Global ESG Monitor
Global ESG Monitor makes transparency of sustainability reporting measurable
The Global ESG Monitor is a unique research project that examines the transparency of non-financial reporting by the world’s largest companies. The goal is to help companies provide better ESG reporting to their stakeholders based on facts and benchmarks. For this reason, we monitor, analyze and publish the level of transparency in non-financial reporting using the GEM ASSAYTM, a research tool developed specifically for this purpose and adapted year after year in response to changing conditions and developments.
The GEM ASSAYTM‘s underlying operationalization of transparency is based on several sources.
- Financial: We aligned our methodology with the expectations of key stakeholders in the ESG community by reviewing catalogs of expectations from ESG rating agencies MSCI, Sustainalytics, ISS, and S&P, as well as questionnaires from investors such as pension funds.
- Frameworks, standards: We draw on recognized sustainability reporting frameworks and standards, including SASB, GRI, UNGC, SDGs, WEF, TCFD, CDP, AccountAbility and others. We also consider regulations such as the EU Taxonomy, CSRD (draft), and ESRS (draft) to ensure that our methodology meets current requirements and guidelines. In addition, we consider the expectations of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and international organizations (IGOs), such as the ILO and UN, to assess the level of transparency and accountability of companies to their stakeholders.
- Stakeholder engagement: To ensure the reliability of our methodology, we conducted interviews with investor relations (IR) and ESG officers at publicly traded companies to gain valuable insights into their sustainability reporting practices and strategies.
- Combining expertise from investor relations and social and economic research: we combine the expertise of more than 20 years of investor relations and 15 years of research. Our extensive experience includes financial and non-financial reporting, ESG rating advisory projects, investor surveys, stakeholder engagement, materiality assessments, and boycott advisory. We also draw on our experience from several international qualitative and quantitative research projects to continuously improve and update our methodology.
- Strong partners in different markets to help us address regional specificities and challenges in different regions.
Over the past three years, we have expanded our research by increasing our sample size from 87 to 350 companies. Our comprehensive analysis covers 70 sectors, 10 indexes, and 4 continents.
More about the Global ESG Monitor and all study results can be found here.
