By Michael Diegelmann - cometis AG | March 21 2024
Many awards aiming to measure large companies’ ESG (environmental, social and governance) performance suffer from non-transparent jury selection processes. Meet the Integrity Star Award which presents a completely new approach and objectively evaluates companies against 4,000 criteria in their published sustainability reports.
Sustainability awards are intended to provide orientation and recognition for companies in order to make their sustainability work visible to the outside world in a way that is easy to understand. However, many awards fail due to non-transparent jury-led award procedures. And the entrants who do not make it to winning positions often receive no explanation as to why.
The Integrity Star Award takes a completely different approach. No jury here!
Companies’ sustainability and ESG reports are objectively reviewed and evaluated by a diverse team of analysts based on more than 800 questions and more than 4,000 data variables.
Furthermore, all companies that take part in the award receive an evaluation of the quality of their reporting.
The relatively young field of ESG reporting is developing dynamically, is looking for standards and best practices and must take into account the ESRS requirements of the European Union. Sustainability awards reward the best ESG performance of companies. This is relevant because the ESG strategy of companies is so important to society: The quality of the climate, the environment, local communities and employee satisfaction all depend on it to a large extent. And for consumers and investors, ESG awards offer good pointers for making informed decisions.
However, many ESG awards suffer from non-transparent and jury-led award processes and therefore fail to provide guidance in the field of ESG reporting. The jury members are often appointed directly by the participating companies or sponsors. The companies that are not among the winners are never told the reasons for their rejection. Furthermore, many awards are one-dimensional and only relate to individual aspects of ESG reporting. The significance of many ESG awards is therefore extremely dubious.
As I discussed on this week’s episode of PRGN Presents podcast, the Integrity Star Award, in contrast, takes a science-based and holistic approach to ESG reporting and will be presented for the first time on Sep. 11 and 12 in Germany. The basis for selecting the winners in five award categories are participating companies’ sustainability reports whose quality and integrity are objectively and systematically evaluated on the basis of 4,000 variables. The methodological basis for the award is the Global ESG Monitor, which has evaluated more than 1,300 sustainability reports since 2019.
In addition to the best companies, which receive one of the five Integrity Stars Awards, all participating companies benefit from a free individual evaluation, the so-called Challenger Executive Report (which is about 10-15 pages). All analyzed companies receive insights into the strengths and weaknesses of their ESG reporting and find out how well their reporting compares to the market. This is important because the Integrity Star Award is intended to contribute to strengthening and further developing sustainability reporting globally. Business models, on the other hand, are not assessed.
To find out more, and to get deeper into the subtleties of ESG reporting and sustainability awards, listen in on this week’s episode of the PRGN Presents Podcast and check out the useful links at the bottom.
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