Is your ESG Program Ready for TCFD Framework?

The world of ESG is developing at a solid pace and so is our ESG solution. Archer ESG Management has been updated to support customers in their ESG practices. We are pleased to announce a release of the ESG 6.12. package (Use Case Release Announcement) introducing new features that include:

1. Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) Framework,
2. Sustainability reporting,
3. ESG Management System workflow,
4. Updated Materiality Assessment functionality.

1. TCFD Framework

What is the TCFD Framework and why is it important? TCFD is a voluntary framework that enables companies to disclose climate-related financial risks to investors, customers, and various stakeholders. While over 3,800 organizations have become supporters of the TCFD worldwide, more than 1,400 companies publicly report under the TCFD Recommendations, making it one of the most widely used frameworks for climate-related disclosures. Additionally, the requirements of major sustainability disclosure proposals – the SEC proposed rule on the Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures, European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), and International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) standards, correspond to the pillars of TCFD recommendations, amplifying its role.

Given a broad application of TCFD Framework, Archer developed capabilities that allow organizations to:

• Collect and structure data based on 11 TCFD recommendations across 4 themes,
• Map existing organization ESG metrics to the TCFD report,
• Create and map customized new metrics to the TCFD report,
• Produce a sustainability report based on the TCFD content index template.

2. Sustainability Report

The sustainability report functionality allows companies to generate information and produce a report based on the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standard 2 – General Disclosures. GRI 2 contains disclosures that entities use to provide information about their reporting practices and other organizational details, such as business activities, governance, and policies.

The same reporting functionality can be used for creating sustainability reports of a similar structure.

As a reminder, Archer is a certified software & tool GRI partner and offers a full set of GRI standards within the Archer ESG solution.

3. ESG Management System

The ESG Management System is a conceptual approach toward the design of the ESG Program workflow. It encompasses a self-driven cohesive workflow that allows to streamline ESG Program processes and integrate additional functionality all from one place. 

Each tab of the workflow represents a discrete step and functionality in an organization’s ESG Program. The sequence and placement of tabs and their underlying subtabs are aligned to prompt and support companies along every step of the ESG Program.

4. Updated Materiality Assessment Functionality

The newly introduced features include:

• The Materiality Assessment enhancement that ties the assessment information to the data gathering program. The upgraded functionality will allow to relate back the topics defined through Materiality Assessment to metric allocations for a more connected approach.
• The Topic Response Heat Map that graphically compares material topic responses received from a company’s leadership versus those from stakeholders. As depicted in the screenshot below, the heat map informs users on how responses from those two groups are ranked against each other across five impact categories. The heatmap is intended to provide insights into how a view of material topics is aligned across leadership and stakeholders. 

Navigating the ever-evolving ESG landscape can be a daunting task. Archer ESG Management enables companies to automate their ESG processes to bring structure, efficiency, and integration to corporate ESG programs.