Overall Results

We seek to identify whether Global Sustainability Leaders set policies, build structures and incentivize people to provide good governance (guidance and oversight) over their sustainability efforts, assess whether the coverage of their sustainability efforts is comprehensive in terms of stakeholders, value chain and geographies, and whether continuous improvement is embedded in their efforts through a learning loop. We have divided 212 GSLs into 5 Tiers based on the assessment of these criteria.

We find that there are country and sector-wise differences in sustainability governance quality. We also conclude that adopting global initiatives (ie: UNGC, GRI, SASB, IR) make reasonable differences in sustainability governance quality and can help accelerate progress towards better sustainability reporting.

• Half of the GSLs in the United Kingdom (UK) are in Tier 1. In comparison to our 2019 Report, the percentage of UK companies in Tier 1 increased from 30% to 49%.
• More than half of the GSLs in South Africa are either in Tier 1 or Tier 2. Half of the GSLs in Germany are either in Tier 1 or Tier 2. They are followed by companies in the United States, India, China, and Türkiye, respectively.
• The accelerator effect of global initiatives about sustainability governance is evident.
  • UNGC: In the United Kingdom, more than half of the GSLs are signatories of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC).
  • IR: In South Africa, adopting Integrated Reporting (<IR>) makes a reasonable difference for sustainability governance.
  • GRI: In Germany, more than 80% of companies adopted GRI reporting.
  • SASB: In the United States, more than 40% adopted SASB reporting and 65% of SASB reporting companies are either in Tier 1 or Tier 2.

• More than 50% of the GSLs in Consumer Goods, Telecommunication, Food Processors, and Natural Resources are either in Tier 1 or Tier 2.
• In comparison to SGS 2019, the percentage of Tier 1 and Tier 2 companies in Telecommunication sector almost doubled, increasing from 36% to 62% and the share of Tier 1 and Tier 2 companies in Consumer Goods increased from 50% to 77%.

• Adopting global initiatives or approaches make reasonable differences in the sustainability governance quality of the GSLs.
• Among the GSLs, all of the UNGC Lead Companies are in Tier 1 or Tier 2.
• 76% of SASB Reporting companies are either in Tier 1 or Tier 2.
• 50% of UNGC 100 Companies and 33% of <IR> Reporting GSLs are Tier 1 companies.
• More than 50% of GRI reporting companies are either in Tier 1 or Tier 2.