Companies worldwide are preparing for the advent of mandatory reporting on sustainability, according to the 2024 edition of KPMG’s Survey of Sustainability Reporting. The research shows that sustainability reporting has become part of business as usual for almost all of the world’s largest 250 companies, and a large majority of the top 100 companies in each of 58 countries or jurisdictions took part in the survey. The last two years have seen significant increases in the proportion of companies publishing carbon reduction targets. The proportion of companies reporting on biodiversity remains lower but has similarly increased since 2022.
The survey finds growth in practices that will soon be mandatory in some jurisdictions, including the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). The report includes insights from KPMG member firms and draws on the expertise of KPMG subject matter specialists worldwide.
Six major trends from the report
- Reporting on sustainability and setting carbon targets has become part of business as usual.
- Some companies have already changed practices in advance of the move to mandatory reporting on sustainability under the EU’s CSRD.
- Double materiality, required under CSRD, is now used by half of the largest companies.
- Despite moves toward mandatory reporting, voluntary guidelines and standards remain widely-used.
- Reporting on biodiversity continues to increase.
- Adoption of Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations has continued to increase with IFRS S2 ready to rise.
About the survey
The Survey of Sustainability Reporting 2024 is based on detailed research by KPMG professionals representing 58 member firms. For each country, territory or jurisdiction listed below, they have reviewed annual financial, integrated and ESG/sustainability reports published by the largest 100 companies. With data from 5,800 companies this edition is jointly the most comprehensive in the series, which has run since 1993.
