Sustainability and ESG Services

Defining the Role of ESG in the Business Environment

Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) are sustainable practices that businesses and organizations can and should adopt to deliver long-term value for all stakeholders and communities that a company is a part of.

The purpose of recent U.S. regulatory proposals and European Union directives is to hold organizations accountable for their actions, and the quantitative and qualitative information that they publish should be accurate, relevant, reliable, verifiable, and comparable.

At Cherry Bekaert, we believe, consult, and advise on the practical approach to ESG; we support the strategic and transformational initiatives of our clients’ organizations without negatively impacting value. We deliver a holistic approach to accurate and measurable reporting; our methodology is designed to help organizations cost-effectively enhance value through an entity-wide approach to the identification, quantification, and management of the enterprise’s essential portfolio.

On September 14, 2023, California’s Legislature approved a landmark Senate Bill 253/Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act, which is expected to have global impacts on corporate climate accountability. The bill will require more than 5,000 U.S. corporations earning over $1 billion and doing business in California to annually report their greenhouse gas emissions.

Let Cherry Bekaert assist your company in meeting its carbon accounting and reporting requirements.

Benefits of ESG

A purpose driven ESG program helps shape a healthy ecosystem and delivers long-term value for all. Developing an ESG program has many tangible and intangible benefits. It helps companies:

• Drive sustained growth
• Manage and mitigate physical, financial, and operational risks
• Realize tax and energy savings and cost reduction
• Comply with regulatory and compliance requirements, including those imposed by customers and other business partners
• Increase a sense of community, trust, transparency, and brand reputation
• Develop thoughtful insights through digital dashboarding
• Heighten employee relations, attract, and retain talent
• Build confidence and value with key shareholders, investors, and employees

How Cherry Bekaert Delivers a Corporate Sustainability Strategy in Pursuit of Value

All stakeholders need to have a say in “what matters most” and the targeted impacts. Sustainability is not a silo exercise and companies need to incorporate sustainability practices within their operating model, strategic decision-making, risk management activities, and value creation roadmap. We help clients with:

Current-State Assessment

Assess the maturity of the governance, processes, and controls to determine the core metrics for baselining and future reporting.

Carbon Footprint Analysis

Assist in the carbon accounting of Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions and ongoing tracking of the organization’s carbon footprint, including life cycle assessment (LCA) of products, factory analyses, and advising on the establishment of realistic goals for future emissions remediation.

Data Validation and Gap Assessment

Assess the reasonableness of the baseline of the core metrics interfacing with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and financial reporting, including whether the underlying data is complete and accurate and whether the used assumptions are reasonable.

ESG Governance Framework

Assist in achieving investor-grade reporting for ESG and building a framework on four pillars: governance, data, technology, and resources.

Internal Controls for ESG Reporting

Build a framework for “How” and “What” related to organizational reporting that includes:

• How to track, monitor, and report on their sustainability targets
• What controls are there to ensure that the data reported is complete, consistent, and accurate.

Government (Fed/State/Local) Incentives and Tax Incentives

Identify energy savings eligibility for federal, state or local energy tax credits and incentives, such as accelerated depreciation for alternative energy and biomass properties, Investment tax credits, 179D energy tax credit, 45L tax credits, energy grants for renewable energy producers, and more. We can align financial modeling to identify and quantify opportunities.

Site Selection

Conduct site selection strategy and location identification assessment for expansion of existing or new building facilities to drive key business requirements, growth, and talent needs to maximize profitability, sustainability, and economic incentives.

Reporting

Assist in end-to-end reporting for all the organization’s sustainability initiatives as per the regulatory framework and guidance. Cherry Bekaert’s accounting advisory and digital advisory teams can be engaged to assist internal and external report writing, ERP interface, and audit readiness and to measure progress on the KPIs over time by using digital transformation, analytics and dashboarding.

We keep the businesses and their stakeholders’ interests in perspective and deliver the solutions that work for all.