The world of ESG tech

This week I want to talk about the world of ESG tech. As investors and corporates navigate the transition towards sustainable financial markets, different needs have arisen. From what to report, to how to report, or even how to use the reported data, different ESG tech offerings have come to market. Trying to help you think about whether any of these tools may make your life easier, here is a list of 14 platforms we think are worth looking at:

• Calculating your carbon footprint.
  • Carbon 360 by VitalMetrics: “…cloud-based solution that makes it simple to calculate Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions. See what drives your emissions to get to where you want to go.”
  • Carbon Analytics: cloud-based solution that calculates carbon footprint from accounting data (purchase records).

• Think about your climate risk.
  • WWF’s Water Risk Filter: free online tool to assess water risk in relation to climate change with recommended actions included in the assessment report. Can be used for physical assets or to address water risk in a supply chain.
  • Jupiter: climate risk analysis for different industries, considering physical assets as well as supplier and distribution networks using a scenario-based approach.
  • Acclimatise Analytics: cloud-based software that allows tailor made spatial analyses. Usually used in conjunction with their advisory services (climate consulting).

• Standardized ESG data/scores for investors.
  • Rep Risk: an ESG data science company that through advanced machine learning algorithms produces historic data series for reputational risk exposure to ESG issues (coupled with a reputational risk rating), risk of UN’s Global Compact violations, or even personalized risk indices. Covers over 175,000 public and private companies.
  • Clarity Ai: “reliable and comprehensive tools to understand and optimize social and environmental impact, leveraging scientific research and the latest technologies.” Gets data from both public and private sources and then, using proprietary models, Clarity digests the data into a standardized measure which can be compared to global peers. Covers nearly 30,000 issuers worldwide.
  • Sensefolio: using machine learning and NLP techniques, this platform goes through over 100,000 sources of information to produce standardized ESG ratings/data. Sensefolio covers all US companies together with most mid-to-large sized global companies (over 30,000 issuers).
  • Arabesque S Ray: originally developed for Arabesque’s responsible investment practices, it became a portfolio screening tool which can also provide deeper company reports. It uses big data tools and multiple data sources. Covers over 7,000 issuers worldwide.
  • Orbit by ISS: “provides investors and issuers with easy and instantaneous access to research, ratings and analyses of key sustainability topics.” Covers more than 7,000 issuers worldwide.
  • DataDesk by ISS: “investors can use DataDesk to view and screen data across companies, to search by company or person (Director) name, or to monitor portfolios and watchlists.”

• Real assets specific.
  • Measurabl: asset level data automation (and portfolio aggregation), performance tracking, target setting, reports on demand, climate risk insights, feed into benchmarking or certification processes.
  • Four Twenty Seven: “an affiliate of Moody’s…provides instant insights into the forward-looking physical climate risk exposure of real asset portfolios.”

• Mining-specific.
  • Digbee. An on-demand ESG data and research platform for the mining industry. Companies can use this tool to be benchmarked against global peers, know what data they should be reporting to investors, and even how to report it. Investors can use the tool to get sector-specific comparable data across the industry.

ESG Tech will continue evolving and adapting as needs for solutions regarding the production, quality assurance, and standardization of data appear. We will be on the lookout for any interesting new tools and will be happy to share them with you as we discover them (and please let us know if there is one you are currently using and not listed here). And of course, we are happy to help you choose which tools may enhance your sustainability practice and work together with you to optimize the results.

I hope you found this interesting. As usual, if there is anything we can help you with, please reach out.

Best,

Marimar

CEO, Miranda ESG