The World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos last month saw Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Ernst & Young (EY) and KPMG, and many of the world’s largest companies, sign up to a new framework to report corporate metrics on social and environmental issues.
The metrics, to be deployed from 2021, will see companies report on subjects such as employment standards and the environment in line with the UN’s sustainable development goals.
Brian Moynihan, chief executive of Bank of America and co-ordinator of the initiative, told the FT he expected that most large companies would adopt the system by next year, due to investors’ growing scrutiny of environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, and peer pressure.
The new metrics focus on four sectors: governance, planet, people and prosperity. Companies will disclose information that demonstrates their corporate ethics, sustainability and how they treat their workers.
“[The metrics] will say, ‘these are the things we’d expect to see in your financial statements’,” said Sharon Thorne, global chair of Deloitte.
Read more on the Financial times website.