Introduction
2026 will be the year ESG reporting rises to the same level of importance as financial reporting. Not because the world suddenly cares more, but because ESG and finance have become inseparable.
Investors, regulators, and boards increasingly expect a single, connected view of organisational performance. For CFOs, this means ESG data will sit alongside financials in planning cycles, risk models, and performance narratives. Finance teams will become the custodians of ESG integrity, ensuring the same rigour, auditability, and governance applies across both domains.
In 2026, the organisations that have aligned ESG with finance won’t just be compliant, they will be more resilient, more transparent, more trusting and better positioned to create long-term value in a world where impact and performance are measured together.
Regulators raising the bar
For years, ESG reporting was a way for companies to add a glossy appendix, a marketing comfort blanket, or a “proof of conscience” to their annual reports. Now, it has become a measure of business performance, an insight to risks and data that can be used to develop a competitive advantage. Global investment funds increasingly screen companies based on ESG disclosures, and there is a growing number of mandatory ESG disclosure standards.
With ISSB sustainability standards rolling out globally, bodies like the JSE reshaping reporting expectations through codes like King IV and sustainability and climate disclosure guidance, as well as assurance becoming mandatory in many markets, the era of “good-faith ESG reporting” is over. Regulators have started to expect traceable authentic and secure data, transparent methodology, consistent measurement, defensible assumptions, and audit-ready controls and governance.
Unfortunately, many companies still cling to outdated silos where sustainability teams produce fact-filled reports, finance produces audited statements, and ESG and financial performance are viewed as separate. In fact, a lot of ESG data today would never survive a financial-grade audit. According to 2023 KPMG’s ESG Assurance Maturity Index, only 25% of companies feel ready to have their ESG data independently assured. More recently, The CFO reported that just 29% of companies believe they have the systems, controls, and maturity for credible ESG assurance.
This suggests that the majority of companies are not prepared to truly audit their ESG data. Even those that are comfortable with their ESG reporting processes and data quality have reported “limited assurance” rather than full, financial-grade audit assurance. An IFAC / AICPA & CIMA study found that while 58% of companies had some ESG assurance, 82% of those engagements were limited assurance and only 43% of companies that obtained assurance covered all four ESG categories (GHG, other environmental, social, governance) in their assurance process.
ESG is growing up
In light of the growing pressures turning ESG reporting into a compliance requirement, ESG failures have the potential to destroy shareholder value and stakeholder sentiment. In addition, many ESG elements directly influence profitability, leading organisations to start looking at integrating elements like energy spend, natural resource dependency, risk exposure, and long-term sustainability of supply chains into their forecasting, planning, and valuation processes.
In other words, ESG is officially moving onto the balance sheet. This means that companies will be expected to treat both quantitative and qualitative ESG results with the same rigour they apply to revenue reporting and statutory disclosures. ESG data must become audit-proof, and investors and regulators are going to start demanding a single version of the truth; one integrated view of how a business creates value, allocates capital, manages risk, and impacts the world it operates in.
Most organisations aren’t ready for this shift. They still treat ESG as a storytelling exercise, not a data exercise and don’t yet have the systems and processes in place to identify, gather, manage and report on it.
In 2026, organisations should start collapsing ESG and financial data into a single reporting environment. That means they will need to invest in platforms that deliver real-time, auditable ESG metrics, and establish clear accountability between sustainability, operations, and finance. This process will help them build internal controls strong enough to satisfy auditors and regulators.
Businesses that unify ESG and financial insights and reporting will move faster, see risks and opportunities earlier, and allocate capital more intelligently. They’ll build investor trust at a time when credibility is everything. With the right ESG advicse and solution in place, companies can shift ESG decision-making from narrative-driven to evidence-driven; from compliance to competitive advantage.
The next era of ESG demands financial-grade discipline, and we’re about to make that easier. Watch this space.
