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In today’s evolving business landscape, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reporting is no longer an optional consideration but a mandatory aspect of operations for many companies. Recent regulations, such as mandatory climate reporting under the TCFD guidelines and IFRS S2, along with broader ESG frameworks like the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), are raising the stakes for companies and businesses are now expected to manage ESG risk, opportunities and impacts in real-time, requiring an enormous amount of data collection and analysis. For many organisations, the sheer volume of data points and the complexity of new regulations can feel overwhelming.

This is where leveraging digital technology can transform the ESG reporting process. The role of technology has expanded in recent years, offering significant accuracy in managing ESG data and compliance. According to PwC’s Global Investor Survey 2023, 79% of investors believe that digital transformation is essential for delivering on ESG commitments. Additionally, 49% of investors expect companies to leverage technology to improve the quality of their ESG data and reporting​. This underscores the growing importance of digital solutions in enhancing transparency and accountability in sustainability efforts.

The Challenges of ESG Reporting and the Job to be Done

At Skyjed, our experience has shown that the rise of ESG reporting has created new challenges for businesses.

More specifically, several critical jobs need to be done for organisations to manage sustainability and compliance effectively. These include:

• Getting started with responsible lifecycle management: Many organisations face challenges when initiating their sustainability journey, particularly when gathering the necessary ESG data to inform decision-making.
• Ensuring compliance with multiple reporting standards: Navigating and unpacking complex regulations such as ESRS, the GHG Protocol, TCFD, IFRS standards, and Modern Slavery Reporting Obligations can feel overwhelming, but it is crucial for meeting mandatory reporting requirements.
• Monitoring the sustainability performance of products and services throughout lifecycles: To meet both internal goals and external expectations, companies must track sustainability metrics, ensuring alignment with overarching business objectives and stakeholder demands.
• Aligning the organisation around ESG goals: Cultural shifts are necessary to integrate ESG efforts across various departments. Collaboration between ESG teams, finance, accounting, strategy, and marketing is essential, as sustainability initiatives should not remain siloed but should be woven into the entire organisational fabric.
• Securing data exchange with partners and managing risks: Ensuring data is securely exchanged with partner organisations is critical, especially when monitoring environmental risks and modern slavery concerns across the value chain.
• Preventing greenwashing and meeting anti-greenwashing rules: Organisations must establish robust frameworks to guarantee transparency in their ESG efforts and demonstrate compliance with granular data, protecting themselves against the growing scrutiny of greenwashing claims and ensuring compliance with anti-greenwashing regulations.

These challenges highlight that ESG reporting is more than just compliance; it’s about embedding sustainability into the core of business strategy. This requires significant organisational change, collaboration, and a focus on both product and company-level performance.

The Benefits of Digital Technology and Skyjed’s Unique Approach

By adopting digital technologies, companies can overcome common challenges and save valuable time. For example, automation reduces human error, artificial intelligence generates insights from vast datasets, and reporting dashboards provide real-time visibility into sustainability governance and performance.

A 2024 Nasdaq study surveyed 150 sustainability, finance, and legal executives, revealing that 60% of respondents experienced at least a 25% time savings when using software to collect and validate ESG and sustainability data. This demonstrates the significant efficiency gains available through the use of digital tools.

At Skyjed, we provide a complete framework for managing the lifecycle of products and services along with sustainability initiatives and ESG reporting. Our platform addresses both product-level and company-level ESG needs. Through our lifecycle governance framework, we ensure organisations not only meet compliance requirements but also drive efficiency, transparency, and accountability.

Here’s how Skyjed helps:

• Lifecycle Governance and Management: We offer tailored lifecycle stages that allow businesses to monitor and govern their ESG efforts from inception to completion.
• Cross-functional Collaboration and Accountability: Our platform encourages collaboration across departments, breaking silos and ensuring accountability at every stage of the ESG reporting process.
• Improved Transparency: Through pre-built templates and customizable tools, Skyjed ensures companies can easily comply with global ESG reporting standards.
• Risk Management: By identifying potential risks early, companies can take corrective actions before they become significant issues.
• Mitigation of Greenwashing Risk: Our anti-greenwashing tools ensure that companies remain transparent and credible in their ESG claims.
• Operational Efficiency: Automation and AI-driven insights streamline data collection, analysis, and reporting, leading to cost savings and improved performance.

Why Skyjed

Skyjed’s unique approach combines digital innovation with a robust lifecycle governance framework, enabling organisations to manage ESG reporting and sustainability initiatives with ease. By leveraging Skyjed, businesses can:

• Access a complete framework for control of ESG data and reporting at both product/service and company levels.
• Leverage expert guidance on reporting standards such as TCFD, IFRS, GHG Protocol, ESRS, and Modern Slavery Acts.
• Securely exchange data with partner organisations while monitoring risks across the value chain.
• Align teams around ESG goals, ensuring collaboration between finance, marketing, strategy, and sustainability departments.

Contact us today to discover Skyjed’s solution and its cutting-edge features and tools that ensure that companies not only comply with today’s ESG standards but also proactively manage their sustainability performance.

By streamlining ESG reporting with Skyjed, businesses can reduce risks, improve governance, enhance security, and ultimately drive better environmental and social outcomes.

About Skyjed

At Skyjed, our advanced lifecycle management solutions empower companies to gain control and oversight of their management and reporting processes. 

Our team comprises experienced business and product leaders, technology experts, and sustainability specialists who deliver customer-centred solutions that address your unique challenges. We work closely with you during onboarding to tailor the platform to your needs. Our commitment doesn't end at implementation; we provide ongoing support through expert guidance and workshops to ensure you maximise the value of our platform.

Our AI-powered end-to-end lifecycle and governance platform has received numerous awards and recognition from clients and industry bodies, demonstrating our commitment to innovation and excellence.

Watch our Skyjed Video.