1. Revision cycle 1: Copywriter responsible for version control and comment resolution. Update draft to include main content revisions. Fill content gaps. 

2. Revision cycle 2: Provide draft to SMEs and department heads for review. Incorporate additional changes. 

3. Revision cycle 3: Refine the language and style of the draft to align with brand guidelines. Finalize content indices. Once approved, the draft is ready for design formatting. 

4. Design draft 1: Submit draft to proofreader. Provide to highest governing body for final review and approval. 

Project workflow

• Project steps are keyed to a timeline prepared together with the client.

• Additional project management is optional.

• Project includes weekly sustainability team meetings with the client, if needed. 

Approximate project timeline

• 4 months without assurance before publication

• 6 months with limited assurance for CSRD reports

• 6 months for inaugural reports

Reporting teams: For reporting projects, I have worked on teams either with an advisor, project manager, designer and a client's internal lead contact. Alternatively, I have also worked directly with chief sustainability officers and managers to prepare reports. In the absence of consultancy support, optional project management support may be included as part of the package.

Information delivery and technology: I welcome the use of internal systems preferred by clients.

Formatting and design: This is not included in my services and must be outsourced or assigned to an in-house team.

Final proofread: Reporting projects include a final proofread for mechanics, style consistency and accuracy in word choice and spelling. This is an optional service to include or outsource separately from the copywriting.

Publication and permissions: Clients publish their report and promote it on in their social channels when they have received all of their internal approvals from board and C-suite reviewers. Clients may choose to have me sign an NDA at the start of the project, if they wish to keep the work we conduct confidential and restrict portfolio permissions.

My Unique approach to reporting

• Brand voice and messaging: I include a detailed on-boarding questionnaire to ensure adherence to the brand voice and identity, targeting my clients' key stakeholders as the audience. When preferred, a report theme may also be woven through the contents of the draft.

• Project management: Sustainability report writing is a collaborative process requiring significant coordination with the organization’s team. I work effectively with an organization’s key team members to meet internal deadlines and goals.

• Strategic disclosure: As most companies know, disclosure is an art, not a science. I work with companies to promote information-rich transparency into their sustainability activities, but I understand the balance of detail and concise presentation is always an issue to work through. I bring experience and approaches gleaned from across a wide range of industries to help inform the report presentation.

My reporting services do not include:

• Materiality analysis, sustainability strategy planning or program implementation.

• Design, image acquisition, or infographic development.

• Uploading the content to your website or other publication or distribution activities.

Reporting project Rates and Engagement

• Project fee: I use project fees, which I provide in a proposal at the start of a client engagement. All proposals include a scope of work containing and overview of the agreement and timeline. Details of the scope of work may be developed either by me or the consultancy who hires me.

• Project rates: Project rates vary depending on the target length and scope of the report, including considerations into the level of reporting development and any optional add-ons as listed above. Rates also vary for first-time reports, or first-time alignment with new standards.

• Project billing: Project rates can be billed either with a 50% deposit and final invoice, or in monthly milestones for projects lasting longer than 3 months. I work with global companies and can bill in the following currencies USD, EUR or GBP.

👉 Schedule a discovery call to learn more about my rates and process.

Climate Risk and Transition Plan Reporting

Since its creation in 2015, the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) has had a significant impact around the world. Many central banks are adopting TCFD reporting requirements to shield the global economic system from climate-related financial instability.

I support businesses in presenting their climate risk and opportunities reporting in alignment with CSRD and ESRS E1 (climate change), IFRS S2, TCFD and the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard. Sometimes companies prefer to include climate risk assessment information or transition plan disclosures in reports separate from their standard annual sustainability report.

In 2022, I earned my Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP) Sustainability and Climate Risk (SCR®) certificate, which covers climate risk transmission, management, reporting, scenario analysis, and other key topics relevant to today’s evolving world of climate-related risk and opportunity analyses.

I received scores in the highest quartile for five of the seven subjects tested. This subject matter expertise serves me well in my reporting, as I understand exactly what investors and regulators are looking for within a climate risk report.

Note that preparing this information usually requires strategic planning sessions that incorporate the board level strategic decisions, input from the finance and risk departments, and often external consultants and data analysis to conduct forward-looking climate scenario analysis for physical and transition risks.

Using the strategy and analysis prepared by a company, I draft disclosures reflecting a company's current level of maturity with regards to its management of physical and transition risks. In addition, I can support additional reporting requirements for CSRD, such as transition plan and business resilience plan disclosures.

👉 Schedule a discovery call to learn more about my rates and process.