While enterprises give increasing importance to the relevant data used in ESG implementation, data insufficiency, plus immature data management practices, pose challenges to them, according to Taiwan general manager Michelle Sun for Dun & Bradstreet Holdings.
Commissioned by Dun & Bradstreet, Forrester Consulting in February-March 2022 surveyed 268 decision makers in US, UK and Canadian enterprises about their opinions to ESG data management.
Of the surveyed decision makers, 18% came from manufacturing industries, 14% from automakers, 11% from energy and public utility companies. 44% of them said that ESG data were very important to their companies, compared with the corresponding 20% in 2019, and the proportion is expected to rise to 90% in 2025.
Insufficient ESG data is the largest challenge, with 47% of respondents indicating that they did not have enough data, 46% were unable to validate and therefore trust data, 46% saying that available data were of insufficient quality and consistency, 46% facing unsatisfactory and immature internal performance in data management, 43% facing difficulties to integrate ESG data with existing IT systems.
Of the respondents, 81% indicated that their companies had experienced negative consequences due to failures to meet their ESG goals, with increased operational risks being the most common consequences (43%), followed by increased financial risks (38%) and damages to corporate reputation (30%).
In contrast, 80% of respondents indicated that their companies' current ESG strategies had driven significant increases in revenue, and 79% agreed that ESG-related insight allowed them to identify new growth opportunities earlier.
Dun & Bradstreet recommends that enterprises understand their maturity of implementing ESG through assessing their capabilities, available resources and related risks, and then have ESG in fusion with corporate culture and linked to employees' KPI (key performance indicators) as well as have third-party platforms undertake management and analytics of ESG data to optimize ESG strategies and strengthen operational resilience.
Particularly in Taiwan, more than 50% of enterprises have no plans for sustainability, Sun noted. Taiwanese enterprises' ESG implementation is constrained by the lack of relevant data and knowledge, Sun indicated.
