ACCA’s report guides how to create sustainability info when data is incomplete, uncertain

KARACHI: Data-related challenges are among the most significant obstacles preventing organisations from producing reliable sustainability information. ACCA’s latest report ‘Sustainability reporting: working with estimates’ provides practical guidance on how to create sustainability information when data is incomplete, uncertain or unavailable. Organisations can continue to work with imperfect data to create decision-useful sustainability information.

Aaron Saw, Head of Corporate Reporting Insights – Financial at ACCA said: ‘As sustainability reporting requirements are still evolving, and globally accepted measurement methodologies for sustainability information have not been established, this guide provides valuable support to organisations everywhere, as they begin the reporting process.’

The current approaches to estimate sustainability information include; using third-party or proxy data and deriving sustainability data from financial and other data. In addition, better-quality data can be pursued by these measures: Ensuring the staff knows why they’re collecting data, designing processes to collect sustainability data, integrating systems as much as possible, implementing controls, and collaborating with the value chain.

While the pursuit of reliable sustainability data through direct measurement should continue, it needs to be acknowledged that estimates are sometimes necessary due to uncertainty or our evolving understanding of what needs to be measured. The iterative improvements of estimates are practical method.

Reasonable estimates do not undermine the usefulness of the information, if the estimates are accurately described, explained, and revised over time. This method improves; knowledge of a sustainability topic, refines assumptions, improves processes and systems, to ensure availability of better-quality data.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026