Your sustainability reporting has discrepancies. How can you regain trust with stakeholders?

Conduct an independent audit of our reporting practices, engage with stakeholders to understand their concerns, and establish a clear roadmap for improving transparency and accuracy. By enhancing our internal controls and fostering open communication, we aim to rebuild confidence in our commitment to corporate sustainability.

The first step in regaining trust is to transparently acknowledge and explain the discrepancies in your sustainability reporting.Before communicating with stakeholders, it is crucial to conduct a thorough internal review to understand exactly what happened and why. This self-assessment allows you to provide a clear and detailed explanation, which should be shared openly and transparently with your stakeholders. Hiding nothing and sharing all relevant details is essential to rebuilding trust. It’s important to remember that humans can make mistakes; acknowledging this can lead to a more understanding and supportive relationship. Maintaining and building trust through honest communication is crucial.

Key steps to achieve this are: 1. Acknowledge the Discrepancies, and be transparent about the errors. 2. Communicate Clearly, the errors and their impact on stakeholders. 3. Engage Stakeholders, in the conversation. 4. Implement Corrective Actions, to correct discrepancies. 5. Enhance Transparency, in future reporting. 6. Set Clear Goals, using SMART sustainability goals. 7. Train and Educate, your team effectively. 8. Build strong relationships, with stakeholders. 9. Seek Third-Party Validation, to enhance credibility. 10. Monitor and Adjust, your practices and reporting processes. By taking these steps, sustainability reporters can work towards rebuilding trust and demonstrating their commitment to sustainability.

Regaining trust after discrepancies in sustainability reporting requires transparency and proactive measures. First, openly acknowledge the errors and take responsibility. Explain the discrepancies and the steps taken to correct them. Implement stringent internal controls and third-party audits to ensure future accuracy. Engage stakeholders by seeking their feedback and addressing their concerns, showing a commitment to transparency and continuous improvement. Adopt recognized sustainability standards like GRI or SASB to enhance report credibility. Communicate regularly about your progress and actions to improve sustainability practices. Demonstrating accountability and a commitment to improvement will help rebuild trust with stakeholders.

1. Acknowledge the Issue: Openly acknowledge the discrepancies and take responsibility. 2. Conduct an Internal Audit: Perform a thorough audit to understand the root cause of the discrepancies. 3. Communicate Transparently: Keep stakeholders informed about what happened, what steps are being . 4. Correct the Data: Issue corrected reports with accurate data and ensure that these are easily accessible to stakeholders. 5. Strengthen Internal Controls: Implement stronger internal controls and processes to prevent future discrepancies. 6. Engage Third-Party Verification: Consider engaging an independent third party to verify the sustainability reports. 7. Enhance Stakeholder Engagement: Increase engagement with stakeholders through⬤

Refocus on your original vision and missions, dust them off if necessary, and refocus your efforts in this direction, communicating with the utmost transparency. Communicate about your mistakes and about this reconvergence towards your company's core missions.

É fundamental realizar uma revisão abrangente de seus processos de elaboração. Identificar as falhas e compreender as causas raiz por trás das discrepâncias é essencial para implementar mudanças eficazes que evitem erros futuros. Seja falta de supervisão, erro humano ou sistemas inadequados, a análise aprofundada dos processos ajudará a empresa a fortalecer seus controles e garantir a precisão e integridade de seus relatórios. Ao adotar uma abordagem proativa de melhoria e correção, a organização demonstra compromisso com a transparência e a qualidade de suas práticas de prestação de contas, reconstruindo a confiança das partes interessadas e fortalecendo sua credibilidade no campo da sustentabilidade.

Lack of Oversight: If the issue stemmed from insufficient managerial review, introduce more rigorous checks and balances. For example, increase the frequency of internal audits and ensure that multiple senior team members review reports before publication. Human Error: Address training gaps by providing additional education on sustainability standards and reporting accuracy. Implement a double-check system where two independent staff members verify the data. Inadequate Systems: If outdated software or manual processes contributed to the error, invest in updated technology. For instance, deploy an automated sustainability reporting tool that ensures data accuracy and compliance with current regulations.

The best way to start a reporting process while making it material is to involve stakeholders right from the start. This typically avoids mistakes and discrepancies. Solving potential issues can be amended by engaging with them taking in their remarks and possible criticisms and amending where it makes sense with their help and guidance. Transforming a communication disaster into a successful part of the sustainability journey is possible!

Engagement with stakeholders is crucial for addressing discrepancies and gathering input to ensure transparent and accurate sustainability reporting.Alignment with stakeholders is crucial to prevent future discrepancies. Identify any necessary process changes, determine the root cause of the issues, and agree on next steps. Clearly define key roles and responsibilities to avoid recurrence, and ensure that these changes are communicated to your working team so they understand the reasons behind any adjustments. Engaging with stakeholders not only helps tailor your approach but also shows that you value their opinions and are committed to maintaining an open line of communication.

Ao enfrentar discrepâncias em seus relatórios de sustentabilidade, é fundamental envolver as partes interessadas no processo de resolução. Iniciar um diálogo direto com eles para discutir os problemas e obter feedback sobre como avançar é fundamental. Esse engajamento permitirá obter insights valiosos sobre as expectativas das partes interessadas e como a empresa pode melhor atender às suas necessidades de relatórios transparentes e precisos. Além disso, demonstra que a organização valoriza as opiniões das partes interessadas e está empenhada em manter uma comunicação aberta e colaborativa, fortalecendo assim a confiança e o relacionamento com esses públicos-chave.

