Is your company looking for environmental, social, or governance (ESG) investors? If the answer is “yes,” you need to provide an ESG rating to help investors assess whether your company is worth putting their funds into. The ratings tell investors about the extent of risk exposure a company has taken in relation to sustainability. Understanding how a company is rated is important in helping investors make confident investment decisions with a focus on long-term priorities.
Before adopting ESG rating in your company, it is important to start by establishing how it works. This post is a comprehensive guide to help you understand what ESG rating is, the factors that determine it, and why it matters so much to investors.
What is ESG Rating?
ESG rating assesses the levels of ESG risk exposure for your company. It tells investors how sustainable your company is. A high score would show that your company has strong values that are proactive concerning environmental, social, and governance risks. This is one of the reasons why top capital markets, such as the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) and London Stock Exchange (LSE), have made ESG reports and ratings mandatory to assist investors in making the right decisions.
A poor corESG score, on the other hand, is a red flag for a company indicating that its operations are inclined to harm the environment, people therein, and businesses. Indeed, most investors will only look at the ratings and walk away if the ESG score is low. Therefore, you must work extra hard to ensure your company gets a high score for good performance.
As more laws and policies are passed to help advance the course for sustainability, investors want to see a holistic commitment in all areas of company operations. Therefore, it is prudent to adopt a comprehensive strategy for ESG sustainability rating.
The reporting will help provide investors with a comprehensive overview of the company, in a verifiable and continuous manner.
How is ESG Rating Determined?
ESG rating is determined by third-party organizations that provide specific approaches and formulas for scoring. These ESG rating organizations weigh the factors involved, and calculate scores. Once the rating for your company is given, investors compare with other firms and go to the companies with the highest score.
One of the commonly used methods of company ESG rating is MSCI, which collects publicly available data on the company’s ESG matters. It factors things such as business activities, region of operations, size of operations, and sustainability reporting. Finally, MSCI compares the company to others and allocates a score from AAA to CCC.
If your company gets an MSCI rating of AAA after data review, it means that it is managing ESG issues very well. However, a rating of CCC indicates a poor focus on ESG.
Such a company is likely to have a high carbon footprint, poor waste management, and inefficient production practices.
Other third-party ESG rating organizations are.
- Corporate Knights Global 100.
- Dow Jones Sustainability Index.
- Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB).
Why is ESG Rating So Important to Your Company?
An ESG rating is an indicator of the company’s status on its sustainability efforts. It also helps your company to gauge how it is performing in a specific niche. Here are other reasons why ESG rating is so crucial for your company:
- It helps you to determine whether ESG reporting is adequate and identify areas that require improvements.
- A good ESG rating can help to win the affection of investors. With a good ESG policy that demonstrates your company's long-term growth plan; more investors will want to stick around. Often, investors equate good ESG scores to healthy profits.
- An admirable ESG score or rating will help you to win over other stakeholders too. Potential employees who want to match their priorities with those of the companies to work for also check for ESG scores. This might be all that you need to win and retain the best talents in your company.
- Internally, the score can help you to identify major risks and opportunities for success. If the areas that your firm scores highly touch on factors authentic to the company's purpose, it implies they are more material. For example, lower fuel consumption will be more critical to an airline than an insurance company. So, what are the main risks facing your company at the local and global level?
How to Improve Your ESG Rating
As a company manager, entrepreneur or leader in any capacity, it pays to do everything to achieve a higher score. Here are some tips on how to improve the company’s score.
Adopt ESG Sustainability Reporting
If you are yet to start using the ESG sustainability, this might be the perfect starting point for improving the score. ESG reporting is careful planning and disclosure of your company’s ESG risks. Remember that the reporting takes a conscious approach, which means that the sustainability achievements of the company have to be part of the organization’s strategic approach.
Involve Stakeholders in Your ESG Efforts
One notable thing about ESG rating is that it targets stakeholders, especially investors. Therefore, you can easily stand out by engaging them when planning for sustainability. For example, if stakeholders want to see your company focus more on reducing emissions, implementing its proposals might persuade them to commit their funds.
You might also want to check what other companies are doing to improve your sustainability efforts.
Use an Appropriate Sustainability Reporting Software
ESG rating for your company is mainly based on the information concerning sustainability efforts. Therefore, you need to ensure that in addition to selecting good sustainability activities, every aspect is reported accurately. For example, if you have partnered with firms along the supply chain and helping them to cut down their emissions, ensure to report it accurately. You can only achieve this by working with the right ESG sustainability software.
Advanced ESG sustainability reporting software allows you to plan, gather data, and correctly analyze it. Then, you create reports that are accurate and verifiable for stakeholders. Indeed, good ESG apps can help you to automate parts of data gathering and reduce the risk of greenwashing.
ESG rating came out as an important part of modern organization and it is important to ensure your company gets a high score. In addition to the above methods of improving the rating, you should also bring on board experts from Diginex.com. They have the qualifications and huge experience in matters of ESG sustainability, ratings, and investing. Visit us today for the best expert assistance and professional assistance.
