Build trust with sustainability reporting

AssuranceLab’s Environmental Social, Governance (ESG) Framework has been developed to provide a clear, consistent and pragmatic way to report on the ESG activities of an organisation using the System and Organisational Controls (SOC) reporting standards. In comparison to other global ESG standards like GRI, SASB and ISSB, this framework is designed to have a lesser burden on the reporting and maintenance of an ESG program, to make ESG reporting accessible to organisations of all sizes.

The ESG criteria we use draws from the Common Criteria of the SOC 2 framework to leverage the principles of an effective control environment supporting the environmental, social and governance objectives. It then adds specific environmental and social impact criteria that are flexible to report on 500+ positive impact business activities that align to those positive impact outcomes.

We have directly mapped the AssuranceLab ESG framework to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) so that the reports show how your positive impact activities also support those commonly referred to global frameworks. 

The main difference in our ESG framework is that it offers far greater flexibility than other industry standards, by focusing on more general criteria that enable, without forcing, any relevant ESG activities to be reported while also including overview information that readers would be interested in to understand the holistic program. These differences allow far less cost and effort in the implementation, maintenance, auditing and reporting of your ESG program to suit the majority of companies where other global ESG standards are not viable.

The specific criteria we use to report on up to 500+ positive impact activities are included below. As you can see the generic nature of these allows a lot of flexibility in reporting what's relevant for any company.

E1.1: The entity specifies objectives, targets, commitments and policies in relation to the environmental impact of its business activities.

E1.2: The entity measures, monitors and improves its business activities to reduce harmful impacts and improve positive impacts on the environment.

E1.3: The entity identifies, assesses and responds to environmental risks and opportunities.

E1.4: The entity raises awareness and encourages employees to make a positive impact on the environment as part of their roles and individual actions.

S1.1: The entity specifies objectives, targets, commitments and policies in relation to the social and community impacts of its business activities.

S1.2: The entity measures, monitors and improves its business activities to reduce harmful impacts and improve positive impacts on society and the community.

S1.3: The entity assesses and improves its activities that support employee wellness, equality, diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

S1.4: The entity raises awareness and encourages employees to make a positive social impact as part of their roles and individual actions.

These ESG reports generally do not contain sensitive information and can be published on your website and in other places accordingly. We also give you accreditation logos and status letters that you can use to represent your ESG reporting commitments in other marketing or RFP materials.

Many large enterprise have their own ESG obligations that incorporate their supply chain impacts. Being able to provide an ESG report to them as part of their due diligence assessment helps them satisfy their obligations, which can help you close deals with those companies.

ESG is also a common area of interest for employees and employment candidates. You can share the report or highlight your ESG program to earn their trust and achieve positive goodwill from your commitment to areas they value personally.