ESG disclosures: What matters to investors

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In recent months, regulators and standard setters around the globe have published proposed rules addressing companies' climate-related and other ESG disclosures. These proposals have investors in mind and could impact future reporting for many companies.

In this episode, Heather Horn was joined by PwC’s Hilary Eastman, Director of Investor Engagement, and Matt DiGiuseppe, a Managing Director in PwC's Governance Insights Center, to focus on the “big three” recent disclosure proposals from the SEC, the ISSB and EFRAG.

In this episode, you will hear:

• 1:05 - Perspectives from the investor community regarding climate-related proposals
• 9:11 - Why investors are demanding climate-related disclosures
• 17:21 - The challenges that preparers might face due to timelines established by regulators within current proposals
• 26:56 - The current state of sustainable investment analysis, and how analysts may cope with a future state of relative “information overload”
• 31:54 - The importance of preparation for producing quality disclosures
• 35:55 - How disclosures that would be made available under the new rules could impact investment analyses
• 39:25 - Recent global and domestic ESG disclosure developments, including shareholder resolutions
• 42:58 - The importance to investors of alignment across different sustainability reporting standards
• 47:59 - Final advice for companies on how considering investor perspectives may influence disclosure

Want to learn more? Listen to our previous podcasts covering GHG Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 emissions. Also, read PwC’s US investor survey: The economic realities of ESG. For more on the SEC’s proposal, refer to the text or audio version of our In the loop, The SEC wants me to disclose what? 

Hilary Eastman leads global investor engagement at PwC and is an ESG reporting strategy expert, with responsibility for managing the firm’s relationships with the investment community in the UK and globally. In her role, Hilary works with investors and analysts to get their views on a variety of corporate reporting and governance matters to help companies improve their reporting to the capital markets.

Matt DiGiuseppe is a Managing Director in PwC’s Governance Insights Center, which helps stakeholders navigate the evolving governance landscape. With over 15 years of experience, Matt has participated in numerous industry groups and was the founding chairperson of the Investor Stewardship Group (ISG), which advanced a set of corporate governance and stewardship principles for the US market.

Heather Horn is PwC’s National Office thought leader, responsible for developing our communications strategy and conveying firm positions on accounting and financial reporting matters. She is the engaging host of PwC’s accounting and reporting weekly podcast and quarterly webcast.

Transcripts available upon request for individuals