Introduction
Impact of COVID-19 on ESG Data and “Extra-Financial” Corporate Reports
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the EU has a unique sustainable development and sustainability reporting landscape which constitutes strong foundations for standard-setting. The proposals build on EU specific overarching principles and an EU specific combination of building blocks.
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Standard-setting should be built on robust EU conceptual guidelines, addressing public good alignment, expected qualitative characteristics of information, relevant time-horizons, clear boundaries, double materiality and connectivity between financial and sustainability reporting.
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The overall target architecture of standards should be coherent and comprehensive and reflect appropriate layers of reporting (sector-agnostic, sector-specific and entity-specific), relevant reporting areas and a coverage of sustainability topics classified under an ESG categorization. Presentation should preferably be organized under ‘sustainability statements’ and digitization should be considered from the start.
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The standard-setting roadmap toward the target architecture should be implemented in realistic phases. However, the first-time application of the revised Directive should benefit from a robust first set of ‘core’ standards.
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Finally, there is significant merit in promoting a mutually reinforcing cooperation between EU standard-setting efforts and international initiatives or fora.
Organization | Title/reference | Notes |
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Value Reporting Foundation and Integrated Reporting Framework, 2020 | Integrated reporting post Covid-19, 11 May 2020 | Consider the value creation model of the IIRC Framework. How would your company respond differently to the different elements of that model following the Covid-19 pandemic? The reflection has to start with the impact (output and outcomes) part of the model, assessing what your company accomplished with reference to each of the different capitals |
GRI, 2020 | Understanding your sustainability impacts during COVID-19, June 2020 https://www.globalreporting.org/news/news-center/2020-06-17-understanding-your-sustainability-impacts-during-covid-19/ | Webinars on role of transparency in the transition to a ‘new normal’ |
Integrated Reporting Committee of South Africa, (IRC), 2020 | FAQ: Reporting in a time of crisis | Dedicated website with examples and FAQs for supporting preparers in improving corporate reporting in times of COVID-19 |
KPMG, 2020 | Sustainability reporting during COVID-19 Pandemic | A new approach: Recalibrating to a post COVID-19 compatible reporting strategy. The corporate experience and response through the progression of the pandemic can be bucketed into: Respond, Relief, Recover and Resilience. This approach can anchor a company’s transition from the current corporate reporting scheme to a post COVID-19 compatible reporting scheme aligned to the shift in stakeholder requirements (p. 1) |
University of West Scotland (UWS), 2020 | Integrated thinking on macro and micro levels in UK HEIs during the Covid-19 crisis—insights from the University of the West of Scotland (UWS) | Support to communities and businesses on 'managing in crisis', 'working virtually' and 'responsible businesses' Integrated thinking at HEI |
EAUC The Alliance for Sustainability Leadership in Education | Businesses Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Duties Towards Communities in the Covid-19 crisis | On the basis of literature this blog offers a definition of CSR as it meets the current COVID-19. “CSR is the continuing commitment by businesses to behave fairly and responsibly and contribute to economic development whilst improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families, as well as of the local community and society at large” |
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, (UNCTAD), 2020, UNCTAD-ISAR and IAAER, 2021 | Sustainability reporting central to achieving global goals post pandemic, 11 November 2020, blog on website https://unctad.org/news/sustainability-reporting-central-achieving-global-goals-post-pandemic | Increased role of both financial and sustainability reporting in achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) after the coronavirus pandemic. Mention on the UNCTAD Guidance for aligning sustainability reporting and SDGs (Guidance on core indicators for entity reporting on contribution towards implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, May 2019) |
International Federation of Accountants, IFAC, September 2021 | IFAC Calls on G20 Leaders to Focus on Sustainability Reporting and Public Sector Integrity | IFAC defined two key actions for G20 leaders to focus on as COVID-19 persists: supporting the IFRS Foundation’s initiative on sustainability standards, and championing public financial management |
