A 2024 KPMG survey revealed that 96% of the world’s largest 250 companies now report on ESG standards and practices, highlighting a major shift in corporate priorities.
ESG reporting tracks your company’s environmental, social, and governance performance and is a key tool for driving corporate sustainability management. It gives you a clear view of how your organization tackles climate impact, workforce equity, and ethical leadership.
At the heart of this practice is the growing pressure from regulators, investors, and stakeholders for transparent disclosures. ESG reporting tools help organizations respond to these pressures by streamlining the collection, analysis, and communication of data.
Read on for an overview of the top tools driving this shift, helping consulting firms, public companies, financial institutions, and regulators deliver impactful and credible disclosures.
What is an ESG reporting tool?
An ESG reporting tool is a specialized software solution designed to help collect, analyze, and report data on a company’s environmental, social, and governance performance.
It acts as a central hub, enabling you to transform raw metrics—such as carbon footprint, employee diversity statistics, or board oversight policies—into structured, meaningful reports that align with globally recognized standards like the:
- Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)
- Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB)
- Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD)
- International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB)
These tools simplify what used to be a disjointed and time-consuming process, helping you meet the high expectations of regulators, investors, and stakeholders. In fact, 85% of investors view ESG reporting data as crucial when making investment decisions, highlighting how important reliable, streamlined reporting is.
Features to look for in ESG reporting tools
The market is full of ESG reporting solutions, all claiming to simplify your sustainability disclosure drafting process, while creating a clear and compelling narrative. But not all of them are created equal. To make the right choice and pick the best tool for your organization or clients’ ESG strategy, keep an eye out for these key features:
Compliance coverage and alignment with ESG reporting frameworks
Standout ESG reporting software must align with various regulatory ESG frameworks, such as GRI, SASB, CSRD, and ISSB. These frameworks set the rules for how you disclose ESG information, and staying compliant is essential to avoid penalties and reputational risk.
The best tools go beyond basic alignment, offering interoperability across multiple standards. For example, they identify overlapping requirements, like similar climate risk disclosures, allowing your organization to report efficiently without duplicating efforts.
This flexibility ensures compliance with regional mandates, such as CSRD, while supporting voluntary frameworks favored by investors, like ISSB. (Note that in some countries, ISSB standards—IFRS S1 & S2—are being adopted by local jurisdictions and mandated.)
Integration with comprehensive data collection
Top ESG reporting tools must integrate diverse data sources—internal operations, employee surveys, and third-party audits—to fully understand environmental, social, and governance performance. This integration breaks down silos, ensuring that you can capture key information like emissions, labor practices, or supplier ethics in a comprehensive way.
Ideally, the data should be easy to validate, trace, and verify. This makes audits and assurance smoother and helps to build trust with stakeholders through transparent, reliable insights.
Stakeholder engagement, collaboration, and workflow
Since ESG initiatives touch multiple departments, a great reporting tool promotes cross-functional collaboration. It allows sustainability, finance, and HR teams to contribute within a unified platform.
Robust approval workflows empower reporting, ESG, and audit experts to track changes and validate source data, ensuring accuracy and accountability. Bonus points go to tools that are built on ESG expertise or enable partnerships with specialists who can provide guidance that elevates reporting quality and aligns with industry best practices.
Writing guidance informed by competitive insights and performance benchmarks
A top-tier ESG reporting tool helps teams understand what “good” reporting looks like, tailored to industry standards. It provides benchmarks that compare performance against sectors or a select peer group, giving clear reference points for improvement.
Additionally, it showcases best-in-class disclosure examples from the market, inspiring teams to elevate their own narratives. These features provide critical context, ensuring reports meet compliance requirements while standing out to investors and regulators.
With this support, organizations can refine their ESG storytelling, aligning it with competitive standards and stakeholder expectations in the ever-evolving sustainability industry.
AI and automation
Artificial intelligence is transforming ESG reporting—and quality, purpose-built solutions offer much more than a basic, general-use tool like ChatGPT.
