According to KPMG's latest survey of sustainability reporting, sustainability reporting has been steadily growing but also lagging in critical areas of sustainability and ESG.
According to the study, which analyzed sustainability and ESG reports from around 5,000 companies across 58 countries and jurisdictions, over 79% of leading firms provide sustainability reports; this number was up from two-thirds of the top 100 companies ten years ago.
However, less than half have reported on the social and governance components of ESG, and approximately 25% have no link to external ESG targets.
Additionally, the research found that 71% of the top 100 companies and 80% of the top 250 set carbon reduction targets. However, the action remains slow in key related areas, with less than half of businesses currently recognizing biodiversity loss as a risk.
More companies are starting to recognize that they have to reduce their own emissions to achieve carbon targets rather than relying on carbon credits.