Increases continue for both large and mid-cap stocks; 87% of the smaller half of the Russell 1000® and S&P 500® reports are approaching 100%
NEW YORK / ACCESSWIRE / September 23, 2024 / Governance & Accountability Institute, Inc. (G&A), a leading corporate sustainability consulting and research firm, today announced the results of a survey focused on 2024 sustainability reporting for companies listed on the S&P 500® Index and Russell 1000® Index regarding trends for the 2023 publication year. The survey shows a significant increase in sustainability reporting among both large and mid-sized public companies(1) in the United States as the U.S. regulatory environment moves to follow Europe on mandated ESG reporting. The latest edition of G&A’s annual survey report can be found here.
G&A’s 2024 “Sustainability Reporting Focused Report” provides detailed data and findings from a survey of U.S. corporate reporting on sustainability (also known as ESG, corporate responsibility, corporate citizenship and social impact reporting). G&A’s team analyzes corporate reporting content, including reporting frameworks and standards used such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), Sustainable Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), alignment with initiatives such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), external assurance trends and CDP reporting. For the first time, G&A’s 2024 survey includes a sector-by-sector analysis of reporting trends across all 11 Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS®) sectors, providing additional insights into reporting behavior by industry sector.
Key findings from G&A’s latest research include:
In 2023, 93% of Russell 1000 companies will publish sustainability reports, up from 90% in 2022.
The smaller half of the Russell 1000 by market cap (mid-cap companies with market caps between roughly $2 billion and $4 billion) saw the biggest increase in reporting, increasing from 82% in 2022 to 87% in 2023.
In the top half of the Russell 1000 by market cap (i.e., the S&P 500), reporting rates are approaching 100%, with 98.6% planning to report in 2023, up slightly from 98.2% in 2022.
SASB continues to be the most widely used sustainability standard, with 81% of Russell 1000 reportants complying with SASB in 2023, up from 78% in 2022.
GRI reporters are expected to remain fairly stable within the Russell 1000, increasing overall from 54% to 55% annually in 2023. This increase is driven by an increase in the smallest half of the Russell 1000 from 40% to 42% in 2023.
TCFD compliance continues to grow, with 50% of Russell 1000 reporting companies following TCFD recommendations in 2022, up from just 4% in 2019.
Click here to see a graphical representation of the above data.
Lewis Coppola, executive vice president and co-founder of G&A, commented, “The move to mandatory reporting presents an unprecedented opportunity to increase investor confidence, stakeholder trust and operational resilience. Now is the time to address the issue head-on and embrace the future with clarity and resolve. Now is the time when leadership in sustainability will define success. Sustainability is no longer a side issue, it is at the core of business thriving in today’s economy.”
Hank Boehner, chairman, chief strategist and co-founder of G&A, added, “The G&A team is encouraged to see sustainability reporting by U.S. companies increasing in volume and becoming more comprehensive, especially since it is still voluntary. When ESG disclosures ultimately become mandatory, which we expect will happen soon through pending or proposed measures, we believe companies that report today are well ahead of the curve in meeting these requirements. While many of the changes to ESG reporting standards and frameworks are being shaped by the European Union, we expect U.S. regulators and investors will continue to demand increased disclosure of material non-financial information.”
About G&A’s 2024 Sustainability Report
This new report marks the 13th in G&A’s annual research series tracking the issuance of sustainability reports by the largest publicly traded companies in the U.S. In 2012, G&A released its first annual study of sustainability reporting trends among S&P 500 companies in 2011, when only 20% of these companies were publicly reporting on sustainability. In 2019, G&A expanded the study to all companies in the Russell 1000 Index and will expand further in 2024 to provide in-depth analysis by 11 GCIS sectors.
G&A is proud of our talented analyst research team who contributed significantly to this study.
G&A Research Supervisor: Elizabeth Peterson, VP of Sustainability Consulting
G&A Research Team Leader: Natali Arsuna, Sustainability Analyst
G&A Intern Analyst:
To learn more about our team of research analysts, click here.
About G&A Institute, Inc.
Founded in 2006, Governance & Accountability Institute, Inc. (G&A) is a sustainability consulting and research firm headquartered in New York City. G&A helps corporate and investor clients identify, understand, and develop winning strategies for sustainability and ESG issues to address stakeholder and shareholder concerns. G&A’s proprietary, comprehensive sustainability reporting process is designed to help organizations demonstrate sustainability leadership in their industry or sector and maximize the return on investment of their sustainability initiatives.
Since 2011, G&A has built and expanded a comprehensive database of corporate sustainability reporting data based on its analysis of thousands of ESG and sustainability reports to help guide clients’ strategies and improve disclosure and reporting.
For more information, please visit our website at ga-institute.com.
About S&P 500®
The S&P 500 measures the stock price performance of approximately 500 large-cap companies, representing approximately 80% of the total market capitalization of the U.S. stock market, and is widely regarded as one of the best indicators of U.S. large-cap stock market performance. S&P Dow Jones Indices estimates that USD 16 trillion in assets will be indexed or benchmarked to the index in 2023. Learn more here.
About Russell 1000®
Russell US Indexes are market weighted indexes that serve as the primary benchmarks for institutional investors to track current and historical market performance by specific market segments (Large/Mid/Small/Micro-Small) or investment styles (Growth/Value/Defensive/Dynamic). The Russell 1000 Index includes the largest US publicly listed companies by market capitalization, representing approximately 93% of the total US equity market capitalization. The index/benchmark is provided by FTSE Russell, a wholly owned subsidiary of the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG). More information can be found here.
contact:
Lewis D. Coppola, Executive Vice President and Co-Founder
Governance & Accountability Institute
Phone: 646.430.8230 ext. 14
Email: (email protected)
1 Market capitalization definition: https://www.finra.org/investors/insights/market-cap
Check out more multimedia and ESG storytelling from the Governance & Accountability Institute, Inc. at 3blmedia.com
Contact Information:
Spokesperson: Governance & Accountability Institute, Inc.
Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/governance-accountability-institute-inc
Email: (email protected)
Source: Governance & Accountability Institute, Inc.