The best tools use AI to draft reports by pulling from best-practice examples and existing company data, saving hours of manual effort. Automation also plays a key role in ESG data collection, where AI gathers and organizes qualitative and quantitative information from different sources with precision.
On top of that, AI-driven insights—drawn from competitor reports or industry trends—provide actionable recommendations. This blend of automation and intelligence speeds up workflows while elevating data quality.
Customization
No two organizations have identical ESG needs. A reliable reporting tool offers flexible taxonomies, allowing teams to structure data according to industry-specific priorities, strategic goals, or materiality assessments.
Customization is key, especially for global companies managing complex subsidiary reporting standards. It ensures that disclosures meet local regulations and align with corporate structures.
Adaptability ensures the tool aligns with an organization’s unique brand and operational footprint, delivering tailored, impactful sustainability narratives.
The top 5 ESG reporting tools
With countless ESG reporting tools on the market, identifying the best options can feel daunting. The following stand out for their robust features, proven track records, and ability to streamline corporate sustainability disclosures.
Workiva
Workiva is a cloud-based platform known for its flexibility in corporate reporting, including ESG disclosures. It brings together teams across finance, sustainability, and audit functions, providing a single source of truth for both data and narratives.
Workiva is an option for large enterprises that need to integrate ESG management with financial reporting. Its scalability and collaborative features make it perfect for organizations with more complex reporting needs.
Key features
- Unified reporting platform: Combines ESG and financial data for cohesive disclosures
- Framework support: Aligns with SASB, TCFD, and GRI, with XBRL tagging for regulatory filings
- Real-time collaboration: Enables cross-team input and review with version control
- Data integration: Pulls from ERP, CRM, and other systems for comprehensive reporting
- Custom dashboards: Visualizes ESG metrics for stakeholder presentations
Watershed
Watershed is an enterprise sustainability platform that helps you measure, report, and reduce carbon emissions effectively. It gathers detailed emissions data, creates actionable reduction plans, and ensures alignment with global climate goals, like those set in the Paris Agreement.
Sustainability performance consultants and corporate strategists appreciate its ability to deliver accurate, audit-ready climate insights. Watershed is a fit for organizations looking to demonstrate strong environmental responsibility to stakeholders or drive significant decarbonization efforts.
Key features
- Comprehensive emissions tracking: Captures Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions accurately across operations and supply chains
- Reduction planning tools: Models strategies, calculates potential carbon savings, and sets targets
- Regulatory alignment: Meets CSRD and other climate standards effortlessly, ensuring compliance
- Continuous monitoring: Updates carbon data in real time, facilitating quick strategic shifts
- Carbon offset integration: Connects to verified removal projects, enhancing the impact of decarbonization
Diligent
Diligent provides a SaaS software platform tailored for governance, risk management, and compliance. It collects sustainability metrics, organizes them into comprehensive reports, and aligns them with international standards, helping agencies meet regulatory and stakeholder expectations.
Governance boards and ESG managers appreciate its ability to integrate complex datasets and provide real-time, actionable insights. Diligent is a solid choice for consultants looking to connect ESG objectives with broader risk frameworks, offering reliable support for strategic decision-making and oversight.
Key features
- Integrated data management: Combines ESG inputs from various sources for consistent, accurate reporting
- Live ESG tracking: Monitors key metrics instantly, enabling prompt strategic adjustments
- Standards compliance: Aligns with GRI and SASB, simplifying regulatory adherence
- Automated reporting: Generates comprehensive reports with the click of a button, saving time and reducing human error
- Board-level insights: Provides clear ESG progress updates for governance and stakeholder communications
Microsoft Sustainability Manager
Microsoft Sustainability Manager is a cloud-based solution that enables businesses to effectively manage and reduce their environmental impact.
The platform focuses on carbon footprint tracking, data-driven sustainability insights, and integration with Microsoft’s broader ecosystem of tools, helping organizations streamline their sustainability efforts and achieve climate goals.
