Teneo reports that the percentage of large companies obtaining external assurance of at least one ESG data point held steady at 62% for this year, as well as last year. KPMG’s survey went a step further, finding that 79% of FTSE 100 companies obtained some sort of external ESG assurance.
Cooley’s Michael Mencher notes that for many of these larger companies, this is likely related to CSRD preparation. It also is likely evidence that mega-cap companies are broadly concerned with disclosure controls and greenwashing risk.
Not surprisingly, this practice is extremely uncommon for smaller-cap companies. And it’s not like smaller companies are missing much. External limited assurance is exactly what it sounds like – just a high-level review of methodology, not a detailed audit.
Authored by
Broc Romanek