At the start of 2021, the first six ASX-listed companies began improving their Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) credentials and reporting their progress against the World Economic Forum’s 21 universal ESG metrics, using “ESG on-ramp” technology platform Socialsuite.

After committing to Socialsuite ESG on-ramp in January 2021, Vulcan Energy (ASX: VUL) secured $120M from ESG investors.

Newly committed Province Resources (ASX: PRL) rose 30% on announcing adoption of ESG reporting and raised $18M including from ESG funds.

Three companies have appointed their first female director since adopting the ESG program and other early adopters report making practical progress against their ESG credentials.

Investors are increasingly demanding better ESG.

An additional thirteen ASX-listed companies recently signed on to ESG on-ramp and are leading the way globally by committing to ESG reporting.

The initial six companies to sign up to Socialsuite’s ESG-on-ramp have now completed their baseline ESG report, first quarterly ESG action plan, and continue to report their progress to stakeholders.

These early adopters are:

• Euro Manganese Inc (ASX: EMN)
• Vulcan Energy (ASX: VUL)
• Elixir Energy (ASX: EXR)
• Minbos Resources Limited (ASX: MNB)
• Advanced Human Imaging (ASX: AHI)
• Whitehawk (ASX: WHK)

Thirteen new companies have now completed their baseline ESG report and are commencing their first quarterly ESG action plan:

• Province Resources (ASX:PRL)
• European Metals (ASX:EMH)
• Mandrake (ASX:MAN)
• Thomson (ASX:TMZ)
• Alexium (ASX:AJX)
• Pursuit (ASX:PUR)
• FYI Resources (ASX:FYI)
• Oneview Healthcare (ASX:ONE)
• Aldoro Resources (ASX:ARN)
• Synertec Corporation (ASX:SOP)
• MMJ Group (ASX:MMJ)
• Creso Pharma (ASX:CPH)
• 88 Energy (ASX:88E)

These companies have begun reporting on 21 core ESG metrics and will demonstrate their ESG progress over time to investors in quarterly dashboards and action plans to be included in quarterly financial and operational reports to the ASX.

Vulcan Energy Resources ESG Baseline Report.

Vulcan Energy Resources ESG Action Plan.

Francis Wedin, Managing Director at Vulcan Energy explains: “At Vulcan, positive impact and ESG are at the heart of our company’s purpose. We are focused on creating long-term sustainable value, while driving positive outcomes for the business, and this has been demonstrated clearly through our funding round which secured $120M including from ESG investors. Working with Socialsuite has helped us get started with reporting our ESG position and has provided a clear action plan of how we can improve our ESG credentials over time.”

While ESG has been a priority for businesses for some time, a key challenge for small to medium ASX listed companies has been the lack of a practical way to measure, report and improve the shared and sustainable value they create. Socialsuite makes it easy for ASX-listed companies to commit to ESG reporting by providing a straightforward tool for measuring and improving their progress against the World Economic Forum’s ESG framework.

“Strength in ESG allows companies to access more investment, attract and retain talent and secure more customers as well as create social value while providing shareholder returns,” says Damian Hajda, Co-Founder and Director at Socialsuite.

“Socialsuite provides a clear and practical way companies can get started with ESG improvement based on the company’s size and resources, which can be scaled as capacity increases.

“Looking at the data from the first quarter, it’s clear the companies see where their attention needs to be focused and where they can make quick changes to deliver significant impact. Initially, we’ve seen a large focus from boards on finalising their purpose statement and ensuring compliance issues such as health and safety are being reported.”

Neil Young, CEO at Elixir Energy, says, “Working with Socialsuite enabled us to quickly and easily identify where there are gaps in our ESG strategy and how we can improve our position. In the last quarter we have appointed a female board director and are now actively seeking out decarbonisation projects to reduce our carbon intensity and deliver social value. We also have a clear roadmap for achieving ESG goals that will take more time.”

David Frances, Managing Director of Province Resources commented, “As we attempt to build a business that has the potential to supply zero carbon hydrogen to fuel the planet for multiple future generations we aspire to set the ground rules and pathway for our Company’s journey towards global ESG compliance and reporting supported by the Socialsuite package.”

Oneview Healthcare CEO James Fitter is also committed to making a difference saying, “The principals of ESG are grounded squarely in our culture and are ingrained into our company growth plans.

“We have long taken pride in the principles of diversity, inclusion and equality, but Socialsuite has provided us with additional transparency and a benchmark to focus on to ensure ESG goals are fully integrated into the operation of the company.

“It’s an over-used cliché to say your company makes a difference in the world but as a trusted partner to some of the leading healthcare systems in the world, we live the commitment to help create a safer, healthier world and witness this regularly through positive patient and clinician feedback,” Fitter concluded.

As the number of ASX companies adopting Socialsuite ESG grows, Socialsuite will be able to provide data to the public on how quickly ASX companies are progressing their ESG credentials over time and what each ESG indicators each sector is focusing on improving at any given time.

Global ESG Insights Dashboard.

Socialsuite’s ESG technology helps companies work towards best-in-class ESG over time through

• quarterly monitoring of key ESG indicators
• quarterly prioritisation of ESG improvements
• assistance to implement ESG improvements
• team responsibilities and task management through quarterly ESG action plans
• ongoing ESG reporting to key stakeholders.

Socialsuite has clients across the Asia-Pacific, Americas and Europe. They include financial institutions, companies, government agencies, philanthropic foundations, not-for-profits, and NGOs.

To learn more about ESG reporting with Socialsuite, visit https://socialsuitehq.com/esg.

ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) has become essential in business and investment circles, setting a new standard in measuring the sustainability and ethical impact that a company makes.

