ISO has recently published a suit of standards which includes guidance on ESG...
These standards are currently FREE to download, a link can be found here - ISO - Collaborating to accelerate effective climate action
Look for IWA 48:2024 on the ISO website:
IWA 48:2024 - Framework for implementing environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles
ESG can include:
Environmental (E): climate change mitigation and adaptation, sustainable resource use and energy efficiencies, circular economy, prevention of pollution and waste management, protection of the environment, biodiversity and restoration of natural habitats.
Social (S): internal and external social factors and impacts, including human rights, labour practice, decent work, consumer issues, community relations and engagement (including involvement in, influencing and embedding the organization’s ESG activities), privacy and data protection, health, well-being and safety, supply chain management, other human capital and social justice issues.
Governance (G) of the organization, including the governing of the environmental (E) and social (S) categories: corporate board composition and structure, strategic sustainability oversight and compliance, executive compensation, anti-corruption, responsible political involvement, fair competition, promoting social responsibility in the value chain, respect for property rights and interrelationship with communities and society.
ESG draws on and supports the UN SDGs to help define positive social and environmental outcomes. Furthermore, ESG can be considered as connected to and convergent with sustainable development.
Overarching principles
The following principles are central to its development and should be applied throughout its application, reporting and assessment:
Integrity: applying commonly shared ethics, utilizing elements of independence, objectivity, openness and transparency in all ESG decision-making and reporting; with effective accountability mechanisms based on sound leadership, systems and controls, including feedback from interested parties.
Outcomes-focused: identifying, evaluating and managing the direct and indirect, strategic and
operational outcomes, as well as the outcomes of environmental and social impacts based on decisions and activities, including intended and unintended consequences on and from the organization.
Equity: ensuring shared values and a balance of interested parties’ interests in as objective, fair and
impartial way as possible, bearing in mind long- and short-term risks and opportunities, practicalities such as resource availability, materiality dimensions and the interests of all relevant interested parties, including future generations.
Risks and opportunities: integrating the identification, understanding and management of risks and
opportunities into ESG strategies and operations, including across the value chain and broader impacts on and from the environment and society.
Evidence-based: identifying and evaluating outcomes as scientifically or analytically as possible,
using reliable, verifiable evidence, prioritizing external and internal risks and opportunities and their
materiality.
Maturity: continuous improvement, embedding and updating of good practice to integrate ESG as a core value within the organization with effective risks and opportunities management, measurement and reporting, ensuring that ESG becomes integrated and owned as part of the DNA, core values, drivers and learning, rather than an external one-off, tick-box requirement.
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