On Tuesday 6th February 2024, Convene sponsored the ESG and Sustainability Reporting Conference in London. We’d like to thank Westminster Insight as well as all speakers and attendees for putting on such an engaging conference.

The conference focused on exploring the recent changes to ESG reporting standards and frameworks, and how organisations can prepare for and understand the future of regulation and compliance. 

This conference sought to help develop sustainable strategies, give much-needed guidance and highlight the necessary skills and resources organisations will need to lead in sustainability. 

 

The day started with a keynote address, updating on the current landscape of frameworks and reporting standards in the UK. This was followed by a talk and live Q&A on the ‘Business Case for Creating an ESG Framework’, which discussed sustainability and transparency, and the role of materiality reporting.

There was then a talk and live Q&A on regulations and compliance, and what UK businesses need to be aware of. It looked at navigating the UK ESG reporting and disclosure obligations, and the changing landscape and possible future direction of ESG regulations in the UK.

This was followed by a panel discussion, giving industry insights into ESG strategy. It discussed important aspects of developing an ESG strategy, such as integrating sustainable risk reporting and opportunity identification into a wider strategy and finding the right reporting framework for your organisation.

Then there was a spotlight session focusing on reporting in the public sector. This revolved around understanding the role of the public sector in sustainability, and how to utilise the public sector in order to drive sustainable change. 

 

There was also a case study from Convene’s Associate Director Arturo Dell, exploring the Housing sector and its relationship with ESG reporting and regulations. Arturo spoke about how Housing came together to standardise ESG, and the important regulations that helped make this happen.

He also talked about Convene’s own ESG reporting tool Convene ESG, and the work that Convene does to aid the Housing sector, amongst many others, in achieving their ESG objectives. 

Convene ESG is an ESG data management and reporting platform, designed to help you reduce the challenges of ESG data gathering, performance tracking and reporting.

Our end-to-end approach simplifies and automates much of the process and will help your organisation not only generate a report, but to set up and track your ESG goals. Importantly, data you enter for one reporting standard is matched and copied across to other standards. Our peer comparison feature also allows you to see which disclosure items your peers have reported on, as well as the best-practice recommendations for your industry.

Convene ESG is designed to help make ESG reporting as easy a process as possible, so your organisation can focus on developing its sustainable strategies instead. 

 

In the afternoon of the conference, there was a talk and Q&A about how to make data work for your business and sustainability strategy. This focused on exploring why collecting sustainability data is important for both your business and its stakeholders, as well as discussing what’s next in reporting.

This was followed by a talk and live Q&A about sustainable finance, ‘In Conversation with the PRI’. It looked at what investors might need, how they work with businesses and what they may ask for in relation to ESG.

Then there was a final panel discussion, exploring the concept of employee driven ESG and the S in ESG. This discussion put a spotlight on the social aspect of ESG, looking at important factors such as community, human rights, modern slavery, diversity, equity and inclusion, gender pay gaps and stakeholder and employee engagement. 

 

The 2024 ESG and Sustainability Reporting Conference was a vital event in exploring the ever-changing landscape of ESG regulations in the UK, as well as the future of ESG reporting and what organisations can do to ensure effective compliance. 

Thank you again to Westminster Insight for hosting this event, and for having Convene ESG as a sponsor, and thank you to all those in attendance for your engagement in ESG and sustainability reporting.

You can also learn more about how Convene ESG can help your organisation in meeting UK ESG regulations here, or book a free demo today.

Lottie Wright

Written by Lottie Wright

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