Creating an ESG report involves documenting your company’s environmental, social, and governance performance through structured data collection and transparent disclosure. You’ll need to choose an appropriate reporting framework, gather relevant metrics across all three pillars, and present this information in a format that meets stakeholder expectations and regulatory requirements.
What is an ESG report and why does your company need one?
An ESG report is a comprehensive document that measures and communicates your company’s performance across environmental, social, and governance factors. Unlike traditional financial reports, ESG reporting examines non-financial metrics like carbon emissions, workforce diversity, and board composition to give stakeholders a fuller picture of how your business operates.
Companies create ESG reports for several compelling reasons:
- Regulatory compliance: Particularly in the EU where the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) now requires over 42,500 companies to report on sustainability, ensuring your business meets legal obligations
- Investor demands: Financial stakeholders require this information to properly assess risk and opportunity in their investment decisions, directly influencing your access to capital
- Stakeholder transparency: Customers, employees, and communities want clear visibility into your company’s values and impact, building trust through open communication
- Competitive advantage: Strong ESG performance can enhance your brand reputation and appeal to socially conscious audiences, differentiating you in the marketplace
These drivers collectively reflect a fundamental shift in how we measure business success. Companies are now expected to report not just on how sustainability issues affect their performance, but also on how their activities impact society and the environment. This dual perspective—both inward and outward—makes ESG reporting essential for modern businesses seeking to build resilience, attract investment, and maintain their social license to operate.
Which ESG reporting framework should you use?
Choosing the right ESG reporting framework depends on your company’s location, industry, stakeholder expectations, and mandatory compliance requirements.
For EU-based companies, the CSRD is becoming the primary framework to consider. This legislation modernizes and strengthens the rules concerning social and environmental information that companies must report. If you’re operating in the EU, understanding CSRD requirements should be your starting point.
The CDP (formerly Carbon Disclosure Project) focuses specifically on environmental disclosure, particularly climate change, water security, and forests. The EU Taxonomy classifies sustainable economic activities, helping companies and investors identify which business activities align with environmental objectives.
Many companies use multiple frameworks because different stakeholders have different expectations. Start with what’s legally required or most important to your stakeholders, then expand your reporting as your capabilities grow.
How do you collect data for an ESG report?
ESG data collection is where theory meets reality. The process involves identifying relevant data sources across your entire organization, establishing collection systems, and ensuring accuracy throughout.
Start by mapping out what data you need across the three ESG pillars:
- Environmental metrics: Energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, water usage, and waste generation provide the foundation for understanding your environmental footprint and identifying reduction opportunities
- Social metrics: Workforce demographics, diversity statistics, employee training hours, health and safety incidents, and community impact initiatives demonstrate your commitment to people and reveal areas for improvement
- Governance data: Board composition, ethics policies, compliance records, and stakeholder engagement activities reveal how your company is managed and whether decision-making structures support accountability
Successfully gathering this diverse information requires cross-functional collaboration, as the data typically lives in different departments. Your facilities team tracks energy use, HR manages workforce data, and compliance sits with legal. Engaging all these departments early and establishing clear processes for data collection ensures completeness and prevents last-minute scrambles when reporting deadlines approach.
Data quality matters enormously. Stakeholders and regulators expect reliable information, so implement verification processes. Double-check calculations, document your methodology, and keep clear records of data sources.
Specialized sustainability reporting experts can assist with this process, helping companies collect comprehensive, accurate sustainability data and set up systems that make future reporting significantly easier.
What should you include in your ESG report content?
A comprehensive ESG report follows a structured format that balances thoroughness with readability. Your report should tell a complete story about your sustainability performance whilst remaining accessible to various stakeholder audiences.
Your ESG report should include these essential components:
- Executive summary and leadership message: Sets the tone and highlights key achievements and challenges, demonstrating commitment from the top of your organization
- Company overview and materiality assessment: Explains which ESG issues matter most to your business and why, focusing stakeholder attention on what’s truly relevant
- Environmental performance: Covers your emissions profile, resource consumption, climate strategy, and environmental targets, providing a comprehensive view of your ecological impact
- Social performance: Includes workforce statistics, diversity and inclusion initiatives, employee development programs, health and safety records, and community impact activities, showcasing your human capital management
- Governance structure: Details your board structure, ethics policies, compliance systems, risk management approaches, and stakeholder engagement methods, revealing how oversight and accountability function
- Goals and targets: Provides clear improvement objectives across all three pillars, establishing measurable commitments that stakeholders can track over time
Together, these components create a cohesive narrative that demonstrates both where your company stands today and where it’s heading tomorrow. Content should be tailored to what’s material to your specific business and industry, with transparency emphasized throughout. Including both achievements and challenges builds trust more effectively than presenting a perfect picture, as stakeholders appreciate honesty about areas still developing and the realistic journey toward sustainability excellence.
Ready to create your ESG report?
Creating your first ESG report is a substantial undertaking, but it’s also an opportunity to genuinely understand and improve your company’s sustainability performance. Whether you’re facing mandatory CSRD compliance or responding to stakeholder expectations, approaching ESG reporting systematically makes the process manageable.
At Dazzle, we understand that companies need flexible support that matches their specific situation. Our network of specialized sustainability reporting experts can assist with everything from framework selection and data collection to report preparation and employee training. We can connect you with the right expert within 48 hours.
If you are interested in learning more, reach out to our team of experts today.
