In a Nutshell: Investors worldwide remain largely skeptical about the accuracy and reliability of data reporting on companies’ ESG issues, according to a survey from PricewaterhouseCoopers.
The Numbers:
- In a study of 325 investors across 43 countries and territories, PwC found an overwhelming majority of respondents said that while ESG has become a focal point in investment decisions, the state of ESG reporting and data remains a major concern.
- About two-thirds (67 percent) of investors said they rely on external ESG ratings to inform their portfolio analysis to some extent. Yet 34 percent said they either trust that data to a minimal extent or not at all. About one in every four investors (26 percent) said they neither trust nor distrust ESG ratings and scores.
- Meanwhile, about 74 percent of respondents said their decision-making on investments would be better informed if companies used a single set of ESG reporting standards.
- A similar share (73 percent) of investors said it is important to them that ESG reporting is prepared in a well-known non-financial reporting framework, such as ones from the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures, the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI).
Insights from CQ Roll Call, Part of FiscalNote
