AmCham Slovakia

Creating an ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) Sustainability Report can be a complex and time-consuming task. To help simplify the process, you can find practical tips for effective ESG reporting in the article by Naďa Roštek from RUŽIČKA AND PARTNERS Law Firm.

Step by step to effective ESG reporting

Implementing ESG and creating a sustainability report can be a time-consuming and technically demanding process, especially when setting up an appropriate strategy and during the first assessment. The basic and first step is to identify which aspects of sustainability are key in the company’s conditions, which you want to develop and pay attention to. Not only because the given area is important for your business, but also because it has the greatest importance in terms of environmental impacts and possible consequences. This process is referred to as double materiality assessment within ESG.
It is necessary to identify all relevant information from accounting and HR, recapitulate all significant activities, past projects and planned ones, and establish your own ESG implementation strategy in the conditions of a specific company and a specific business, so that attention, effort and investment, both time and financial, are directed to activities that make sense for the given business and support its competitiveness.

How to proceed effectively when creating a sustainability report:

1.    Clear goals:

• Define clear goals for the report. What do you want to achieve and what are your ESG priorities? For example, improving environmental indicators or social impact.

2.    Data collection:

• Ensure the systematic collection of relevant data and their clear records for the future as well.
• Collaborate with departments or key employees and partners who have access to relevant information related to individual aspects of sustainability.

3.    Materiality:

• Identify key topics (materiality) for your business. What is most important? Which areas leave the most significant impact on the environment, employees or communities? Where are the biggest risks and challenges you face in these areas?

4.    Target group:

• Be aware of who will read the message. Tailor the content to their needs. Will your report be of interest to your partners from the ranks of large corporations, or are you targeting an end customer who is interested in the conditions under which the products you sell are produced and how your company works with the topic of sustainability? Do you want to attract qualified colleagues to your team and profile yourself as a high-quality, reliable and trendy employer? Show how you care about your employees.

5.    Clear processing:

• Divide the report into sections (eg environmental impact, social responsibility, governance and specific areas of focus for your business).
• Explain the individual topics and their meaning in the context of your company.

6.    Visualisation:

• Use charts, tables, and infographics to display data in an understandable way.
• Visual presentation helps to engage the reader.

7.    Comprehensible language:

• Write in simple and understandable language. Avoid technical terms unless necessary.
• The ESG regulatory framework is quite complicated and it can be an art to formulate your message in such a way that it is in line with regulatory and legislative requirements, while being understandable and attractive to readers from your target group. Entrust its preparation to the hands of experts and be inspired by those who already have experience with this issue.

8.    Engage stakeholders:

• Communicate with employees, investors and the public. Get their feedback and support.
• Highlight all relevant relationships and collaborations.

RUŽIČKA AND PARTNERS Law Firm offers comprehensive professional support in the field of ESG through a multidisciplinary team led by Nada Roštek.

NAĎA ROŠTEK
Partner, RUŽIČKA AND PARTNERS

Naďa Roštek is the leading partner of RUŽIČKA AND PARTNERS' competition law, compliance and ESG practise. In addition to her work in Slovakia, she is also active in this area in the Czech Republic within the CCS Legal & Tax partner office. The latter is a member of the Association of Sustainable Business, where Naďa actively engages. Together with a multidisciplinary ESG team, she is involved in the development of corporate ESG strategies and ESG implementation projects in both jurisdictions. These activities serve as a key tool to increase value and build credibility for companies in the eyes of consumers and business partners. Thanks to her presence in both the Czech Republic and Slovakia, she is able to create unique solutions that take advantage of both markets. This enables more effective implementation of ESG strategies for clients in both countries.