For corporate managers and in-house counsel responsible for sustainability reporting, sorting through the daily deluge of email and news about new developments can seem overwhelming. There's a sense of urgency in the need to analyze and understand how today's rapidly changing sustainability landscape will impact existing and future programs and how best to position the company to meet the challenges and communicate tangible progress. Climate change, COVID-19, diversity, equity, and inclusion, resource conservation, clean energy and water, which are so often called out in the headlines, are just the tip of the iceberg. Looking beneath the surface reveals a complex interrelationship of cross-cutting issues where progress on one performance indicator may have contraindicatory impacts that drive down results on another, yet both are material to the company and to key stakeholders. Staying abreast of new developments is critical for making informed decisions about current and future risk management. To help distill what you need to know now, this article highlights today's top three trends in sustainability reporting and offers insights on managing the uncertainty while moving forward.

• Harmonizing Reporting Frameworks and Standards

In response to growing demand from investors, shareholders and other stakeholders for greater transparency and disclosure of sustainability metrics, many companies  have grappled with questions of what and how to report their data. The majority have turned to the existing array of voluntary sustainability reporting frameworks and standards. However, the multitude of options available often presents a complex and confusing array of choices, each with a unique approach and emphasis. Further, stakeholders and rating agencies may require the use of different frameworks or standards, necessitating duplicative reporting of environmental, social and governance (ESG) metrics in multiple forms and on multiple platforms. This process can be time-consuming and complicated for the reporting companies and can result in the lack of comparable data across companies. As a result, there have been many calls for development of a more streamlined, uniform, and harmonized approach to sustainability reporting.