Data Officers and the Crucial Role They Play in ESG Accountability

The popularity of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) accountability has grown over the past couple of years as expectations of investors, consumer demand and regulatory scrutiny continues to increase.

Given that more and more organizations are relying on their data to drive sustainability initiatives, it is surprising that data officers remain underutilized in this field.

Figures from the 2024 CxO survey show that for most organizations, sustainability isn’t a primary focus despite the fact that data officers prioritize business efficiency and artificial intelligence. At the moment, about 25% of data officers are involved in sustainability metrics oversight. This calls attention to a huge gap in ESG data-driven leadership.

So, what prevents data officers from prioritizing sustainability?

1. Inadequate resources

ESG initiatives need investments directed towards specialized governance frameworks, tech and talent. Due to uncertainty, some organizations fail to allocate resources to the sustainable management of data, making it hard for reporting to be done efficiently and in a way that complies with relevant regulations.

2. Differing priorities

Most organizations often prioritize operational efficiency and revenue growth in the short-term over long-term sustainability efforts.

This requires most data officers to focus on other functions like cybersecurity and cloud migration instead of sustainability initiatives, leaving many data projects related to sustainability struggling.

3. Difficulty measuring ROI on sustainability

Over the long-term, the advantages of corporations aligning to ESG criteria are harder to measure, which makes it harder for data officers to justify the importance of sustainability investments to decision-makers.

How does data advance sustainability initiatives?

Data allows organizations to measure, analyze and improve their social and environmental impact. It can make a huge impact in various areas, including environmental risk management, product development and social impact.

By effectively managing data, organizations can decrease waste, drive efficiency in the utilization of resources and support sustainable business practices.

What can data officers do to overcome these barriers?

For starters, officers must illustrate the benefits of sustainability initiatives driven by data, champion long-term investments in ESG data management and pursue cross-functional collaborations.

They should also make sure sustainability considerations are embedded into each phase of decision-making. This ensures organizations balance their growth with ESG responsibility.

In addition to this, data officers need to integrate sustainability into data architecture. This helps ensure systems can promote the ethical use of data, reduce unnecessary replication of data, and optimize energy efficiency.

Furthermore, data officers can work with sustainability officers to align the processes of collecting and reporting data with ESG objectives, helping ensure accountability and transparency.

It would be illuminating to learn how companies like Energy and Water Development Corp. (OTCQB: EAWD) have managed to get their data team to fully buy into making ESG a key tenet of everything they do.

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Energy and Water Development Corp. (OTCQB: EAWD) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/EAWD

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