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ESG is no longer new in Danish companies. Climate accounts are prepared, policies are formulated and reports are published.
The area remains marked by regulatory uncertainty and continual change, but one thing is clear: most companies are well into understanding their environmental and social footprint.
That image is confirmed in our latest status report of ESG work in 122 Danish companies.
Over half indicate that they have already established an ongoing ESG practice. In other words, ESG has become part of the everyday life of most organisations, not just a one-off project.
But propagation is not the same as influence.
Although ESG is present in practice, it is rarely actively used as a management tool.
The figures point to a clear gap between measurement and decision.
Only 21% of SMEs indicate that ESG data is now integrated into strategy, governance and decision-making processes. Among companies with more than 250 employees, the figure is higher, but remains limited, at 32%. ESG exists, but affects only to a limited extent the choices that shape the strategic direction of companies.
For many organizations, ESG remains closely tied to documentation.
The work is organised around annual wheels, data validation and publication. The result is often solid reports and growing datasets, but with a weak link to investments, supplier choices and product priorities.
ESG becomes something you finish once a year rather than something you apply on an ongoing basis. It becomes a reporting output more than a strategic input.
This indicates that companies are in a transitional phase.
ESG efforts are established, structured and with a fixed allocated budget. The next step is how ESG data can be translated more into green value-creating business decisions.
As sustainability data begins to factor into investment decisions, supplier choices, product priorities and risk assessments, ESG changes character. From documentation to management.
The key barrier is that value creation must be concretized. And here there is still great untapped potential. For example, it could be:
- What does scope 3 cat. 1 data on steel and concrete in a construction company mean in concrete terms for the taxes payable under CBAM from next year?
- Which suppliers pose a potential risk in terms of poor working conditions that could compromise community trust?
- What design and material choices can improve competitiveness in tenders that weigh on carbon footprints?
These are all “million dollar questions” that are difficult to answer, but also represent an opportunity to use ESG data for concrete business value creation and competitive advantages.
