Environmental, Social and Governance performance (or ESG) is an increasingly important topic amongst organizations around the world, driven in large part by growing consumer, investment and media attention on climate change, social inequality, and the impact of COVID-19, amongst other factors.
As it stands, there exists a myriad of frameworks that support organizations to disclose and/or improve performance on an organization’s ESG practices. While many companies are reporting ESG-related data, investors, regulators, and the broader public are exercising greater scrutiny of organizational sustainability efforts and are on the lookout for “greenwashing.”
Standardization can help
Standards and conformity assessment are ideal tools to address these issues. As Canada’s National Standardization Body, SCC has a unique role to play. By working with the national and international standardization systems, we can address user needs beyond disclosure, through standardized management approaches, tools and guidance, add rigour through measurement and assurance vis-à-vis conformity assessment systems, and ensure there are balanced and diverse voices at the table to support ESG discussions.
Recognizing this, SCC launched a collaborative process in 2022 with a Canadian Standardization Advisory Committee on ESG to identify the most pressing issues where the standardization system can fill key market gaps. The process involved three interrelated streams of work:
- Developing recommendations for advancing and prioritizing standardized ESG tools based on Canadian priorities;
- Identifying the greatest standardization needs for ESG in the Canadian context; and,
- Mapping what ESG tools are available and could be evolved to address user needs.
Beyond Disclosure: Driving Performance & Trust in ESG
The recommendations and conclusions of the Canadian Standardization Advisory Committee on ESG can be found in this report, as well as a path forward for ESG in Canada – one which will find backing, rigour and harmonization through the standardization system, both at the national and international levels.
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