Companies in the Asia Pacific region are looking to partially or fully align their sustainability disclosures with the European Union's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), according to an independent study by software-as-a-service company Workiva Inc.
The third annual 2024 ESG Practitioner Survey polled more than 2,000 people involved in corporate reporting, including finance and accounting, sustainability, risk, and internal audit professionals across North America, Europe, and Asia.
“The adoption of the CSRD was a pivotal moment, marking the first major regulation calling for integrated financial and sustainability disclosures with third-party assurance," says Paul Volpe, senior vice president of growth solutions at Workiva.
"Now, as companies around the world gear up for their first mandated CSRD reports in 2025, we’re seeing its impact extend far beyond those subject to the regulation.”
Volpe adds that the CSRD has sparked a global shift toward assured integrating reporting, with business leaders recognising the market demand for contextual, transparent, and credible data that aligns with stakeholder expectations.
Embracing change
Across disciplines, respondents of the Workiva survey nearly unanimously cite complying with new mandates as the most pressing challenge facing reporting teams and the volume of requirements they must contend with as their top compliance concern.
The majority of global practitioners also attest to the value in reporting, with 88% agreeing that having a strong ESG reporting programme will give their organisation a competitive advantage.
To this regard, Singapore outpaced the global average when it comes to the belief that good financial reporting has a positive effect on their companies.
Ninety-seven percent of respondents in Singapore agree that integrated financial and sustainability data enables better decision-making that can improve a company’s financial performance and 96% are prioritising ESG reporting more than previous years.
Further, all local respondents believe integrated reporting will have a positive impact on a company’s long-term value creation.
“What struck me from the 2024 ESG Practitioner Survey is that regulation is serving as a catalyst for innovation. Companies are seizing the opportunity to improve their sustainability disclosures, effectively making assured integrated reporting the gold standard in corporate reporting,” says Paul Dickinson, a member of Workiva’s ESG Advisory Council and the Founder Chair of CDP.
“It's a testament to practitioners’ adaptability as we navigate a new era in corporate transparency. However, the survey also revealed that while the majority of respondents have confidence in their data, regulation poses significant hurdles for their teams.”
According to the survey, 73% of Singaporean respondents say that they will need to comply with the CSRD. However, 79% of companies in Singapore revealed that collecting accurate data to fulfil CSRD requirements will be a challenge for their organisation, while 92% cite their company’s ability to collect and share information with other organisations in their value/supply chain as another major concern.
This data suggests practitioners expect regulation to increase the complexity of sustainability reporting and that reporting processes must mature to satisfy new regulatory requirements.
Transformation of reporting processes
The survey revealed that practitioners are looking to technology to simplify reporting processes, including embracing solutions that leverage generative artificial intelligence.
More than eight in 10 agree that generative AI will make it easier for them to do their jobs (82%) and make sustainability reporting more efficient (85%) in the next five years.
In the next three years, 96% of companies in Singapore surveyed plan to allocate more budget to technology for ESG initiatives, believing that technology and data access will play an important role in setting up their reporting practices for long-term success. Eighty-seven percent also intend to undertake digital transformation projects to improve collaboration among reporting teams.
"Assured integrated reporting is about more than compliance," says Volpe. "It is a necessity for demonstrating performance and value in a competitive landscape. Business leaders and their teams understand this is a transformational opportunity, one that demands serious commitment, and are preparing to invest in reporting that is integrated across business lines, accessible to all stakeholders, and powered by innovation."