Users can gather, analyze, and report environmental data, supporting compliance, transparency, and strategic decision-making at scale through Microsoft’s advanced technology and AI.
Key features
- Real-time carbon tracking: Continuously monitors carbon emissions across scopes 1, 2, and 3.
- Seamless Microsoft ecosystem integration: Integrates effortlessly with Microsoft 365 and Azure environments, centralizing sustainability data alongside operational and financial metrics.
- AI-powered insights and recommendations: Utilizes AI to identify trends, suggest improvements, and optimize sustainability practices based on real-time data.
- Comprehensive reporting capabilities: Generates detailed reports that comply with global frameworks like GRI, SASB, and BRSR 1 and 2.
- Collaborative features: Supports cross-functional collaboration among teams to validate and review sustainability data.
Novisto
Novisto is an ESG data management tool for private equity, venture capital, and corporate sustainability agencies. It collects ESG metrics and organizes them into structured reports, focusing on efficiency and clarity.
The platform suits consultants needing a practical solution for tracking and disclosing sustainability data, particularly in investment contexts where precision and speed are essential.
Key features
- Automated collection: Gathers ESG data from multiple sources quickly and accurately
- Framework compatibility: Aligns with standards like SASB and GRI for consistent reporting
- Accessible interface: Provides a user-friendly interface that’s easy for team members at all levels to navigate
- Current monitoring: Tracks ESG performance with up-to-date information
- Report generation: Produces concise documents tailored for stakeholder review
How Manifest Climate Complements Your ESG Reporting Stack
While ESG reporting tools help you generate your report, Manifest Climate instantly evaluates disclosures, to ensure they are comprehensive and compliant.
Manifest Climate offers AI-powered solutions to accelerate gap identification against global standards and deliver precise, consistent ESG analysis to mitigate risk and streamline compliance.Used by ESG advisors, consultants, and professionals Manifest Climate provides two key offerings:
- Manifest Compliance: AI‑driven analysis of your draft or published reports against regulatory, voluntary and custom frameworks, pinpointing gaps and providing actionable recommendations.
- Manifest Research: Real‑world examples and best‑practice benchmarks for bespoke ESG topics, alongside peer and competitor comparisons, to inspire and inform your narrative.
Our speed, accuracy, and adaptability make us an essential partner for organizations, and our solution is the perfect complement to full-scale reporting tools, ensuring disclosures meet global standards.
With Manifest Climate’s specialized, multi-layered AI model, consultants can leverage the following features to deepen the value of insights from reporting-focused tools:
- AI-powered compliance analysis: Evaluates reports against CSRD, TCFD, and other standards, identifying gaps to meet regulatory requirements
- Real-time ESG insights: Analyzes disclosures instantly, revealing trends and opportunities for strategic refinement
- Benchmarking support: Compares sustainability reports to sector examples, highlighting how peers or competitors disclose key topics
- Customizable assessments: Produces insights relevant to your business or organizational need, providing comparable, decision-useful information
- AI-powered accuracy: Analyzes large volumes of quantitative and qualitative sustainability information with AI, minimizing the risk of human error or bias
- Expert-enhanced guidance: Provides specialist-backed examples, elevating report quality post-creation
Strengthen ESG reporting with Manifest Climate
Greater transparency is now expected in ESG reporting, placing sustainability at the forefront of organizational priorities. Tools like Watershed, Diligent, Nasdaq Metrio, and Novisto are solid options for efficiently gathering, structuring, and presenting ESG data.
However, Manifest Climate offers a complementary solution for teams looking to enhance their ESG reporting. Fast, accurate, and adaptable, Manifest Climate complements full‑scale reporting tools—ensuring your ESG disclosures not only meet but exceed global standards. Its real‑time benchmarking and best‑practice disclosure examples enrich the reporting workflow, delivering tailored, decision‑useful recommendations beyond what standard software offers.
See how Manifest Climate eliminates time-consuming manual processes, data silos, and reporting inaccuracies—schedule a demo today!
