Research, Reports & Publications

The State of Sustainability and ESG in 2023

The state of sustainability and ESG in 2023 can be described in two words: progress and confusion.
Dec 5, 2023 9:00 AM ET
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Nasdaq

To help companies make sense of the progress and avoid confusion, the Nasdaq IR Intelligence team recently leveraged our own, newly-launched Nasdaq Sustainable Lens™ to review, analyze, and summarize sustainability and ESG reports, financial filings, and other ESG documents[1] published over the past three years. The team also leveraged AI and internal subject matter experts to analyze regulatory text and surface common disclosure requirements in final and proposed sustainability, ESG, and climate regulations.

7.2K 
PUBLICLY TRADED COMPANIES

59 
INDUSTRIES

75 
COUNTRIES

1.6K 
PAGES OF REGULATORY STANDARD TEXT ANALYZED

1.5K 
METRICS ANALYZED TO IDENTIFY ROUTINE AND BASELINE METRICS

The Nasdaq IR Intelligence team’s research indicates:

  1. Global Standards Picture Became Clearer in 2023 (But Confusion Still Remains) 
    Climate is the one area in which regulators are generally aligned—45% of the final and proposed rules and regulations that we reviewed are climate-focused.
  2. Climate Reporting Gaps Abound 
    Only 44% of the companies analyzed provide climate-related disclosures aligned with the CSRD, ISSB sustainability and climate-related standards, and the SEC’s climate-related proposed rules.
  3. Human Capital is a Tale of Two Cities 
    Human capital disclosures are an area where companies reviewed are both leading and lagging in current disclosures.
  4. Governance Through a New Lens Surfaces Gaps 
    The recently issued ESRS under CSRD governance disclosure standards surface gaps for companies.
  5. “ESG” Continues to be Widely Used 
    “Sustainability” is the most used report name globally and “ESG” also doesn’t seem to be going away.

Nasdaq Sustainable Lens

In response to trends and technology advancements, the Nasdaq IR Intelligence team has developed Nasdaq Sustainable Lens, an ESG intelligence platform that harnesses the power of AI to help companies make better decisions faster, boost productivity, and enhance credibility.
Learn More ->


[1] Includes Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) reports, Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) indices, Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) indices, and policy documents

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