Sidley’s review of the most recent Fortune 50 proxy statements revealed these key ESG disclosure and practice trends:
- Board oversight – Approximately 60% of companies disclosed two or more committees with ESG oversight responsibilities. Whether oversight is delegated to one or multiple committees, the Nominating and Governance Committee was identified as the most common ESG oversight committee.
- Climate change – 90% of companies made specific climate change disclosures, most commonly concerning carbon emissions reductions (65%) and the use of renewable energy (46%).
- Human capital – Most companies made specific human capital disclosures, commonly regarding DE&I-related topics such as community engagement and/or donations and efforts to increase diversity within the company (with 26% committing to EEO-1 disclosure), followed by health and safety-related disclosures.
- Board diversity – All companies disclosed board diversity statistics, with 96% disclosing gender and 91% disclosing race and ethnicity.
- Reporting frameworks – Companies most commonly referenced SASB (35%), followed by the TCFD (33%) and GRI (26%). Nearly 40% referenced other NGO standards including the UN SDGs and SBTi.
Approximately 90% of proxies also indicated that ESG disclosures could be found on the company’s website.
The memo also identifies ESG disclosure trends by industry, with Manufacturing companies constituting more than one-quarter of the proxies reviewed.
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This post first appeared in the weekly Society Alert!