Introducing Enhanced ESG Data and Reporting Features in Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability

Key Tools for CSRD Compliance Preparation
The evolution of Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability has been notable over the past year. With the anticipation of new Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reporting regulations, such as those from the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), we're unveiling advanced features designed to aid organizations in gathering and managing ESG data more effectively. Microsoft Sustainability Manager, a component of Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability, is expanding to provide users with comprehensive insights into their environmental impact, covering aspects like carbon, water, and waste. These upgrades are tailored to help organizations develop an extensive ESG data estate and meet upcoming reporting mandates.
Project ESG Lake: Accelerating Insight Acquisition
In response to the increasing demands for adherence to ESG reporting standards and the growing appetite for generative AI-based solutions, entities globally are exploring innovative data application and analysis methods. The foundation for risk prediction and the management of sustainability issues lies in the integration of diverse data sources and services for a thorough analysis of sustainability, operational, and financial data.
Organizations are reevaluating their data management strategies, embedding sustainability more deeply into their operations and business models. The initial step involves organizing the data estate—collecting, aggregating, standardizing, and analyzing data, and tracing it back to its origins to support auditing activities.
We introduce Project ESG Lake, designed to enhance organizations' ability to manage and prepare their data for comprehensive analysis, propelling them toward their sustainability objectives. This solution provides an extensive ESG data model, including over 400 tables spanning various categories such as carbon, water, waste, social, governance, and biodiversity. It enables the creation of a centralized data estate, transforming data from across the organization into a standardized schema ready for advanced analytics and reporting.
Empowering Organizations with Project ESG Lake
Project ESG Lake enables the consolidation of ESG data from disparate systems, standardizing it according to the ESG data model for a centralized ESG data estate. Features include:

• Integration of calculated emissions data from Microsoft Sustainability Manager or other platforms.
  
• Incorporation of Microsoft-based emissions data from the use of Microsoft Azure and Microsoft 365.
  
• Enrichment of data with external datasets across various sustainability categories provided by Project ESG Lake.
  
• Utilization of standardized ESG data in Project ESG Lake within the new Microsoft Fabric, a comprehensive analytics platform.
  
• Connection of ESG data to Power BI reporting templates for accelerated analysis and visualization of ESG metrics.
  

Enhancing ESG Reporting for Regulatory Compliance
Preparing for regulatory compliance involves understanding compliance positions, tracking necessary actions, and documenting evidence for impending regulations. To facilitate this, targeted features and a series of prebuilt ESG reporting templates aligned with major ESG regulatory standards are being rolled out.
Comprehensive Emissions Data Management
Complete emissions impact accounting requires data collection and management for all emissions categories across operations and supply chains. The latest update to Microsoft Sustainability Manager introduces the final round of Scope 3 emissions calculation models, covering all 15 categories and enhancing organizations' ability to report comprehensively.
Waste and Water Data Capabilities for Sustainability Progress
New capabilities in waste and water data management are introduced to provide organizations with a unified view of their waste sustainability data and accelerate their water sustainability efforts. These include waste data ingestion, visualization, and sustainability disclosure in Microsoft Sustainability Manager, along with water revenue intensity calculation, water storage tracking, and goal-tracking for comprehensive sustainability management.
Leveraging Microsoft Cloud for Accelerated Sustainability Efforts
The Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability API now enables direct data lake export for Microsoft 365 and Azure emissions, streamlining analytics and reporting processes. This integration offers organizations the flexibility to connect their data with Microsoft and third-party BI tools, enhancing their sustainability journey.
Engaging with the Sustainability Community and Exploring Partner Solutions
Stay informed and engaged with the Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability community portal and explore partner solutions tailored to unique ESG data management needs on Microsoft AppSource, facilitating a more sustainable future.