Bloomberg survey: 92% of executives plan higher ESG data spending

A Bloomberg and Adox Research survey of over 100 executives found 92% plan to raise ESG data spending by at least 10% while data-management challenges persist. Rising ESG-data demand mirrors pressures Indian firms face as BRSR and disclosure requirements expand.

A Bloomberg and Adox Research survey of over 100 portfolio managers, climate-risk executives, and data-management executives, conducted in New York on August 23, 2023, found 92% plan to raise ESG spending by at least 10%, with 18% targeting increases of 50% or more. Key investment areas are ESG benchmarks and indices (29%), company-reported data (23%), ESG scores (20%), and sustainable debt (19%). Data quality is the primary criterion for selecting providers, closely followed by coverage breadth.

The survey affects asset managers, climate-risk teams, data-management functions, and ESG-data vendors. While 64% believe they outperform competitors, nearly 30% admit lagging, yet 99% acknowledge high organisational value placed on ESG data for keeping pace with peers (45%), gaining competitive edge (44%), and regulatory compliance (10%). Over 70% use ad hoc or decentralised approaches to manage ESG data, while only 29% adopt a comprehensive organisation-wide approach to evaluating and streamlining it.

Indian firms expanding ESG and BRSR reporting should monitor data-management challenges, including handling continuous evolving ESG content (cited by 55%), managing multiple vendor feeds (50%), and aligning ESG content with entity data (48%). Affected entities should evaluate centralised data strategies and delivery options, since 85% favour cloud technology over REST API (7%), SFTP/Parquet (6%), and SFTP/Request-Reply (3%). Companies should prepare governance frameworks to manage rising data volumes and ensure consistency for compliance and competitiveness.

Key figure — Spending intent: 92% of executives plan to raise ESG spending by at least 10%