For our 2023 Global ESG Survey, we polled and interviewed 155 institutional investors and 103 IR and C-suite executives globally between March 14 and May 17 across more than 30 focus areas relating to ESG.

The final piece in our four-part ESG Series focuses on building on your ESG function to optimize and accelerate the sustainability opportunity.

According to our proprietary research:

• 72% of corporates report having an Internal ESG Committee, up from 64% vs. our 2021 Survey
• Corporates who now have DEI Leaders increased to 52%, up from 36% in our prior Survey
• Sustainability leads have supplanted IR in overseeing ESG, followed by Legal; notably, there has been a decrease in oversight by Corporate Communications
• Roughly 70% of participants assert the Board of Directors slate has become more diverse across gender, ethnic, racial, and/or skills-based dimensions over the past 12 months, demonstrating broad-based increases relative to our 2021 Survey
• While 57% of investors say they would appreciate some level of engagement with the board, only 28% of corporate issuers provide the opportunity for interaction; boards who do engage often do so during proxy season, in line with investor preferences, especially if addressing governance issues
• More than 80% of investors assert talent disclosures are important to their investment decisions; specifically, investors home in on Employee Turnover, Employee Satisfaction, and Training and Development as leading preferred issuer disclosures.

If you’d like to learn more about our industry-leading ESG research and/or our valued-added ESG Advisory Services, contact us by filling out the form below.