Following last year’s recognition of the best organizations in Germany, the ESG Transparency Award is now expanding its analysis process to the European level. The global market research and certification institute EUPD Research, established in the sectors of renewable energy, social sustainability, and ESG, is responding to the increasing demand from shareholders and stakeholders for transparency in the still opaque sustainability reporting landscape of European organizations.

The Europe-wide Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) will soon require not only large corporations but also medium-sized companies to report in detail on their sustainability measures. ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) reporting aims to accelerate the economic transformation towards sustainability and address global challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and child labor. EUPD Research analyzes sustainability reports based on the ESG Transparency Evaluation Standard to reveal how transparently an organization communicates its social, ecological, and corporate responsibilities. The analysis and verification procedures are practically weighted by the evaluations of the annually newly appointed ESG Transparency Committee.

The initiating institute from Bonn has over 23 years of experience in research, publication, and certification in all sustainability sectors and developes scientific quality models for analyzing sustainable actions in the economy. Markus A. W. Hoehner, CEO and founder of EUPD Research, emphasizes: “Our goal is for organizations to view ESG reporting not just as a legal obligation, but as an opportunity to position their company competitively for the future. Engagement and transparency in sustainability issues are the foundation for satisfied stakeholders.”

Any company can participate in the ESG Transparency Award by submitting its most recently published ESG report for free. While the best in each industry and size category are honored with an award, all other participating organizations benefit from a data-based gap analysis for efficient optimization and further development.

Oliver Burkhard, CEO thyssenkrupp Marine Systems GmbH and ESG Transparency Award winner in 2023, says: “Winning the ESG Transparency Award is a sign that we have set the right course, and it gives us momentum for our ambitious sustainability goals.”

In addition to the transparency assessment of sustainability reports, the evaluation serves various research projects on the state of reporting and other sustainability segments in Germany and Europe. The award process also focuses on knowledge transfer and the exchange of best practices.

The responsible persons from the organizations awarded the ESG Transparency Award will be appointed to the ESG Transparency Committee for the coming year. The committee, as a collaborative body, aims to continuously develop and weight the ESG Transparency Evaluation Standard according to relevance.

Photo: Deutsche Telekom AG honoured with the ESG Transparency Award 2023 (c) EUPD / Wenski