Companies’ climate reporting must go beyond measuring numbers for reporting’s sake

AS CLIMATE reporting appears inevitable for Singapore’s listed and large non-listed companies, one challenge will be getting companies to go beyond measuring the numbers simply for reporting’s sake.

Climate reporting ultimately exists to facilitate climate action, but that connection relies on companies taking steps to improve their numbers. Instead, some may see it merely as a compliance burden, with little incentive to do better.

EY’s 2023 edition of its annual Global Climate Risk Barometer had mixed findings for the large Singapore-listed companies included in the study. Singapore companies scored 41 per cent for the quality of their climate disclosures. While this was better than the South-east Asia average of 35 per cent, it lagged the global average of 50 per cent.