Global sustainable investment now tops $30 trillion—up 68 percent since 2014 and tenfold since 2004[1].

The acceleration has been driven by heightened social, governmental, and consumer attention on the broader impact of corporations, as well as by the investors and executives who realise that a strong ESG proposition can safeguard a company’s long-term success.

ESG reporting offers a way for customers, investors and society to hold companies to account, to make sure that the issues people care about (social justice, equality, diversity, environment, etc.) are reflected and appropriately addressed by the companies we choose to do business with and invest in.

All while delivering outsized financial returns to investors, meaning a win-win for every stakeholder.

Six ASX listed companies are leading the way being the first to start reporting on ESG using a recently launched global standard ESG framework – they are reporting over and above the quarterly financial and operational update required by the Australian Stock Exchange.

Why will ESG companies (and their investors) win in 2021 and beyond?

Businesses that can demonstrate real ESG commitments, progress and credentials can gain from significant benefits, such as:

• Access ESG funds: There is currently more ESG money than there are ESG investment-ready opportunities.
• Secure top tier customers: Top companies are conscious of ESG in their supply chain and want to buy from best-in-class ESG suppliers
• Attract the most talented teams: Smart people no longer want to work for non-ESG companies.
• Positive community perception: Doing business at all levels is just easier when the community wants you to exist and supports you.
• Shareholder returns with positive impact: Be proud in creating positive change in the world while providing outsized returns to shareholders.

Companies that align their goals to the long‑term goals of society are most likely to create long‑term sustainable value, while driving positive outcomes for the business, the economy, society and the planet – and ultimately shareholders as well.

From an investor’s point of view, ESG companies will deliver better returns as they attract more customers, more investors and better talent.

Before choosing an investment or purchase, all stakeholders want to be assured businesses are truly “walking the ESG walk” and not just ‘ESG washing’. However, the key challenge for many companies is the lack of a universal and consistent framework to measure and report the shared and sustainable value they create.

 A new universal ESG framework

To address the lack of consistency in reporting ESG, the World Economic Forum (WEF) set out, with the support of the Big Four accounting firms (Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC), to create a common ESG framework to measure and disclose meaningful and relevant aspects of corporate performance on environmental, social and governance matters.

In September 2020, WEF launched its White Paper “Measuring Stakeholder Capitalism: Towards Common Metrics and Consistent Reporting of Sustainable Value Creation” which called for a universal framework for ESG measurement. This framework consists of 21 core and 34 expanded metrics and disclosures aimed at mainstreaming reporting and progressing toward a generally accepted international standard for ESG.

First group of ASX companies have adopted this ESG framework

Keen to maximise the benefits associated with demonstrable ESG, the first cohort of small to medium ASX listed companies have released their first quarterly ESG Progress report using the newly released WEF ESG metrics.

Companies who have released their first ESG progress report include:

• Vulcan Energy (ASX:VUL) – Exists to decarbonize the currently high carbon production footprint of lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles by producing a world-first Zero Carbon Lithium® hydroxide product in Germany.
• Whitehawk (ASX:WHK) – Empowering a fearless internet through Online Cybersecurity Exchange platform that provides cyber risk scoping, prioritization and mitigation products and services
• Euro Manganese Inc. (ASX:EMN) – Green and European source of ultra high purity manganese for electric vehicle batteries developed from the recycling of a tailings deposit located in the Czech Republic.
• Elixir Energy (ASX:EXR) – Elixir Energy is exploring for natural gas on the Mongolian-China border to replace burning of coal for energy in China
• Minbos Resources Limited (ASX:MNB) – Exploration and development of a phosphate (fertiliser) project in Angola and training local farmers to increase crop yields
• Myfiziq (ASX:MYQ) – Health Tech – Accessible yet advanced human imaging via smartphone app for health, fitness and wellbeing

Getting started – technology plus metrics delivers accessible ESG

The above companies are using impact monitoring technology, Socialsuite, to periodically collect and report across the World Economic Forums recently released 21 standard ESG metrics.

Socialsuite’s impact monitoring technology provides structured ESG data collection, ongoing ESG reports that can be directly inserted into quarterly reports, benchmarking across other similar companies’ ESG journeys and expanding ESG reporting depth/complexity as the company grows over time.

Socialsuite provides a clear and practical way businesses can get started with ESG measurement based on the company’s size and resources, which can be scaled and extended as capacity increases. It uses the World Economic Forum’s 21 material ESG metrics and records “ESG Progress velocity” from quarter to quarter, enabling businesses to measure, track and report progress toward the ESG indicators.

The benefits of ESG compliance for small to medium listed companies are significant, which is why the first cohort of ESG reporters have been so quick to pioneer ESG compliance in Australia by beginning to measure their progress and demonstrate their credentials.

A technology platform like Socialsuite combined with the new WEF ESG metrics has made best practice ESG reporting accessible.

Francis Wedin, Managing Director at Vulcan Energy explains, “At Vulcan, positive impact and ESG is the core reason we started the company and our Zero Carbon Lithium®️ project. We are proud therefore to be a first adopter of the ESG Global Standard Metrics. We know that by delivering against ESG we can create long‑term sustainable value, while driving positive outcomes for the business, the economy, society and the planet. Working with Socialsuite technology and the standard ESG metrics has helped us get started with reporting our ESG position and understanding how we can continue to build over time.”

If you want start growing your ESG monitoring capacity you can start your baseline ESG report today at https://socialsuitehq.com/esg/

[1] Global Sustainable Investment Review 2018, Global Sustainable Investment Alliance, 2018, gsi-alliance.org