UN Climate Change,, October–November 2021 | COP 26 Outcomes, Transparency and Reporting, Glasgow | One of the key achievements of COP26 include the finalization of the "Paris Agreement rulebook". This set of rules lays out how countries are held accountable for delivering on their climate action promises and self-set targets under their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) |
The Changing Nature of Accountability and Responsibility During and After a Pandemic
Theoretical Framework
Research Methodology
Company # | Company industry | Interviewee’s profile | Code |
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1 | Energy | Head of Sustainability Planning and Performance Management | R1A |
Head of Sustainability Stakeholder engagement | R1B | ||
Head of Sustainability Reporting | R1C | ||
2 | Energy | Head of Sustainability | R2A |
Head of Environment | R2B | ||
3 | Cement | Sustainability Integration Manager | R3A |
CSR Director | R3B | ||
Sustainability Performance Analyst | R3C | ||
4 | Cement | Head of Sustainability | R4A |
Quality Assurance and Sustainability Director | R4B | ||
5 | Chemical | Deputy Chief Sustainability Officer | R5A |
CSR manager | R5B | ||
6 | Oil & Gas | Head of CSR Reporting within the Investor Relations department | R6A |
CSR manager | R6B |
Findings
COVID-19 Highlighted the Importance of Indicators on GHG Emissions and the Urgent Need to Improve Related Indicators
COVID-19 Accelerated the Link Between Climate Change and Social Issues in the ESG Indicators Framework
COVID-19 Assigns a High Priority on Environmental Management in Terms of Both Risk and Opportunity
COVID-19 Affects ESG Reporting Practices in Improving Disclosure on the Health and Economic Crisis
It is notable that the managers’ reactions are focused on a radical change in reporting practices, related to kind of report, timeliness and key sustainability indicators.We are going to add in the next report ACTIONS related to COVID-19 but NOT new metrics or indicators so far. Discussion are starting in the summer, but how this is going to affect metrics is not clear so far”. (R1A, R2A—Cluster 5). “To report actions on how companies have transformed their business models and core activities to react to the pandemic crisis as well as support the communities (e.g. shift in production, services to support customers, etc.) companies are not waiting to do so in the annual report but do so often through their website or newsletter on a weekly or monthly basis”. (R4A—Cluster 5) “To better reflect the growing importance of sustainability and the growing commitment of a company, we suggest the inclusion in the report of metrics to assess presence of trainings on sustainability for managers and top management. This will be to showcase how much you invest in sustainability also for the future. (R1C—Clusters 4 and 5).
COVID-19 Signals the Urgent Need to Re-consider Health and Safety Indicators in the Light of Pandemics and Disasters
Hours of training seems to be not an appropriate and reliable metric anymore because trainings are switching to online training and the time you take do undertake it cannot be measured, each person can take it at the speed they want (R1A, R1C—Cluster 6).
COVID-19 Impacts on Digitalization Policies During and After Pandemic Crisis
Discussion
Finding | Cluster | Literature | Theory |
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GHG emissions metrics | 1 | Institutional theory Legitimacy theory Stakeholder theory | |
Environmental management metrics | 1, 2, 3 and 4 | Stakeholder theory Socio-political theories | |
Interconnectedness between social and environmental metrics | 1, 2, 3 and 6 | Institutional theory | |
Emphasis on materiality and resilience | 5 | Stakeholder theory (materiality) Broaden & Build (B&B) theory (resilience) Organizational resilience | |
No new metrics, not additional information in annual report | 4 and 5 | Impression management Legitimacy theory | |
Health and safety metrics | 6 | Industrial policy and sustainable human development Organizational change | |
Digitalization policies | 6 | Social representation theory Industrial policy and sustainable human development Organizational change |
Main trends | Typology of reactivity | CSR institutional factors |
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GHG emissions metrics | Passive conformity | Government regulations |
Environmental management metrics | Active conformity | Government regulations; Private self-regulations, associate behavior |
Interconnectedness between social and environmental metrics | Active conformity | Private self-regulations; independent watchdogs |
Emphasis on materiality and resilience | Active conformity | Normative expectations |
No new metrics, not additional information in annual report | Active resistance | Private self-regulations, normative expectations, associate behavior |
Health and safety metrics | Active conformity | Private self-regulations, normative expectations |