New Research Shows 2023 Sustainability Reporting at Record Levels as U.S. Public Companies Prepare for Mandated Disclosure
Increases Continue in Both Large-Cap and Mid-Cap Companies; 87% of Smaller Half of Russell 1000® Report and S&P 500® Companies Approach 100%
Governance & Accountability Institute, Inc. (G&A) is pleased to share the 13th annual edition of our research series tracking the sustainability reporting trends of the largest U.S. publicly-traded companies.
G&A’s 2024 Sustainability Reporting in Focus research on companies in the S&P 500® Index and the Russell 1000® Index shows substantial increases in sustainability reporting for both large-cap and mid-cap U.S. public companies, as the U.S. regulatory environment moves to follow Europe on required ESG reporting.
Key Report Findings
- A record 93% of Russell 1000 companies published a sustainability report in 2023 - an increase from 90% in 2022.
- The smaller half by market cap of the Russell 1000 (mid-cap companies with approximately $2 billion-$4 billion in market cap) had the greatest increase in reporting in 2023, reaching 87% compared to 82% in 2022.
- The larger half by market cap of the Russell 1000 (i.e., the S&P 500) are nearing 100% reporters with 98.6% publishing a report in 2023 – a slight increase from 98.2% in 2022.
- SASB continued to be the most widely used sustainability standard, with 81% of Russell 1000 reporters aligning with SASB in 2023 – up from 78% in 2022.
- GRI reporters remained fairly consistent among the Russell 1000 with an overall annual increase from 54% to 55% in 2023, with the increase being led by the smallest half of the Russell 1000 moving from 40% to 42% in 2023.
- Alignment with TCFD continued to increase, with 60% of Russell 1000 reporters following TCFD recommendations in 2023, compared to 50% in 2022 and only 4% in 2019.
For the first time, G&A’s 2024 research includes sector-specific analysis of reporting trends within all 11 sectors of the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS®), to provide additional insights into reporting behavior per industry sector.
For the complete findings of our 2024 Sustainability Reporting in Focus report, please complete the form on this page to download your copy of the report.
