Sustainable development not only covers broad challenges such as economic inclusion, geopolitical instability, and the impact of climate change but also addresses risk, attracts capital, and drives growth. As a result, companies continue to focus on meeting sustainability development goals (SDGs) Overall mentions of ‘Investment’ in ESG reports per company rose, with Asia-Pacific (APAC) having the highest sequential growth of nearly 30% in 2021, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

GlobalData’s latest report, ‘Company Filings Analytics Trends & Signals Q1 2022’, found that the mentions of various SDGs set by the United Nations have been steadily increasing in companies’ environment, social, and governance (ESG) reports since 2016.

Rinaldo Pereira, Business Fundamentals Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Interest of APAC headquartered companies in ESG seems to have increased as indicated by the rise in mentions of ‘Investment’ per company rising in double digits. In 2021, nearly 24,000 APAC-based companies discussed investment in respective ESG reports. With investors likely to scrutinize company-driven sustainable investments, firms seem to be directly pointing at ESG initiatives and investment to garner more interest.”

Each region witnessed a jump in investment-related mentions per company in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, with APAC and Europe having the most growth in 2021.

Pereira concludes: “While environmental aspects continue to be at the center of discussions, companies are also discussing diversity and inclusion, and health and safety to meet specific SDGs. The number of companies discussing ‘mental health’ in respective filings also rose by over 40%, as firms are trying to limit attrition rates with focus on employees.”

*GlobalData uses an advanced machine learning algorithm to calculate sentiment in a range of 0 to 1, with 1 being the most positive.