Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) are frequently used in the same sentence. However, in some cases, they may even use them interchangeably. However, they are not the same thing. When it comes to revealing and benchmarking data, there is a significant difference between the two. Though the larger debate among industry leaders started with CSR, ESG’s scope, practices, and relevance to capital opportunities have led to a substantial shift in how companies measure and disclose their performance.
ESG Vs CSR
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) refers to “softer,” qualitative issues and has been part of the business radar for decades. The future of CSR began with developments starting to enter and influence the corporate world. Carrying out CSR can be a difficult venture. However, the virtue of this concept was great as it showed how private enterprises and its executives were being forced to become accountable for their selfish actions, making it difficult for them to exploit other workers for their purposes.
As the time progressed, societal issues became an area of focus, technology advanced, it has become feasible (and desirable) to quantify a company’s use of natural assets, mineral wealth, social composition & impact. While the technology has made obtaining more granular reporting data possible, ESG data raises these concerns to the investor position.
Using important metrics for investors, an ESG Data Analytics and Management Software can provide a quantified assessment of a company’s impact on CSR. Detailed ESG Reporting Software has become simpler thanks to technological advancements in data gathering, analysis, and reporting.
Earlier, CSR initiatives were narrated as stories, but today with the technology advancements and unlimited data, ESG offers more impactful and actionable insights.
Upgrading From CSR To ESG
For capital markets, ESG has become an inevitable term. “Capital markets are at an inflection point where corporates can no longer ignore the importance of ESG factors,” says Melissa James, Managing Director, Vice Chairman of Global Capital Markets, and Co-Head of the ESG Center for Excellence at Morgan Stanley.
A Project-Based ESG Scoring Tool can be utilized to score each project within a portfolio with an ESG rating and combine it with project hurdle rate (IRR) and ROI. This will better align companies’ capital investment programs with corporate ESG and financial goals. But ESG, regularly in the news, has recently established itself as a well-known acronym across numerous industries, including commercial real estate. For some people, this change in lingo seems abrupt. The time has come for businesses to gather, report, and act on ESG data. The importance placed on all three pillars, Environmental, Social, and Governance, and the time needed to plan and implement critical changes is now!
We at LOCOMeX are focused on making ESG rating accessible to all enterprises and organizations across the globe. We strive to assist you to meet your ESG, supplier diversity, local content compliance, and achievable project goals. If you are looking for tools that can help you become ESG policy compliant then contact us here.
