Automation of Sustainability Reporting (ESG)

New requirements bring new challenges and additional workload for staff, BI can automate the calculation of quantitative metrics!

Simplify ESG reporting with a BI solution

  • ESG automation

    Why do ESG reports manually once a year when they can be automatically updated? We simplify the process!

  • Overview of environmental impact

    To move somewhere, you first need to know where you want to be. Automated reports give you a snapshot of where you are and how you are progressing towards your goals.

  • Risk management

    Automated and easily accessible visibility of resource usage provides better insight into external business risks.

  • Reputation

    Thinking about sustainability is important today. It is one component of a positive image that helps attract new customers, investors and even new employees. Meeting ESG requirements is also important for maintaining your existing partnerships.

How is ESG automation done?

The sustainability reporting (ESG) obligation is almost upon us, and with it comes a new and significant reporting burden for companies. From a data analytics perspective, this can be split into two:

  • Qualitative data points, i.e. a description of the required topics.

  • Quantitative data points, i.e. numerical measures based on actual data.

Intelex Insight offers the possibility to automate the calculation of quantitative metrics in particular. This means, for example, automating the calculation of CO2 emissions, measuring resource use and so on.

With ESG reporting, the reality is likely to be that someone in the field will be collecting data from various sources and then calculating the data needed for the ESG report. It's laborious for themselves, but similarly, it's difficult for auditors to chew through the maze of Excel later on. Automating the process of data movement, processing and calculation with business analytics solutions makes reporting faster and easier. It also gives better access to the data collected within the business and helps to better manage risks and environmental footprints.

How to turn an ESG report into a competitive advantage?

In addition to the new reporting obligation, sustainability reporting can also be seen as an opportunity. One of its purpose is to map risks (e.g. resource use, including CO2 emissions) that may be subject to taxation in the future. If a company has a better overview of its resource use, it will be able to better manage these risks.

We can also already see how customers (e.g. the public sector, or large organisations in Scandinavia and Western Europe) are asking for more and more information on the environmental footprint of the products/services they supply, or more broadly on the risk analysis covered by ESG reports. If the reporting process is automated, it will allow the necessary information to be easily and quickly compiled and communicated to partners.

The third aspect is the company's reputation. Be it the image of the company in the eyes of its customers/customers or its attractiveness as an employer. Competition for the best employees is always important, and there are companies in Estonia whose core activities are unfortunately inherently polluting (e.g. energy companies), but which invest considerable resources in monitoring their footprint and minimising it as far as possible.

Example of CO2 emissions calculation

Kestlikkusaruandluse automatiseerimise üks selgemaid näiteid on tõenäoliselt CO2 heitgaaside arvutamine. Vastavalt taksonoomiale jagatakse see kolme skoopi:

skoop 1 - otsesed emissioonid (nt autokütus)
skoop 2 - kaudsed emissioonid (nt keskküte hoonetes)
skoop 3 - kaudsed emissioonid (muud), näiteks sisseostetud materjal, toodete utiliseerimiskulud jms.

Kui skoop 1 ja 2 emissioone on suhteliselt lihtne arvutada (näiteks ostetud diislikütus x süsiniku eriheite koefitsent), siis skoop 3 on mõnevõrra keerulisem, kuid ka siin on võimalik CO2 heitgaaside arvutamise metoodika selliselt välja töötada (nt erinevatele sisseostetud toodetele/teenustele panna külge CO2 komponent), et selle väljaarvutamine muutuks automaatseks. Algandmeteks võivad olla vastavalt võimalustele näiteks ostuarved või kanded vastavatelt raamatupidamiskontodelt.

Lõpptulemusena hakkab protsess automaatselt tööle ning korralikult loodud BI lahenduste tugevuseks on see, et isegi kui alguses teha rohkelt eeldusi ja lihtsustusi, siis algandmete paranedes saab need aruandlusesse juurde tuua ja niimoodi protsessi ajas täpsustada.