Joint Study with Persefoni Finds Final Climate Rules Present
Significant Challenges and Opportunities
MORRISTOWN, N.J., June 18,
2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The Financial
Education & Research Foundation (FERF)—the independent
non-profit research affiliate of Financial Executives International
(FEI)— today released the findings of its latest Benchmarking
Sustainability Report. This report is a joint effort with
Persefoni, a leading Climate Management & Accounting Platform
(CMAP) for corporations and financial institutions.
"This report specifically addresses what
our members need to know to pilot their organizations through
ever-evolving informational demands from internal and external
stakeholders regarding sustainability reporting," said Andrej Suskavcevic, CAE, Pres. & CEO of FEI
& FERF.
The report examines how sustainability reporting continues to
hold an important and growing role for companies, how regulatory
sustainability prioritization has impacted reporting efforts, and
how finance functions are evolving in response to new reporting
requirements. In response to the new requirements, finance teams
are redefining sustainability reporting strategies from the
infrastructure to the human capital needed to power internal and
external reporting. The research also provides a first glance into
challenges and opportunities for private companies.
"Sustainability reporting is one of the most transformative
challenges finance professionals are facing today," said
Andrej Suskavcevic, CAE, President
and CEO of Financial Executives International and Financial
Education & Research Foundation. "This report specifically
addresses what our members need to know to pilot their
organizations through ever-evolving informational demands from
internal and external stakeholders."
Key Findings Include:
The various standards and regulatory requirements have created a
significant compliance burden:
- Over 90% of responding companies are planning to increase their
reporting emphasis on the requirements under the SEC's final
climate rule.
- Just under 90% of responding companies are planning to increase
their reporting emphasis on the requirements in the European
Union's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and
California's climate
legislation.
Finance teams are dealing with diverse challenges:
- Nearly half of survey respondents (48%) reported various
obstacles, such as difficulty in obtaining Scope 3 data, struggling
without a clear reporting mandate, and limited budgets.
Companies have made significant changes and investments to
increase external and internal reporting capabilities in response
to strategic demands and changes in the sustainability-reporting
landscape:
- 87% plan to increase their internal reporting efforts.
- 59% plan to increase the integration of carbon data within
existing risk management reporting.
- 53% plan to add new Scope 3 categories to their current Scope 3
reporting.
"We are thrilled to announce our third research collaboration
with FEI. This collaboration observes a notable increase in the
participation of finance professionals in the carbon accounting
process. Finance plays a pivotal role in accessing crucial
financial and operational data, facilitating swift conversion into
carbon emissions insights," said Persefoni CEO and Co-founder,
Kentaro Kawamori, adding
"consolidating this data into a unified platform empowers finance
professionals to swiftly discern their most significant impacts and
strategize decarbonization initiatives in their carbon accounting
journey."
Methodology and Sources
FERF and Persefoni collaborated to develop a collection of
surveys and interview questions aimed at uncovering the practical
challenges US companies are facing as they transition from
voluntary to more regulated sustainability reporting. This research
seeks to understand the sustainability frameworks and standards
where organizations are increasing their focus over the next year,
how finance functions are evolving to support increased
sustainability reporting, how private companies are impacted by
increased sustainability reporting requirements, and the key
technological adoption trends as companies scale their processes to
adhere to these sustainability reporting requirements.
The report and its findings are based on a collection of surveys
distributed to finance professionals from US-headquartered
companies, the first of which was sent to representatives of
publicly traded companies and the second to representatives of
privately owned companies.
In total, more than 50 chief accounting officers and controllers
from some of the largest US public companies participated in the
first survey; a subset of those participating in the surveys (6)
took part in qualitative research interviews. For the first time,
FERF sought to study the private company perspective on
sustainability reporting. They surveyed a limited sample of private
company CFOs and controllers (25) and spoke to one private company
CFO in a follow-up interview.
The full report can be viewed at:
https://www.financialexecutives.org/Research/Publications/2024/Benchmarking-Sustainability-Reporting.aspx.
About Financial Education & Research Foundation, Inc.
Financial Education & Research Foundation (FERF) is the
non-profit 501(c)(3) research affiliate of Financial Executives
International (FEI). FERF researchers identify key financial issues
and develop impartial, timely research reports for FEI members and
nonmembers alike, in a variety of publication formats. FERF relies
primarily on voluntary tax-deductible contributions from
corporations and individuals, and publications can be accessed at
https://www.financialexecutives.org/Research.aspx.
About FEI
Financial Executives International (FEI) is the leading association
and advocate for the views of corporate financial management. Its
members hold policy-making positions as chief financial officers,
chief accounting officers, controllers, treasurers, and tax
executives at companies in every major industry. FEI enhances
Member professional development through peer networking, career
management services, conferences, research, and publications.
Members participate in the activities of local Chapters in the U.S.
FEI is located in Morristown, NJ.
Visit http://www.financialexecutives.org for more information.
About Persefoni
Persefoni AI Inc. offers businesses and financial institutions the
software and AI tools to manage their organization's
climate-related data, disclosures, and performance with the same
level of rigor and confidence as their financial reporting systems.
With our platform, organizations can streamline their carbon
footprint calculations, develop and oversee decarbonization
strategies, and generate audit-ready sustainability reports. For
more information about Persefoni, please visit
https://www.persefoni.com/.
Media Contact
Lili DeVita, Financial Executives
International, 973.765.1021, ldevita@financialexecutives.org,
www.financialexecutives.org
Anna Maldonado, Persefoni,
520.981.4736, press@persefoni.com, https://www.persefoni.com
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SOURCE Financial Executives International