Relevance
The relevance analysis inquires whether the report discloses information on topics identified as relevant for the company, industry and country. Issues have been selected from an inside-out and outside-in perspective, using the RepRisk ESG Risk Platform, the Materiality Map™ of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and the Umweltatlas Supply Chain Management of FOEN. Read more about the methodology.
Industry Ranking
On average, companies score around 49% (in 2019: 53%), with the chemistry & pharmaceuticals, food & beverage and construction builders & suppliers sectors scoring the highest with 63% and real estate and machine industry scoring lowest with 32%.
%
Average industry score
- Chemistry & pharmaceuticals (2019: 70%) 63%
- Food & beverage sector (2019: 65%) 63%
- Construction builders suppliers (2019: 60%) 63%
- IT, medical & electrical engineering (2019: 50%) 55%
- Mobility, transport & logistics (2019: 50%) 55%
- Retail & wholesale trade (2019: 57%) 54%
- Manufacturing industry (2019: 46%) 54%
- Gastronomy & hospitality (2019: 52%) 48%
- Financial services (2019: 49%) 46%
- Insurance services (2019: 57%) 45%
- Other service providers (2019: 51%) 39%
- Energy supply & distribution (2019: 45%) 34%
- Real estate (2019: 35%) 32%
- Machine industry (2019: 51%) 32%
Company level
Critical press articles about the company, on environmental, social and governance issues (ESG), identified via the RepRisk ESG Risk Platform
Industry level
Material sustainability issues on an industry-by-industry basis, identified via the SASB Materiality Map™ and the RepRisk ESG Risk Platform
International & supply chain level
Relevant international issues, identified via the FOEN Umweltatlas Supply Chain Management tool, which pinpoints hotspots along the supply chain
Company level
,A sustainability report must mention critical or negative press articles on environmental, social and governance issues (ESG) to increase trust.
43% of the companies analysed had ESG cases published in press articles. These cases are classified as VERY RELEVANT (in 2019: 33%). Among those exposed, more than half do not report on these cases in their sustainability report (23% vs. 20%).
Industry level
Companies should consider to assess the relevance of critical industry issues to the company.
68% of analysed companies report on at least 50% of identified industry issues (in 2019: 61%), of which 7% cover all topics (in 2019: 2%). The remaining companies cover less than 50% of industry issues, including 3% that do not report on any sector-specific issue (in 2019: 5%).
International & supply chain level
The majority of companies address at least 50% of relevant issues at international level and on supply chain level, whereby non of them covers all issues. 3% did not address any issues.
As the methodology concerning this criteria has been adapted between 2019 and 2021, the comparability with results from previous years is limited.