How to write an ESG report: complex data in plain language

ESG reporting is not just about meeting legal requirements. It is also a way to showcase a company’s contribution to building a better world. See three tips on how to report ESG metrics correctly, and in an interesting form.

 Key takeaways:

• Why ESG reporting is important,
• How to prepare for meeting ESG reporting standards,
• Three things to consider before you start,
• Who you need to quickly and efficiently write an ESG report.

ESG stands for Environment, Social, and Governance. These three pillars of sustainable practices represent legislative requirements, consumer expectations, and employee values. From  January 2024 onwards, the European Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) will require companies to disclose their efforts in the form of an annual non-financial report. The document will provide information on environmental issues such as carbon dioxide emissions, water consumption, or waste management. The document will also contain the company’s diversity policy and employee care. This way, firms will inform stakeholders (not only investors and regulatory bodies but also customers and employees) about their contribution to a better functioning world.

However, reporting sustainability initiatives is not just about listing the required data, but about a thorough assessment of the results achieved. As experts point out, it’s about adopting a new perspective on the process of collecting and reporting data. New reporting will require compiling reports that facilitate reading and understanding non-financial data. To write a report that will actually be interesting to read, you need to prepare accordingly.

All hands on deck: ESG reporting is a team effort

The most critical aspect is to make all project participants aware of the importance of this process. Finding, preparing, and most importantly, ensuring the accuracy of the data is a team effort, and not a solitary journey. An ESG report cannot be a slapdash compilation of numbers and graphs, especially since providing false information can lead to criminal and financial liability for the management team. Therefore, it is important to provide colleagues with the broader perspective.

What can help in the process is workshops for executives and later for managers. This way, decision-makers will realize the importance of the data, and different departments will contribute their part, resulting in coherent ESG reporting.

How to prepare for ESG reporting?

As explained by Dr Aleksandra Stanek-Kowalczyk, Assistant Professor at SGH Warsaw School of Economics and Partner at EY, ESG reporting is a several-month process subject to specific guidelines. ESG reports are prepared according to standards (e.g., Global Reporting Initiative, GRI, or European Sustainability Reporting Standards, ESRS, introduced in late 2022). You cannot skip a section just because it seems boring, nor spin it in any way to present a more favorable message.

How to prepare such a specialized, functional publication as the ESG report yet make it engaging and easy to read? Here are three tips:

Report in plain language

You cannot change the rules of ESG reporting, but you can change the language you use to tell the story of your organization by means of data. According to the principles of plain language, if the factual layer is extremely complex, creating short, ornament-free sentences makes it much easier to understand the message. The reader then has the impression that you don’t want to overwhelm them, but that you are spoon feeding them information so that they can assimilate everything at their own pace.

Creatively reuse the ESG data

The ESG report is a publication with a strictly defined form. There is not much room for creativity here. Based on the sustainability report, you can create interesting materials that will be subject to marketing rather than legislative rules, such as brochures, e-books or infographics. You can share them in any form you want – publish social media posts, infographics, or even Instagram reels.

Engage a team of external authors

It’s not hard to guess that the more hands (and heads) to write, the faster you’ll finish. But that’s not all. An outside content writer will take care of the extra perspective – suggest what to include and how to include it, in order to keep the balance between requirements and readability. Well, and let’s not forget about specific skills of external editors, such as the practical knowledge of the principles plain language.

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