Six reasons why creating a single source of truth can aid in ESG reporting

Stacey Lewis Date published: Oct 04, 22

A major challenge of our time is transforming the energy sector. Businesses have a responsibility to remain compliant, efficient, and transparent as the energy industry undergoes rapid change.

A cause for rapid transformation of future developments in the energy industry

Though there is no requirement for companies in the U.S. to release an report. There is a high probability that these reports will soon become standard practice.

As a framework, ESG helps stakeholders understand how an organisation manages its environmental, social, and governance risks and opportunities. Subsequently, information professionals are now able to maximize business value through ESG Reporting.

In order to produce an ESG report, it is important to gather the right information from multiple sources which is more than likely stored in various departments across multiple applications. A Sustainability Department could be responsible for storing the environmental information, while HR or External Relations could store the social information.

Unifying your data by creating a single source of truth can help you prepare for an ESG report

It can be challenging to work across teams, not just internally, but externally also, especially when managing sensitive data and working across multiple formats and storage systems. You reduce your efficiency and increase the chances of risks occurring when you spread your data across several different solutions.

With a Single Source of Truth and a centralised location for all business-critical information, you can have confidence in your information, knowing it is always accurate and up to date. Additionally, you can reduce admin time, be confident you have all the information you need, and provide your team with the tools they need to make the right decisions.

Information centralisation has several advantages, including:

• Your data becomes discoverable​ - A cloud-based single source of truth can eliminate tedious tasks that cause frustrations by taking up a lot of time
• Eliminate human error through automated workflows​ - Providing a central point to effectively project manage and communicate with your clients
• Establish version control​ - Eliminates uninformed decisions when mistakenly working from an out-of-date document
• Reduce time wasted on searching for and recreating lost documents​ - Creating an audit trail along the way can save you precious time
• Increased transparency and traceability​ - Ensures that all project and clients have access to the correct information they need when they need it
• Comply with regulatory and legal requirements​- By having full control of who can access sensitive information and data, you can mitigate the risk of non-compliance.

The Global Capital Confidence Barometer, a survey-based study by EY, revealed that nearly two-thirds of global oil and gas respondents said they have made digital and technology their priority investment. Is your company one of them?