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    ESGEnvironmental, Social, Governance

    Definition

    Environmental, Social and Governance — a grouping of topics used to assess an organisation's sustainability-related impacts, risks and practices.

    Editorial definition: The QHSE Standard, updated 3 October 2026 · https://qhsetech.com/glossary/esg

    Scope: ESG is not one standard or a single certification. Reporting rules and stakeholder requests differ.

    Example for your evaluation: Specify the reporting framework and evidence needed for each requested metric.

    What EU law says about ESG, and what it does not

    ESG stands for environmental, social and governance. It is a way of grouping topics, not a legal definition or a single standard, and no reporting duty is triggered by the label itself. In EU law the operative wording is sustainability matters. Article 19a of Directive 2013/34/EU, as amended, requires covered undertakings to include in the management report the information needed to understand the undertaking's impacts on sustainability matters and how sustainability matters affect its development, performance and position. The European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), in the text first adopted as Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2772, spell out the three letters by stating that impacts on people or the environment include impacts in relation to environmental, social and governance matters.

    The scope of that duty changed in 2026. Directive (EU) 2026/470 was adopted on 24 February 2026, published in the Official Journal on 26 February 2026 and entered into force on 18 March 2026, the twentieth day after publication. It amends Directive 2013/34/EU so that the reporting obligation applies to undertakings exceeding EUR 450 million in net turnover and an average of 1,000 employees during the financial year. Member States must bring the corresponding provisions into national law by 19 March 2027, so national rules and timing can differ. The Directive also protects undertakings in a reporting company's value chain that do not exceed 1,000 employees on average: they may decline to provide information beyond what the voluntary standards specify when asked for the purpose of sustainability reporting. A customer's ESG questionnaire is therefore not automatically a legal duty to answer in full.

    The European Commission's sustainability reporting page records that on 3 July 2026 it adopted two delegated acts: one amending Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2772 as regards the simplification of certain sustainability reporting standards, and one setting standards for voluntary use by undertakings protected by the value chain cap. Delegated acts enter into force only if the European Parliament and the Council do not object within the scrutiny period, so confirm which version of the ESRS applies to a given reporting period. Frameworks used in ratings and investor questionnaires have their own scope. Identify the framework, the audience and the period before collecting data. This page is general information and not legal advice.

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    What an ESG data record holds in software

    • A framework register: which framework, regulation or customer request each metric answers, with its version, reporting period and audience.
    • Metric definitions: the unit, boundary, calculation method, data owner and source system for each datapoint, with a change history.
    • Evidence attached to each value: the source file or calculation, the reviewer and the approval date.
    • Topic-selection decisions: which environmental, social and governance matters were included or left out, and the reasons.
    • A request log for customer, lender and investor questionnaires: who asked, which questions, the reply status and whether the requester is itself a reporting undertaking.
    • A restatement log showing when and why a previously reported figure changed.

    ESG, EHS, CSRD and sustainability

    ESG groups topics. EHS is an operational management function covering environment, health and safety. The CSRD is the EU legal framework that sets some organisations' duty to report. Sustainability is the wider subject all three touch. An EHS system can supply data to an ESG report, such as injury rates or emissions, but producing the report needs decisions on framework, scope and assurance that the EHS record does not make. An ESG score from a rating provider is a different thing again: it is an external assessment, and its method belongs to the provider.

    A hypothetical example: three requests, one data set

    This case is invented to illustrate the record and describes no real company. A mid-sized manufacturer receives a questionnaire from a retail customer, a request from its lender for injury and emissions data, and a request from a parent company to prepare for possible group reporting. The sustainability lead first records, for each request, who is asking, which framework or questionnaire they use, the reporting period and whether the requester is itself legally required to report. For the customer, the lead notes that the company may be a protected undertaking under the amended Directive, to be confirmed against national law and its own headcount, and decides to answer a basic set of questions by choice because it values the contract.

    The lender needs an injury rate and an emissions figure for the same period, so the lead asks safety and facilities for the underlying numbers, each with a named owner, a definition and the calculation. The records show that the injury rate uses hours worked from payroll while the emissions figure uses energy invoices, and both are kept with their sources. When facilities corrects a gas bill, the emissions figure is restated and the change is logged, so the answers already sent can be traced and corrected where needed.

    Common misunderstandings about ESG

    • ESG is not a certification or a score an organisation holds. Ratings and labels come from third parties with their own methods.
    • ESG is not a single reporting standard. Identify the framework before choosing metrics, because definitions and boundaries differ.
    • A customer's data request does not make a supplier a reporting undertaking. The amended Directive sets the obligation by size and adds a value chain cap for undertakings up to 1,000 employees on average; check national transposition.
    • The three letters are not equal workloads in every framework. A materiality assessment decides which topics are reported, and under the ESRS a matter can be material from the impact or the financial perspective.
    • Dates and thresholds moved in 2026. Older summaries of who reports and when can be wrong, so check the adopted text and the reporting period.

    How ESG relates to other glossary terms

    ESG is an umbrella for topics, so the terms that follow are the reporting law and the measures that feed it.

    • CSRD: the EU framework that sets reporting duties for entities within its scope, using the ESRS.
    • Double materiality: the assessment that decides which sustainability matters are reported under the ESRS.
    • GHG Scope 1, 2 and 3: the usual structure for the emissions figures that appear under the environmental heading.
    • ISO 45001: a management system for occupational health and safety, one source of the social data often requested.

    Records and evidence that usually exist for ESG data

    • The list of frameworks and requests being answered, with versions and periods.
    • Definitions and calculation notes for each metric, with the data owner.
    • Source documents such as invoices, payroll extracts, meter readings and audit reports.
    • Review and approval records for the figures before they were shared.
    • The topic-selection or materiality record and the reasons for each decision.
    • Restatement notes and the list of recipients of earlier figures.

    What a software tool needs to capture for ESG data

    • A way to tag each metric with the framework and version it answers, and to support more than one at once.
    • Metric definitions held once and reused, so two reports do not calculate the same figure differently.
    • Evidence attached to values, with reviewer and approval status, and a trail from a published number back to its sources.
    • A request tracker that records requester, framework, due date and whether a legal duty is believed to apply.
    • Version control for framework updates, so a change to a standard or a threshold is visible against the period.
    • Restatement handling that keeps the old value, the new value and the reason.
    • A read-only export of values with their evidence for an assurance provider.

    Catalog profiles documenting ESG data and reporting

    The list comes from the ESG platform workflow rule. It does not show which framework or version a product supports, which is a question for each supplier.

    Same rule for every product: tagged “ESG Reporting”, “ESG Frameworks Reporting”, “Sustainability Reporting”, “ESG & Sustainability” or “Sustainability & ESG”, with a sourced ESG reporting or disclosure capability in its record, or one the vendor stated to us, labelled as vendor-stated. Documented and conditional capabilities qualify; check the linked scope before treating a module as included.

    Tekmon pays for a sponsored placement (above); its place in this list follows the same rule as every entry. How lists are ordered

    All 24 matching profiles are shown. Documentation review, not hands-on testing or a claim of compliance.

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    Frequently asked questions

    Is ESG a single reporting standard?

    No. Identify the specific framework, audience and reporting period before choosing metrics or software.

    Does a customer data request make an SME a CSRD reporter?

    A request for value-chain information is distinct from an entity's own statutory reporting obligation. Establish both separately.

    What should a software demo show?

    Follow a metric from its source and calculation through review, revision history and export. Check the supported framework version.

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