Compliance playing an increasingly important role in ESG disclosure

Environmental, social, and governance disclosures are becoming common practice among companies across all industries, driven mainly by stakeholder pressure. But equally pressing is the regulatory compliance risk associated with non-disclosure or disclosures that are not accurate, truthful, or complete, highlighting the critical role compliance officers play in this process.

Sustainable investing—an approach that considers ESG factors when making investment decisions—is only growing and constitutes a major force across global financial markets companies can no longer afford to ignore. According to a report by the Global Sustainable Investment Alliance, sustainable investing assets stood at $30.7 trillion at the start of 2018 across five major markets—Europe, the United States, Canada, Japan, and Australia and New Zealand—a 34 percent increase in two years.