The Complete ESG Guide: Understand, Implement and Report Your Actions

From the early 2000s, when ESG first appeared, to today, a lot has changed. The topic has gained greater relevance in companies, stock exchanges, consumer awareness and public policy. With so many changes, it has become a more complex subject. With that in mind, we created this ESG mini-guide.

What is ESG?

ESG stands for Environmental, Social and Governance. In practice, it refers to what a company does to demonstrate its responsibility toward the environment, social impact and good business practices.

The term ESG took shape in 2004 in the Who Cares Wins report, a UN Global Compact initiative launched by then Secretary-General Kofi Annan together with financial institutions. The idea was to bring environmental, social and governance criteria into investment decisions.

Why should companies invest in ESG?

If in the early 2000s government was seen as the sole entity responsible for preserving the environment and promoting social transformation, today consumers also hold companies accountable. They choose sustainable products and brands that are more inclusive. ESG is not a fad. It is part of the daily reality of business.

In Brazil, regulation is moving too. Law 15,042/2024 created the regulated carbon market (SBCE), and the CVM, Brazil's securities regulator, adopted a "comply or explain" model for listed companies: since 2026, those that do not publish an ISSB-based sustainability report must explain their decision to the market.

How to start investing in ESG?

A good starting point is the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted by UN member states in 2015 as part of the 2030 Agenda. There are 17 global SDGs, each with its own targets. In November 2024, Brazil voluntarily adopted an 18th goal on ethnic and racial equality. By selecting the SDGs most relevant to your business, your company already has an action plan with defined goals.

Examples of Environmental Actions

• Eliminating disposable cups
• Turning off lights in empty rooms
• Using renewable energy
• Planting trees in deforested areas
• Switching to an electric vehicle fleet
• Using recyclable packaging
• Promoting the circular economy

Examples of Social Investment Actions

• Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs within the company
• Young Apprentice programs
• Employee family wellbeing initiatives
• Community engagement around the company
• Local supplier policies

Examples of Corporate Governance Actions

• Creating processes for supplier hiring
• Defining processes for the ESG department
• Compensation transparency
• Compliance with labor laws
• Business ethics
• Anti-corruption policies

How to create ESG reports?

Contributing alone is not enough. You need to know which actions are most effective. The key point is that ESG reports go beyond a list of actions and deliver actual results.

In practice, measurement follows four steps:

1. Define what will be done and which metrics will be tracked
2. Before starting, collect relevant baseline data
3. While the action is underway, collect partial data
4. When the action is completed, measure the outcome

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is the most widely used standard for sustainability reporting. It includes universal standards (GRI 1, 2 and 3), sector standards and topic standards. Among the topic standards, the 200 series covers economic topics, the 300 series environmental topics and the 400 series social topics.

GRI is also being updated: the new biodiversity standard (GRI 101) has applied since January 2026, and the climate change (GRI 102) and energy (GRI 103) standards take effect in January 2027, replacing parts of the current GRI 305 and 302.

Conclusion

Paresi empowers social projects to learn how to report data using SDG/GRI standards. Each data point is recorded with its supporting evidence and made available through a dashboard with the relevant metrics for your company’s ESG planning.