ESG is everybody’s business.

Is ESG everybody′s business? What is the role of Finance Professionals?

1. Shareholders, customers, employees, policy makers, and communities are looking to businesses to deliver progress on global economic, social, and governance issues such as climate change, corruption, deforestation, gender and ethnic diversity, and decent work for all!!!
2. CFOs and finance function professionals have unique and critical skills to contribute to sustainable business initiatives and make the work of the sustainable business team more complete, accurate, and business-relevant.
3. The finance partnering framework, developed by IMA, provides three core components (mandate, information, and talent) and nine pragmatic actions that can be adapted by any organization to improve the partnering process.
4. The challenges to effective partnering with sustainable business teams include leadership and strategic alliances, ineffective tools, technical language, and talent, education, and capabilities.
5. The finance function can enhance the integration of sustainable business by creating a mandate for partnering, fixing the information by enhancing the quality of data insight, and deploying the talent of financial professionals with the mindset to meet challenges.

What are the challenges organizations are facing in executing successful sustainability initiatives?

1. Leadership and strategic alliances: The perception that the finance function is already overextended with regulatory and compliance responsibilities often makes finance professionals reluctant to take on new duties related to sustainable business initiatives. This can hinder effective internal engagement and collaboration.
2. Ineffective tools and infrastructure: Sustainable business teams often lack formal processes, resources, and standardized tools, policies, platforms, and data collection and analysis software that are readily available to the finance function. This lack of infrastructure can frustrate the finance team and hinder their ability to effectively collaborate with the sustainable business team.
3. Technical language and terminology: Finance team members often use specialized financial language and acronyms to describe regulations, financial reporting guidelines, and market expectations. However, the sustainable business team may use similar terminology with different interpretations or implications. This difference in language can create communication barriers and hinder effective collaboration.
4. Talent, education, and capabilities: The sustainable business arena has been developing as a discipline for several years, while integrated enterprise concepts may be relatively new to many finance professionals. This can make finance professionals feel ill-prepared to partner with the sustainable business team and contribute effectively to sustainable business initiatives. There may be a need for additional education and training to bridge this gap in knowledge and capabilities.

Overall, these challenges can limit the ability of companies to integrate sustainable business initiatives effectively and hinder cross-functional collaboration between the finance function and the sustainable business team. Overcoming these challenges requires leadership support, effective tools and clear communication, developing relevant skills and capabilities.

How can Asher assist you in meeting your ESGanalytics and reporting requirements?

Powered by Oracle EPM, Asher offers a comprehensice solution that integrates financial and non-financial data to fullfill reporting requirements, helping ESG practices to plan and execute successful sustainability initiatives.

This solution allows organizations to collect, convert, standardize, and aggregate ESG data from various systems for a complete and consistent view of the organization's sustainability practices.

We provide a robust dashboarding, Office 365 integration, and ad-hoc insight capabilities for analyzing and reporting ESG data. Asher′s ESG/EPM supports multiple sustainability reporting frameworks and enables internal and external reporting, including narrative reports, Excel-based reporting, and interactive dashboards. It also empowers operational planners and ESG data owners with flexibility, scalability, and the ability to create long-term sustainability plans, short-term operational plans, and conduct scenario modeling and what-if analysis.

At Asher & Company, we are passionate about helping businesses unleash the power of sustainability creating value across People, Planet and Profit.

Our ESG / EPM solution guide our clients on their sustainability journey in four key areas:

1. Refining strategy: We work with clients to develop strategies that enable sustainability to drive long-term value for shareholders and stakeholders, uncovering opportunities for competitive advantage.

2. Expediting transition: Our team supports clients in implementing sustainability strategies, executing change projects, and delivering business cases that encompass financial, sustainability, and ESG metrics.

3. Managing governance and operations: We assist in integrating governance for sustained competitive advantage and improving operational efficiency to meet stakeholder demands.

4. Establishing trust: We help clients showcase their progress, report on sustainability and ESG initiatives, and build trust with stakeholders, regulators, and investors.

What are the steps to begin reporting on ESG?

• Identify stakeholders and build your team: Once you have identified the internal and external stakeholders interested in your ESG reports, reach out to your company network. You'll need a team of self-motivated individuals with a thirst for learning to set up your ESG program. Build a diverse, cross-functional team with expertise in different areas, such as finance, human resources, or risk.
• Research industry leaders' ESG reports: Download peer ESG reports to understand the data they're disclosing and the frameworks they're using. Based on this research, collaborate with stakeholders to identify important metrics for your organization, assess the data you currently collect, and determine any additional data needed.
• Build your ESG blueprint and business case: Collaborate with stakeholders to refine the important metrics and values for your organization. Then, map out the journey to achieving your ESG reporting and performance goals.

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