The Tech Push To ESG Data Management

Data management platforms are helping businesses make informed decisions to optimise their environmental, social and governance regime by collecting and standardising data. Together with ESG experts, they hold the key to a strong compliance ecosystem

- Shailaja Tripathi

Behind the clamour for environmental, social and governance (ESG) compliance in business is the power of growing consciousness around the urgency of ensuring responsible and ethical economic growth. The compliance ecosystem is quickly getting bigger, with even the outliers realising that they may find themselves in sooner rather than later, pushed either by law or by business sense. And therein lies the challenge for companies, and an opportunity for platforms which can provide software solutions for data management, related to ESG disclosures in this case, and help respond to requirements by compliance frameworks.

From top 100 to 500 and now 1,000, the number of listed companies in India required to make ESG disclosures has only increased since the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) first made it mandatory in 2012. As if taking the cue, many other public and private companies in the supply chains of these top 1,000 companies voluntarily started assessing their ESG compliance. The rising awareness of the significance and relevance of ESG compliance in the international market further brought businesses involved in exports onto the bandwagon.

With disclosure parameters becoming more stringent, navigating the ESG landscape has become further complicated. The Business Responsibility and Sustainability Report (BRSR) framework in India, which replaced the Business Responsibility Report, is more detailed and comprehensive, necessitating more attention to data management.

RISE OF DATA MANAGEMENT PLATFORMS