Among executive committee members, chief financial officers (CFOs) should play a central role in supporting chief sustainability officers (CSOs) in regards with sustainability reporting efforts, according to PwC.
CFOs, as custodians of existing financial reporting processes, ‘know what good looks like’ when it comes to investor-grade disclosures.
PwC notes that CSOs who engage the finance function can focus more effectively on their areas of distinctive expertise: helping the company realise sustainability-led opportunities and mitigate risks.
In terms of the implementation of the European Union's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), PwC found that most companies are approaching this as a broad cross-functional effort reaching far beyond sustainability.
PwC suggests that CFOs must be involved in this initiative within the organisation. As noted, cross-functional collaboration on CSRD readiness is already the norm.
Supported by their respective teams, PwC says CFOs bring knowledge of how the company manages information and makes decisions. Combine this with how CIOs direct the installation of enabling data systems and software, and CSOs provide expertise in sustainability topics and CSRD-specific procedures such as double materiality assessment, this will be essential not only to meeting compliance requirements but also to embedding sustainability into discussions about the company’s operations and business model.
