Navigating New ESG Reporting Standards with SAP’s Sustainability Insights
Sophia Mendelsohn, Chief Sustainability and Commercial Officer at SAP, shares insights on navigating new ESG reporting standards
As organisations grapple with the introduction of evolving ESG reporting frameworks, it’s essential to remember the core purpose behind these regulations: driving meaningful sustainability transformation.
Sophia Mendelsohn, SAP’s Chief Sustainability and Commercial Officer, delves into this shifting landscape, offering guidance on how companies can meet growing compliance demands while maintaining operational effectiveness.
With new guidelines from the IAASB and IESBA coming into effect, Mendelsohn highlights how businesses can shift their focus from viewing compliance as a challenge to seeing it as an opportunity to create value. She also offers her perspective on how the tech sector can adapt to these standards and leverage them for long-term impact.
How will the new IAASB and IESBA standards influence sustainability reporting in the tech industry?
According to Mendelsohn, there's a critical distinction between understanding reporting requirements and having the capability to act on them. The introduction of these audit and ethics standards reflects a broader push for transparency and credibility in ESG disclosures.
However, businesses should focus on delivering relevant, decision-oriented information that supports transformation rather than treating sustainability as just another reporting requirement. This approach not only builds trust among stakeholders but also drives better environmental practices across the technology sector.
What are the main challenges organisations might face with these new standards?
Mendelsohn emphasises that access to quality data remains one of the most significant barriers. Sustainability efforts rely heavily on integrating and managing disparate data sets across various business functions and supply chains.
To turn this challenge into an advantage, companies need to embrace tools that simplify compliance and automate reporting. By standardising data and leveraging advanced technologies like AI and analytics, organisations can reduce the administrative burden and focus their energy on actual sustainability progress.
With compliance enforcement beginning in December 2026, will most tech firms be prepared?
While climate change remains a top concern for senior executives, Mendelsohn notes that only half of businesses have begun implementing technological solutions to meet climate objectives. Without accelerating digital adoption, many may struggle to keep pace with the new requirements.
She stresses the importance of integrating compliance tools now, so sustainability teams can concentrate on impact-driven strategies. Treating sustainability data with the same level of discipline as financial data is key to success.
How do these assurance standards connect with global frameworks like the EU CSRD and the SEC’s disclosure rules?
The new standards are designed to complement existing frameworks and promote consistency in sustainability reporting. The goal is to increase transparency and prevent greenwashing by aligning financial reporting structures with environmental disclosures.
However, Mendelsohn reminds leaders that these standards are not tailored for day-to-day operational decision-making. That’s why it’s critical for sustainability and finance leaders to collaborate and use technology—like AI-powered platforms—to integrate carbon tracking into core business processes and identify both risks and opportunities.
How does technology support the accuracy and reliability of ESG data?
Technology plays a foundational role in maintaining data integrity by automating collection, analysis, and reporting. SAP’s Green Ledger, for instance, offers a comprehensive carbon accounting system that aligns environmental metrics directly with financial transactions. This enables organisations to generate real-time, verifiable data instead of estimates—supporting better compliance and long-term sustainability planning.
What advancements in supply chain or carbon accounting are helping companies meet stricter standards?
Mendelsohn points to SAP’s Green Ledger as a prime example of innovation in this space. By mirroring traditional financial accounting systems, it allows businesses to trace emissions across products, services, and organisational units.
Companies like Covestro are already piloting this solution to track carbon output tied to specific products within their supply chains, offering a model for integrating environmental data into everyday business operations.
How can companies balance rigorous reporting with operational simplicity?
Her advice is to treat sustainability as an embedded business process rather than a separate reporting function. When sustainability becomes a core component of enterprise resource planning, it drives alignment across departments and supports long-term strategy—ensuring efforts are focused on tangible outcomes, not just paperwork.
As organisations grapple with the introduction of evolving ESG reporting frameworks, it’s essential to remember the core purpose behind these regulations: driving meaningful sustainability transformation.
Sophia Mendelsohn, SAP’s Chief Sustainability and Commercial Officer, delves into this shifting landscape, offering guidance on how companies can meet growing compliance demands while maintaining operational effectiveness.
With new guidelines from the IAASB and IESBA coming into effect, Mendelsohn highlights how businesses can shift their focus from viewing compliance as a challenge to seeing it as an opportunity to create value. She also offers her perspective on how the tech sector can adapt to these standards and leverage them for long-term impact.
How will the new IAASB and IESBA standards influence sustainability reporting in the tech industry?
According to Mendelsohn, there's a critical distinction between understanding reporting requirements and having the capability to act on them. The introduction of these audit and ethics standards reflects a broader push for transparency and credibility in ESG disclosures.
However, businesses should focus on delivering relevant, decision-oriented information that supports transformation rather than treating sustainability as just another reporting requirement. This approach not only builds trust among stakeholders but also drives better environmental practices across the technology sector.
What are the main challenges organisations might face with these new standards?
Mendelsohn emphasises that access to quality data remains one of the most significant barriers. Sustainability efforts rely heavily on integrating and managing disparate data sets across various business functions and supply chains.
To turn this challenge into an advantage, companies need to embrace tools that simplify compliance and automate reporting. By standardising data and leveraging advanced technologies like AI and analytics, organisations can reduce the administrative burden and focus their energy on actual sustainability progress.
With compliance enforcement beginning in December 2026, will most tech firms be prepared?
While climate change remains a top concern for senior executives, Mendelsohn notes that only half of businesses have begun implementing technological solutions to meet climate objectives. Without accelerating digital adoption, many may struggle to keep pace with the new requirements.
She stresses the importance of integrating compliance tools now, so sustainability teams can concentrate on impact-driven strategies. Treating sustainability data with the same level of discipline as financial data is key to success.
How do these assurance standards connect with global frameworks like the EU CSRD and the SEC’s disclosure rules?
The new standards are designed to complement existing frameworks and promote consistency in sustainability reporting. The goal is to increase transparency and prevent greenwashing by aligning financial reporting structures with environmental disclosures.
However, Mendelsohn reminds leaders that these standards are not tailored for day-to-day operational decision-making. That’s why it’s critical for sustainability and finance leaders to collaborate and use technology—like AI-powered platforms—to integrate carbon tracking into core business processes and identify both risks and opportunities.
How does technology support the accuracy and reliability of ESG data?
Technology plays a foundational role in maintaining data integrity by automating collection, analysis, and reporting. SAP’s Green Ledger, for instance, offers a comprehensive carbon accounting system that aligns environmental metrics directly with financial transactions. This enables organisations to generate real-time, verifiable data instead of estimates—supporting better compliance and long-term sustainability planning.
What advancements in supply chain or carbon accounting are helping companies meet stricter standards?
Mendelsohn points to SAP’s Green Ledger as a prime example of innovation in this space. By mirroring traditional financial accounting systems, it allows businesses to trace emissions across products, services, and organisational units.
Companies like Covestro are already piloting this solution to track carbon output tied to specific products within their supply chains, offering a model for integrating environmental data into everyday business operations.
How can companies balance rigorous reporting with operational simplicity?
Her advice is to treat sustainability as an embedded business process rather than a separate reporting function. When sustainability becomes a core component of enterprise resource planning, it drives alignment across departments and supports long-term strategy—ensuring efforts are focused on tangible outcomes, not just paperwork.
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