ESG

Services

ESG stands for Environment, Social & Governance. New legal requirements such as Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) requires all large businesses and all listed companies (with the exception of micro-enterprises) to report on significant sustainability issues. At RSM, we perform ESG analyzes and develop strategies that are connected to our customers business model. We help your business through the entire reporting journey from double materiality analysis and stakeholder dialogue to data collection and sustainability communication.

We help your business with ESG analysis and reporting

Climate change, loss of biological diversity, armed conflicts and complex supply chains affect the global economy today. There are a number of sustainability risks that can be linked to financial risks, and business leaders today need to take height for this. The new legal requirement CSRD comes into force in 2024, meaning that the businesses affected by the requirements have an obligation to report on sustainability. For a large number of businesses today, ESG issues are business critical and many see a need to integrate sustainability into their operations. Businesses that actively work with ESG issues are also more attractive to both customers and employees.

What does ESG stand for?

ESG is a broad sustainability concept that deals with issues such as environment and climate (environment), social responsibility and human rights (social) and governance and regulatory compliance (governance).

Why is ESG important for businesses?

Only evaluating and analyzing a business from a financial perspective is not enough to create long-term success. CSRD places equally high demands on sustainability reporting as the financial reporting. In addition, stakeholders expect companies to report this. The stakeholders can be customers, employees and investors.

The core pillars of ESG explained:

Environmental

The waste we produce, the emissions we release, the resources we consume, and how we impact the natural world are all factors to consider when looking at how your business affects the environment. An increased awareness about the climate change from society contributes to increasing the pressure on both politicians and legislators to reach the goals of the Paris Agreement and limit temperature increases. Therefore, more and more demands are placed on the private sector, more precisely on the companies' relationship with how their business activities affect the environment. The focus on businesses climate impact will without doubt continue to increase in the coming years, especially with the upcoming regulations CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) which requires a number of businesses to report on a number of different sustainability issues. In practice, this means that all businesses covered by the directive must report their emissions that are directly created through, for example, the production of a specific good, but also the emissions created through the entire supply chain. The industry you operate in will likely determine which areas of environment and sustainability that are most important for your business to concentrate on. Examples of areas can be carbon dioxide emissions, biological diversity, water consumption, resource use, waste management and circular economy.

Governance

Governance refer to the rules, controls and routines that controls the businesses behavior. Since governance forms the framework for how the business achieves its goals, the central theme within the sustainability work are the ambitions and the long-term goal fulfillment if the business.

Good and effective governance does not only mean following laws and regulations, but also handle important environmental and social issues. Furthermore, good governance depends on the fact that the measures put in place are actually assessed and measured afterwards. A clear and transparent approach is important to achieve respect and trust from both stakeholders and employees.

Henric Larsolle

Authorized Public Accountant, Partner

View profile

Stockholm

Contact Henric Larsolle

Manager

Contact Dunja Lönnqvist

+46 76 291 49 36

Strategy

For a large number of businesses today, ESG issues are business critical and many see a need to integrate sustainability into their operations. At RSM, we perform ESG analyzes and support you in developing strategies that are linked to your business model.

ESG-reporting

With the upcoming regulation CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive), sustainability reporting will not only become more widespread among businesses on a purely voluntary basis, but for many it also means that reporting will become mandatory according to the European standard - ESRS (European Sustainability Reporting Standard).

Governance

Good governance is about providing that the business is managed in a sustainable, responsible and efficient manner. Trust, transparency and good governance are important factors to invest in when investing in a business. Good governance is also highly valued by the shareholders, customers and employees.

Strategy