Expedite reporting with enhanced tools and AI in Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability

Organizations are experiencing a tidal shift from voluntary to mandatory environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting requirements. The European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Directive (CSRD) is one of more than 1,200 global ESG policy standards.¹ While these requirements aim to increase ESG transparency and standardization, build investor confidence, and accelerate progress, many organizations find meeting them increasingly challenging. 

To address reporting complexity, organizations need reliable methods of centralizing, analyzing, and reporting on disparate ESG data that’s spread-out across their value chains, and for driving insights to take action. Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability is built to meet this need, equipping organizations with powerful ESG data readiness and reporting capabilities and AI-powered actionable insights. With solutions built on Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability, companies can more easily respond to emerging regulations, identify ways to improve progress, and find new business models and value.  

In this blog, we’ll zero in on the latest Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability reporting and AI capabilities that can help you confidently tackle your 2025 reporting goals. 

Drive efficient reporting processes—from assessment to approval  

ESG reporting involves wrangling not just disparate data but varying reporting standards that examine new sustainability dimensions and specific areas like Scope 3 (indirect) supply chain emissions, and water and waste management. Collaboration and AI assistance can be key to streamlining. 

External reporting in Microsoft Sustainability Manager (formerly Project ESG Reporting), now generally available, equips organizations with templates, frameworks, and AI-powered insights to reduce reporting complexity, enhance efficiency, and provide greater transparency to processes. Using these tools through Microsoft Power Platform or in Microsoft Sustainability Manager, organizations can seamlessly connect their ESG data, organize and review it, and collaboratively create voluntary and regulatory disclosure reports across a range of standards and frameworks including: 

• Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD)
• Australian Sustainability Reporting Standards (ASRS)
• Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting (BRSR) 1 and 2
• Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)
• International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) 1 and 2
• Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) 

Other features include approval and audit workflows to help ensure compliance and data accuracy; Microsoft Sustainability Manager profile and data integration; workflow UI to support task management and content approval; disclosure generation in Microsoft Excel; and extensibility for custom template creation.

Aiming to foster collaboration and enhance data quality and transparency, sustainability services partner Fellowmind is working alongside Microsoft to support customers using the preview capabilities of external reporting in Microsoft Sustainability Manager.  

“External reporting in Microsoft Sustainability Manager is a true game changer to our customers as they strive to comply with the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). Customers can leverage their existing Microsoft platform technology and data for efficient and compliant sustainability reporting.” 

Louise Ol-Ers, Fellowmind Group Sustainability Manager, Fellowmind 

Find facts and finish reports faster with Microsoft Copilot 

Synthesizing large amounts of data in comprehensive reports involves large-scale data processing and reporting in multiple formats simultaneously. By enabling Microsoft Copilot in Microsoft Sustainability Manager (preview), you can simplify drafting from different source documents, greatly speeding up disclosure reporting.  

Copilot in Microsoft Sustainability Manager uses a large language model to help you write qualitative and quantitative responses to fulfill ESG disclosure requirements. You can upload documentation and draft responses with references for various requirements, such as CSRD, GRI, and IFRS. 

Relieved of having to individually review large amounts of data to create a cohesive response for every requirement, with Copilot in Microsoft Sustainability Manager, you can fast-track your way to the report review phases. This feature is enabled by admins in external reporting in Microsoft Sustainability Manager.  

Create emissions, water, waste, and CSRD preparatory reports  

With Copilot in Microsoft Sustainability Manager, you can also use natural language to generate emissions, water, waste, and CSRD preparatory reports. Simply enter a trigger phrase, such as “Create a CSRD report” and describe the report you want to create, based on detailed parameters, for example: “Create a CSRD report in English for the year 2023 called ‘2023 CSRD preparation report’ for ‘Contoso Corp’ organizational unit.” 

Learn more about creating emissions, water, waste, and CSRD reports with Copilot in Microsoft Sustainability Manager.  

Do more with Copilot in Microsoft Sustainability Manager 

Of course, Copilot in Microsoft Sustainability Manager can help with much more than report preparation. With a growing set of skills, Copilot in Microsoft Sustainability Manager can help you: 

• Analyze documents when you upload ESG-related documents and ask questions about their contents.
• Create calculation models by simply describing the calculation model you’d like to create.
• Query your organizational data to quickly extract the information you need, such as a particular assessment report value or an organizational unit’s revenue.  

Learn more about Copilot in Microsoft Sustainability Manager.  

Explore sustainability solutions with Microsoft  

• Bookmark Microsoft Industry Blogs: Sustainability for the latest updates, including new capabilities in Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability.
• Discover solutions with Microsoft Sustainability Manager.
• Explore the Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability Community, where you can find answers to questions and connect with peers and experts.
• See what’s new in Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability. 

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¹ ESG News Survey, “Global ESG Regulation Increases by 155% Over the Past Decade,” 2023.

The post Expedite reporting with enhanced tools and AI in Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs.

Source: Microsoft Industry Blog