Engaging stakeholders is crucial in addressing discrepancies in sustainability reports. Under the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), such engagement is mandatory. Directly involving stakeholders not only meets regulatory requirements but also helps rebuild trust through transparent communication and by addressing their concerns.

Updating Data Collection Methods: Revise and enhance your data collection techniques to ensure accuracy. For example, adopt digital tools that automate data gathering and reduce manual entry errors. Ensure data is consistently collected across all departments. Investing in Better Reporting Software: Upgrade to advanced reporting software that offers real-time data analytics and compliance tracking. For example, use platforms like SAP Sustainability Control Tower to streamline your reporting process and enhance data accuracy.

Após identificar as causas das discrepâncias e envolver as partes interessadas, é essencial implementar as mudanças necessárias. Isso pode incluir a atualização dos métodos de coleta de dados, o treinamento da equipe em novos procedimentos ou o investimento em software de relatórios mais eficiente. Independentemente das alterações realizadas, é crucial comunicá-las de forma clara a todas as partes relevantes. Ao demonstrar que a empresa está tomando ações concretas para aprimorar seus relatórios de sustentabilidade, isso contribuirá para reconstruir a confiança ao longo do tempo e reforçar o compromisso com a transparência e a melhoria contínua.

By questioning and refocusing on your vision and mission, you need to think about differentiation and uniqueness. You need a plan to go beyond regulations, you must differentiate yourself with sustainable innovation. You need to establish a new strategy in this direction.

Monitoring progress is essential after implementing changes to your sustainability reporting processes. Set up a system for regular checks and balances to ensure that the new procedures are being followed and are effective. Share these developments with your stakeholders, in the form of regular updates or reports, to demonstrate your ongoing commitment to accuracy and transparency. This continuous improvement cycle will not only prevent future discrepancies but will also show stakeholders that you are serious about maintaining their trust.

Would recommend using a digital monitoring, reporting and verification tool (''dMRV'') to ensure proper in real-time monitoring. The latter would add to transparency and traceability of the status of a project and would further allow to determine optimal steps to be taken for a more sustainable process. Would recommend to have a third-party auditor conducting a final audit on the methodology of the process and the outcome of the dMRV.

Após a implementação de mudanças nos processos de relatórios de sustentabilidade, é crucial monitorar o progresso de forma regular. Estabelecer um sistema de verificação e balanceamento ajuda a garantir que os novos procedimentos estejam sendo seguidos e sejam eficazes na correção das discrepâncias identificadas. Compartilhar esses avanços com as partes interessadas, por meio de atualizações ou relatórios periódicos, demonstra o compromisso contínuo da empresa com a precisão e a transparência em suas práticas de prestação de contas. Esse ciclo de melhoria contínua não apenas previne discrepâncias futuras, mas também reforça a seriedade da organização em manter a confiança e o engajamento das partes interessadas.

Data provenance is the key to sharing trusted, transparent and comparable ESG data with stakeholders. So having a way that shows the evidence of where the data has come from, who provided it, how it was calculated and any supporting evidential assets back to each data point means that you can show exactly how the data has aggregated back up to the overall impact you're making as an organisation. And then making your ESG data readily available to stakeholders through your report, live dashboards etc, means that you will also build trust as you show your journey and your overall progress.

The importance of data traceability lies in its ability to foster stakeholder trust. Traceable data allows for tracking the origin and flow of information, making it easier to identify and correct errors or inconsistencies, thus ensuring accountability at every stage of data collection and reporting. This traceability is crucial for audits and reviews, it provides transparency to stakeholders.

In order to regain trust of stakeholders, it’s crucial to prioritise transparency, openness, and approachability in your sustainability reporting, and how you share this information with the public and especially with concerned stakeholders. By ensuring that your reporting is validated by trusted institutions, providing complete information, and in an inclusive, easy to understand manner, you can demonstrate a commitment to accuracy and reliability, which will help rebuild confidence and trust among stakeholders.

A credibilidade é o maior ativo de uma empresa. Simples entender que a falta de transparência não coexiste em um ambiente que goze de credibilidade. Louis Brandeis, então juiz da Suprema Corte norte-americana, já defendia que “a luz do sol é o melhor desinfetante”. Desse modo, é condição da própria sustentabilidade apregoada nos relatórios que existam os elementos de rastreabilidade dos dados, facilitando o acesso e controle social. Mais que franquear acesso dos destinatários das informações, a linguagem dos relatórios haverá de estimular o controle pelos destinatários, facilitando a busca de soluções para as divergências e inconsistências.

Sustainability is a complex minefield, and it is likely companies are going to make mistakes, honesty is everything! Using frameworks like GRI and reporting to CDP gives you an excellent pathway to work from to reduce errors, but they are likely to happen anyway, just build processes and be transparent when it happens.

Strengthening your sustainability reporting processes with technology involves implementing advanced tools for accuracy, transparency, and compliance, For ex: Automated Data Collection & Reporting Automation: Utilize sustainability management software to automate data aggregation and report generation, aligning with global standards like GRI and SASB. AI & Machine Learning: Apply AI algorithms to analyze large datasets for sustainability trends and anomalies, enhancing reporting accuracy. ERP Integration: Integration with ERP systems to align financial and operational data, ensuring comprehensive reporting, are must-haves to enhance the credibility of your sustainability reporting, through transparent and accurate reporting practices.

Using technology to ensure proper reporting related to ESG and Sustainability would really enhance the process at hand, and provide for transparency, traceability and trust into the approach taken. By making use of digital twins and AI one could also conduct different scenarios to determine the outcome of decisions made, this could be related to sustainability but is not limited to that.