ESG · Sustainability and reporting

ESG — preparing for sustainability reporting

ESG is not a standard you get certified to. It is the framework banks, investors and large customers use to assess you — and increasingly a condition for staying in their supply chain at all.

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ℹ️ ESG is not a standard and there is no such thing as an "ESG certificate". It is reporting on your impact on the environment, people and the way you are governed — and the data for it usually already exists in the systems you have.

What is ESG?

ESG stands for Environmental, Social and Governance. Unlike ISO standards, there is no certificate here — there is a report and a rating given to you by others. That is why "how much does an ESG certificate cost" is the wrong question; the right one is which data you need to have and in what form.

Small and medium-sized companies in the region most often come to ESG through the supply chain: a large customer or bank in the EU has its own reporting obligation, so it asks suppliers for data. The good news is that much of it already exists if you have ISO 14001, ISO 45001 or ISO 37301 — we bring it together into one data set instead of you filling in every questionnaire from scratch.

When is ESG required?

Most often through the supply chain: an EU customer sends a questionnaire, a bank or fund asks for data with a loan, a large client makes it a condition of doing business. EU reporting rules keep changing and deadlines keep moving, but requirements reach companies through the chain even when they have no reporting obligation of their own.

That is why the most useful starting point is what is actually being asked of you, not a big report nobody ordered.

How we approach ESG reporting

The goal is a report backed by data, not a brochure:

List of requirementsCollecting everything already requested from you — customer questionnaires, bank conditions, tender requirements.

What mattersIdentifying the topics that are genuinely significant for your business, so you do not report on everything equally.

Data you already haveTaking data from existing systems — ISO 14001, ISO 45001, ISO 37301, HR records, accounting.

EmissionsCalculating emissions under ISO 14064, because that is the part most often requested and the easiest to verify.

ReportDrawing up the report in a form the customer or bank can use, with data sources clearly stated.

Independent assuranceIf the customer asks for confirmation, preparation for assurance of the report or verification of emissions under ISO 14064-3.

Who checks an ESG report

There is no body that issues an "ESG certificate" — if someone offers you one, it is somebody's private scheme, not recognised certification. When independent confirmation is required, the report undergoes assurance or the emissions are verified under ISO 14064-3. Everything else is ratings from rating agencies and customer questionnaires, which are answered with data.

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Scope of our support

Answers to questionnaires

Help filling in specific customer and bank questionnaires accurately and with evidence.

Data from existing systems

Linking what you already measure through ISO standards with what the report requires.

Emissions calculation

Preparing emissions data under ISO 14064 as the environmental part of the report.

Report and evidence

Drawing up the report and organising the evidence in case someone requests assurance.

Related standards

ISO 14064 provides the emissions figures, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 the environmental and safety data, and ISO 37301 the compliance and governance part.

Industries where this standard is most often required:

ESG training

Training for teams that answer customer and bank questionnaires — which data to collect, where to get it and how to prove it. Delivered at your premises, online or as a combination of both.

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ESG — frequently asked questions

Is there an ESG certificate?

ESG as a standard is not certified. There are reports, independent assurance of those reports and verification of emissions under ISO 14064-3 — and ratings from rating agencies, which are not a certificate.

Do we have to report under EU rules?

It depends on size, ownership and market, and the EU rules and deadlines are still changing. Either way, requirements arrive through the supply chain and are answered with data, not by waiting.

Where do we start?

With the questionnaires you have already received and the data you already have. That is the fastest route to a concrete answer for your customer, and at the same time the basis for a later report.

How much does preparing an ESG report cost?

It depends on how much data already exists and what exactly has been asked of you. Send us the questionnaire you received and we will tell you the scope of work.

📋 Check the exact price for your organisation →

The EU, the US and other markets

ESG reporting is the same standard wherever you certify it — what differs is the designation, the accreditation behind the certificate and what your customers ask for.

In the European Union the standard is adopted with an EN prefix, and what your buyer in the Netherlands, Germany or France looks at is not the prefix but the accreditation behind the certificate: a body accredited by a signatory of the international recognition arrangement (Global Accreditation Cooperation, formerly IAF) is recognised in other markets too. What EU partners and EU regulation expect is on the page about the EU market.

For companies with customers in the United States — supplier audits, security questionnaires and how ISO sits alongside SOC 2 — see the page about the US market.

Wherever your customer is, we run the project remotely in English — over Teams, WhatsApp or Viber, with documentation and records in English — and on site when that is easier.

Some of our references

More than 400 organisations in Montenegro and the region have gone through implementation with us — from banks and public bodies to manufacturing, IT, laboratories and hospitality.