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Since it began tracking sustainability reports in 1993, KPMG has uncovered monumental changes and dramatic shifts in the number of companies reporting on sustainability, particularly in recent years. This shift is driven by new laws and regulations, as well as increasing recognition that environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues impact financial performance.
The KPMG Survey of Sustainability Reporting 2020 includes 5,200 companies in 52 countries and jurisdictions. The respondents are grouped into two samples: the N100 group includes the top 100 companies by revenue in each of the 52 countries and jurisdictions researched, and the G250 group includes the world's largest companies by revenue.
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Different companies reveal snapshots, trends
The N100 group provides a snapshot of sustainability reporting among large- and mid-cap firms around the world, while the activity of the G250 group is useful in predicting trends because the largest companies in the world typically have focused on sustainability reporting longer.
Overall, 80 percent of companies now report on sustainability, compared with only 12 percent in 1993 when KPMG first began tracking sustainability reporting, and up 5 percentage points from three years ago, demonstrating that this group continues to catch up with G250 companies, which have been at 90 percent or greater for almost the past 10 years. KPMG expects that percentage to continue to climb.
Leading countries in sustainability reporting
Geographically, companies in the Americas lead in sustainability reporting, with 90 percent of companies in North America and Latin America reporting on sustainability, up 7 percentage points since 2017.
By comparison, 77 percent of European companies, 59 percent of Middle East & Africa companies, and 84 percent of Asia-Pacific companies currently report on sustainability. Mexico (100 percent), the United States (98 percent) and Canada (92 percent) have among the highest rates of sustainability reporting in the world.
Reporting is required for U.S. companies, and investors and regulators expect to find sustainability information on the non-financial performance of all investments, said the report.
Widespread reporting is also the result of generational influence, as younger workers entering the workforce have grown up learning about the importance of sustainability and have different expectations of their workplace and the goods they consume.
ESG reporting can impact access to capital and the ability to attract new investors, understand risks, build customer loyalty and attract top talent, according to Maura Hodge, partner, Climate Change & Sustainability Services at KPMG US.
Leading sectors in reporting
The technology, media & telecommunications sector along with the mining sector lead in sustainability reporting among N100 companies at 84 percent, followed closely by the automotive sector, oil & gas, chemicals, and forestry & paper, which were all at about 80 percent of companies reporting.
These six sectors have continued to lead in sustainability reporting since 2017, said the report. At the low end, with only a 67 percent reporting rate, is retail. Transport & leisure, construction & materials, health care, and food and beverage also had lower reporting levels. However, among G250 companies, the top four sectors with 100 percent reporting were technology, media and telecommunications; retail; oil & gas; and health care.
Third-party assurance
Third-party assurance of sustainability information in corporate reporting is now a majority practice worldwide, according to the report. The number of N100 companies investing in independent third-party assurance of their sustainability information has exceeded 50 percent for the first time, indicating that assurance of sustainability information has now become a standard practice for large- and mid-cap companies around the world.
For G250 companies, the percentage is 71 percent, which represents a decline, due in part to the increasing number of Chinese companies in the G250 list. Chinese companies are more likely to be new to sustainability reporting, said KPMG.
Climate change
The number of companies that acknowledge the risk of climate change is also increasing, from 28 percent in 2017 to 39 percent in 2020 among N100 companies and from 48 percent in 2017 to 56 percent in 2020 among G250 companies.
The growth is due in large part to the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) raising corporate and regulator awareness of climate change as a financial risk, said the report.
TCFD has also been instrumental in developing recommendations for disclosure of climate-related risk, which has resulted in increased investor scrutiny of corporate disclosures and growing momentum toward mandatory climate risk disclosure in many jurisdictions, said the report. Investors have also been influential in connecting climate risk to business and financial risk.
North American companies lead in acknowledging climate change risks in financial reporting, and the region is the only one where the majority of companies do so, said the report.
Kristen Beckman is a freelance writer based in Colorado. She previously was a writer and editor for ALM's Retirement Advisor magazine and LifeHealthPro online channel. She also was a reporter for Business Insurance magazine covering workers compensation topics. Kristen graduated from the University of Missouri with a degree in journalism.
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