(Credit: Canva Pro)Deloitte, in collaboration with AT&T and Salesforce, has unveiled a connectivity-based approach to address the challenges of ESG reporting.
By combining AT&T's asset connectivity platforms with Deloitte Digital's Sustainability 360 powered by Salesforce Net Zero Cloud, this collaboration aims to provide businesses with an efficient method to better pursue sustainability initiatives forward.
According to Deloitte's 2023 CxO Sustainability Report, nearly a quarter of business executives identified the difficulty of measuring their organizations' environmental impact as a major barrier to successful sustainability efforts. The complexity of collecting data from diverse sources across extended value chains often results in data discrepancies, making it challenging to comply with regulations and face accusations of greenwashing.
This hindrance not only affects the credibility of sustainability reporting but also impacts the ability to identify improvement opportunities and manage emerging risks effectively.
Deloitte, AT&T, and Salesforce's approach uses advanced technologies to streamline ESG data collection, enhance data integrity, and accelerate the identification of sustainability improvement opportunities.
AT&T's sensor technology plays a critical role in providing direct connectivity with an organization's emissions sources, including stationary and mobile assets. This connectivity enables organizations to track emissions more accurately, bolstering the granularity of Scopes 1, 2, and 3 emissions reporting.
Moreover, AT&T's technology supports expanded sustainability use cases, such as environmental management for water, waste, and raw materials, and facilitates faster data sharing through 5G network connectivity. As a result of the partnership between these companies, Deloitte Digital's Sustainability 360 offers an audit-ready platform for ESG data management.
The integrated technologies deliver increased efficiency through automated data collection from stationary and mobile assets, which can subsequently provide real-time updates. The platform aims to offer enhanced data security, and even more, the system is expected to accelerate insights, allowing organizations to proactively identify improvement opportunities and address emerging risks.
Deloitte's collaboration with AT&T and Salesforce is part of the AT&T Connected Climate Initiative, a consortium of leading technology companies, AT&T Business customers, universities, and nonprofits. The initiative aims to collectively reduce one gigaton of greenhouse gas emissions by 2035. AT&T's connectivity systems have helped users reduce 149.2 million metric tons of carbon emissions between 2018 and 2022, the company said.
Through Deloitte, AT&T, and Salesforce's connectivity-based approach, the companies are hopeful in enabling businesses with their sustainability tracking and assessment.
