Amanda Carty, Managing Director, ESG & Data Intelligence at Diligent, discusses how Board Reporting for ESG helps organizations tell their sustainability story.
Ahead of upcoming SEC climate disclosures in the US — and on the heels of implemented disclosure requirements abroad — Diligent launched Board Reporting for ESG, a first-of-its-kind board dashboard that combines performance data with market intelligence to give a comprehensive view of an organization’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) posture. The dashboard benefits both functional leaders and board members, making data collection more efficient so sustainability professionals can bring unprecedented clarity to the c-suite and ultimately the boardroom.
Tell us about your role at Diligent.
As Managing Director of ESG & Data Intelligence at Diligent I’m responsible for driving commercial strategies for Diligent’s ESG & Third Party management software, data services, risk intelligence data and due diligence services. It’s an exciting role because there is currently a lot of movement with regulations around the world — particularly with the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) which includes scope 3 reporting and impacts private companies as well as public. Corporate sustainability is becoming a team sport, and now more than ever, organizations need clarity into their ESG data to ensure they are compliant and making a meaningful impact.
What is unique about Diligent’s ESG solution?
Diligent offers an end-to-end solution for ESG that meets a company where they’re at, no matter their maturity. Whether you’re just starting out with data collection or reporting on three different frameworks and standing up a sustainability report, Diligent can help with a purpose-built carbon accounting solution that’s been a leader in the market for 10+ years.
What most excites you about the launch of Board Reporting for ESG?
The impact it will have for our customers! Collecting and organizing an overwhelming amount of climate data is challenging and presenting a clear and compelling story to the board can be even harder. What Board Reporting for ESG does is take the guesswork out of climate reporting. Practitioners are equipped with the right information to share with board members so they can better see the whole picture. As a result, directors and executives can spend less time trying to decipher complex information and more time focused on the right insights and data to drive the organization forward.
I’m extremely proud that Board Reporting for ESG is recognized by leading research firms, like Verdantix, for its ability to make important connections between underlying operational ESG performance and the must-know metrics for board members.
Why did Diligent create Board Reporting for ESG?
Diligent works with 700,000 board members and business leaders, including 75% of the Fortune 500 and 85% of the FTSE 100. In our conversations with board directors, we consistently hear that they and their leaders are being held accountable for doing more to meet rising expectations of effective ESG strategies. At the same time, we hear from sustainability professionals that ad-hoc reporting is time consuming and inconsistent, requiring them to spend more time developing reports that the board may not find useful.
With increasing regulatory and legal accountability, it’s more important than ever that organizations get ESG right. So, we wanted to create a tool that addresses both of these pain points. Sustainability professionals can now take their organization’s carbon emissions data calculated using Diligent ESG, combine this with ESG scores from Clarity AI and S&P Global benchmarked against industry averages, and surface insights using templatized dashboards curated specifically for the board.
What’s next for ESG from Diligent?
We have some exciting benchmark innovations in the works which will help give organizations greater visibility into how they are measuring up against their industry peers. More to come on that soon!
