ESG reporting is the process of publicly disclosing an organization’s progress toward meeting its goals and commitments on environmental sustainability, social issues and corporate governance.

ESG frameworks fall into these two primary categories in a 2019 report:

1. Voluntary disclosure frameworks. These provide a platform and mechanisms for ESG disclosures that are applicable to organizations across different industry sectors and regions. Reporting is commonly done through online surveys or questionnaires that are then scored.
2. Guidance frameworks. Akin to standards, they provide specific topics, methodologies and metrics for companies to use in reporting on their ESG performance.