(Credit: Pixabay)A cloud-based platform that will help businesses with a range of ESG practices, including with carbon accounting and automated reporting, has been introduced by OneTrust.
The company’s ESG and Sustainability Cloud is designed to help companies design plans and implement targets, automatically report on their efforts and keep data on those targets centralized. The platform can also help businesses track their Scope 1 and 2 emissions as well as calculate Scope 3 emissions throughout their operations.
ESG management has become a key business initiative for many companies as they seek to hit climate targets and meet regulatory demands. Technology that goes along with those tools also continually increases, such as life cycle assessment platforms and ESG systems built with artificial intelligence.
Plantely, which OneTrust acquired at the end of 2021, has said voluntary ESG reporting can help businesses stay ahead of the market curve. Additionally, more companies are looking at different ways to lead their ESG efforts, such as utilizing in-house council.
With ESG administration growing in priority for many organizations, OneTrust platform’s features include carbon accounting, ESG program management and supplier sustainability and responsibility tools.
With carbon accounting, companies can figure out their total Scope 1 and 2 emissions, which includes energy consumption. That can help them figure out targets to reduce or offset their emissions.
The ESG program management tool streamlines ESG data and reporting to centralize the information across operations and with suppliers, according to OneTrust. It also auto populates ESG reporting frameworks such as SASB, GRI and CDP. Reporting and transparency in ESG efforts have especially gained traction throughout industries lately with increasing regulations, such as new rules from the Securities and Exchange Commission and demands from investors to have sustainable goals.
The supplier sustainability portion is designed for businesses to get an insight into Scope 3 emissions, such as from purchased goods or business travel. OneTrust says it will track the ESG efforts from suppliers and make sure they are meeting an organization’s standards.
The platform is one of four cloud systems developed by the company that also cover areas such as data governance and ethics and compliance.
