A wide range of sustainability reporting requirements exist, including the EU (CSRD), international (ISSB) and USA (SEC) frameworks and standards.

Clients have complex compliance obligations that require professional support. This sustainability reporting environment is new and rapidly evolving, with these standards only in the “consultation” stage in 2022, and the reporting obligation of the first set of entities starting next year. This “novelty factor” and the lack of best practices motivate companies to seek external support in general to develop the reporting environment and the metrics, to set targets and KPIs, and to have the report audited.

The purpose of an ESG audit is to ensure reliable reporting

An audit enhances the credibility of the sustainability report and reduces the risk of greenwashing while helping to achieve the purpose of the report: ensuring high quality, transparent, reliable and comparable reporting on the ESG performance of the organisation.

Most sustainability report auditing is voluntary, but mandatory auditing of ESG reports is increasing steadily among large companies (e.g. those subject to the CSRD), and the rate of voluntary auditing has doubled in the last two years. The level of assurance required for auditing sustainability reports is generally lower than for financial statements/reports; usually a limited level of assurance (e.g. ISAE 3000 or ISAE 3410), which means less verification by the auditor, and a higher level of reasonable assurance, which results in the auditor confirming that the ESG information is indeed correct.

In the framework of our service, we perform the auditing of the sustainability report usually with limited assurance, in accordance with the recommendation of IAASB. By performing the audit of the sustainability report, we also support the work of an auditor other than GT that audits the annual

Carbon audits

Climate risks and carbon mitigation are typically prioritised among sustainability-related regulatory requirements, reporting and client/business partner expectations. Measuring carbon footprints and developing and publishing carbon reduction strategies are increasingly mandatory for large companies. Prudent calculation and auditing of these increases the credibility of the company. In the framework of the service, we audit the methodology and results of the carbon calculation according to the CHG protocol.