Set up ESG Explorer content

S&P Global CSA is an annual evaluation of companies' sustainability practices. With CSA, you can benchmark your company's performance on industry-specific economic, environmental, and social criteria. It also enables you to leverage the expertise, methodology, and database underlying the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) for your own internal processes and external communication.

To view CSA questions in ESG Explorer, select CSA from the ESG Admin panel.

Note: ESG Explorer only represents the questions, which you submit through the CSA portal.

To capture responses to submit to CSA:

• From ESG Explorer, add comments to CSA questions to capture discussions with collaborators.
• From the ESG Program, connect metrics with CSA questions they align with, and collect responses as metric values.

To help disclose governance factors in United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, you can enable relevant sections of the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (eCFR) Title 17 Chapter II in ESG Explorer. Namely, ESG Explorer includes content of Part 229: Standard Instructions for Filing Forms Under Securities Act of 1933, Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 — also known as Regulation S-K:

• Subpart 229.100 Business, item 101(c) Description of business
• Subpart 229.407 Management and Certain Security Holders, item 407(c): Corporate governance nominating committee

Tip: Climate-related SEC regulations will become available in ESG Explorer when effective and in the eCFR. To help prepare, you can contact your Workiva Customer Success Manager (CSM) to request Program tags to align ESG Program metrics with those regulations.

To view these regulations in ESG Explorer, select ECFR from the ESG Admin panel.

For more information, view Use Regulation S-K of Code of Federal Regulations in ESG Explorer.

The ESRS help companies in the European Union (EU) — including EU-based subsidiaries of International companies — comply with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). To enable accurate, consistent, and comparable ESG reporting, the ESRS currently provide:

• Cross-cutting standards with general requirements and disclosures that apply to all industries and sectors
• Topical standards with requirements and disclosures for specific ESG factors

Tip: For more information about the ESRS, refer to the European Commission's Q&A.

To view the ESRS in ESG Explorer, select ESRS from the ESG Admin panel.

Note: This version of the ESRS applies — starting January 2024 — to undertakings already subject to the non-financial reporting requirements of the Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD); for other undertakings, its application will be phased in.

To collect values to disclose for the ESRS, connect ESG Program metrics to the Standards they align with.

Note: ESG Explorer provides only the text of the ESRS. For the tables prescribed by application requirements to disclose datapoints, download the ESRS as a PDF from ESG Explorer.

Tip: The European Financial Advisory Group (EFRAG) has issued ESRS Implementation Guidance (IG) documents for Materiality Assessment, Value Chain, or Detailed ESRS Datapoints. While this non-authoritative content doesn't appear in ESG Explorer, you can download it directly from EFRAG.

GRI is an independent, international organization that helps businesses and other organizations take responsibility for their impacts. To help organizations communicate their impacts, GRI provides a global common language through:

• Universal Standards — such as GRI 1: Foundation 2021, GRI 2: General disclosures 2021, and GRI 3: Material topics 2021 — used by every organization
• Industry-specific Sector Standards, such as GRI 11: Oil and Gas Sector 2021 or GRI 12: Coal Sector 2022
• Additional Topic Standards — such as GRI 200: Economic topics, GRI 300: Environmental topics, and GRI 400: Social topics — to prepare reports for specific purposes or audiences such as for investors or stakeholders

To use GRI Standards in ESG Explorer:

1. From the ESG Admin panel, select GRI in Frameworks.
   
2. In GRI Sectors, select which Sector Standards to include in ESG Explorer.

   Tip: To not include GRI Sector Standards, select No Sectors.

To help ensure a high-quality, comprehensive global baseline of sustainability disclosures focused on the needs of investors and financial markets, the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) — formed by the International Financial Reporting Reporting Standards (IFRS) Foundation — developed the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards: 

• IFRS S1: General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related Financial Information
• IFRS S2: Climate-related Disclosures

To use the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards — also known as the ISSB Standards — in ESG Explorer, select IFRS from the ESG Admin panel.

For more information, view Use IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards in ESG Explorer.

SASB developed standards—maintained by the Value Reporting Foundation—to help companies disclose material sustainability information to their investors by identifying the disclosures most likely to impact the financial performance of many industries. These standards:

• Are industry-specific, as disclosures' impact on industries' financial performance varies
• Highlight disclosures that help investors make informed decisions
• Are cost-effective for companies to use
• Use an evidence-based and market-informed process like that used to develop standards for financial accounting

Tip: The SASB content includes both the current Standards and the 2023-06 revisions effective for all entities, for annual periods beginning or after January 1, 2024.

To use SASB content in ESG Explorer:

1. From the ESG Admin panel, select SASB in Frameworks.
   
2. Select which industries apply to your organization's ESG reporting.

TCFD is an organization established in 2015 to develop consistent, voluntary, climate-related financial risk disclosures for corporate filings. Per TCFD guidance, effective disclosures:

• Include relevant information, with no irrelevant or redundant details
• Provide specific and complete, with a thorough overview of your organization's exposure to potential climate-related impacts
• Are clear, balanced, and understandable as it communicates financial information that serves the needs of a range of financial stakeholders
• Maintain consistency over time to convey the development or evolution of your organization's impact on climate-related issues
• Enable meaningful comparison among other organizations within your same sector, industry, or portfolio
• Provide reliable, verifiable, and objective information, free from bias
• Are delivered or updated in a timely manner—at least annually within mainstream financial reporting

Tip: While the ISSB will continue the work of TCFD by incorporating its recommendations into the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards, you can continue to use TCFD, such as to ease the adoption of IFRS.

To use TCFD content in ESG Explorer, select TCFD from the ESG Admin panel.

The UNSDG enable cities, NGOs, philanthropies, and individuals to place worldwide goals in the same framework to better share ideas and best practices:

• No poverty
• Zero hunger
• Good health and well-being
• Quality education
• Gender equality
• Clean water and sanitation
• Affordable and clean energy
• Decent work and economic growth
• Industry, innovation, and infrastructure
• Reduced inequalities
• Sustainable cities and communities
• Responsible consumption and production
• Climate action
• Life below water and on land
• Peace, justice, and strong institutions
• Partnerships for the Goals

To use UNSDG content in ESG Explorer, select UNSDG from the ESG Admin panel.

Tip: If you align with UNSDG, you can download SVG communication assets — such as the UNSDG logo and icons — to use in highly-designed ESG reporting.