“Investors want to know how we plan to grow our business while addressing critical ESG factors. ESG Navigator helps us measure that and provides an informed best-practice roadmap. It is the most robust tool we’ve come across.”
Jon Newton – Global Director of Sustainability, Materion Corporation
ESG: A Growing Investor Issue
ESG Navigator is a tool for corporate executives – to assess how their company stacks up today on ESG and to plan strategically for value creation. ESG Navigator is not intended as a tool for investors; however, the ESG conversation in corporations is increasingly integral to investor conversations.
This section of the ESG Navigator website is designed to help corporate executives (C-Suite, Investor Relations, Office of Sustainability, etc.) better understand the growing intersection between mainstream investor interest in ESG and the various ESG ratings and reporting standards — and how both of those ‘fit’ with actions leading companies take to drive value creation.
Remember, ESG Navigator was built by industry – for industry. Every Key Sustainability Indicator (KSI) is a practice many companies initiated on their own to drive business value.
Survey of ESG Frameworks and Ratings: 2021
At the request of many of our ESG Navigator members, we designed and conducted a comprehensive Survey of ESG Frameworks and Ratings during the second quarter of 2021. We finalized the Survey Report in July 2021. The survey addressed:
- Which frameworks and ratings are most important?
- Which have the greatest stature – regardless of whether our company participates?
- How do leading companies select which frameworks and ratings to focus on the most?
- What are the repercussions of not using individual frameworks or participating in individual ratings?
- What is the resource intensity of each?
- What are the benefits of individual frameworks and ratings?
- What’s the return on investment for each?
- What are the trends – which are trending up and which are trending down?
ABCs of ESG Ratings/Reporting
Curious about the difference between SASB and Sustainalytics — FTSE4Good and the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations — questionnaire-based ratings (e.g., CDP, DJSI) and public data-based ratings (e.g., MSCI, FTSE)? Short abstracts of each are provided.
ESG Ratings Master Guide
Are you a bit confused about how all the ESG frameworks, ratings, and indexes fit? This Master Map may help.
ESG Reporting Frameworks
There continues to be considerable activity in the consolidation of major ESG reporting frameworks. This page shows a summary as of 2018.
“Who Bought Who?”
There continues to be major consolidation. Morningstar recently purchased Sustainalytics. S&P bought RobeccoSAM who produces DJSI. And before that we have witnessed a decade of major consolidations. Here’s a timeline of who bought who.
“What Feeds What?”
CDP is an input to Bloomberg and to ISS; ISS is an input to Bloomberg and to State Street; DJSI feeds Bloomberg, as does Sustainalytics. Confused? Here’s our stab at “mapping” what ESG ratings ‘feed’ into what other ratings. Take a look and share your comments and suggestions.
ESG Ratings Maps
Would you like to see how your company’s performance maps across the 15 main ESG frameworks and ratings? Go to the Welcome page (with your login credentials) or the Get Started page to view a sample set of ESG Ratings Maps for ABC Company.