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Global ESG Monitor Releases 2022 Report & Scorings

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly in ESG Reporting

FRANKFURT, GERMANY – EQS Newswire – 30 November 2022 – In a new report released today, the Global ESG Monitor (GEM) shines a light on the Environmental, Social and Governance reporting of 350 important corporations worldwide. The GEM is the world leader in analyzing the transparency of ESG reporting and publishes a major report annually which analyzes non-financial ESG reporting across Europe, North America, Asia, and Australia.

“2022 has been a year in which the importance of ESG issues has increased dramatically,” said Michael Diegelmann, Co-Founder of the GEM. “Environmental and social crises fill the news daily and corporations need to clearly communicate what they are doing and how they govern their efforts. Progress is being made, but the bottom line is that many large multi-national companies fall short in their ESG reporting which will not go unnoticed by investors and the public.”

In the GEM 2022, 625 ESG reports from 350 companies included in indices from ten major stock markets were analyzed. Comprehensive regional reports will be published subsequently over the coming weeks. Today the GEM global report is being published, covering the four most relevant continental stock market indices from Europe, the USA, Asia, and Australia[1].

Few corporations approached the top of the scoring scale of 100 as defined by the GEM Assay™, the Global ESG Monitor’s proprietary analytical model. The world’s highest score for transparency in non-financial reporting was 90, and the lowest was seven. The GEM Assay™ analyzes the ESG reporting of companies on 184 criteria as disclosed in their published ESG reports. Corporate ESG reports are used in a variety of ways, including as a factor in third-party ESG scores used by investors to guide financial decisions.

When comparing the transparency of ESG reporting across continents, the average corporate score was 66 out of 100 in Europe, followed by 56 for Asia and 53 for both the United States and Australia.

“It is no surprise that the GEM found such a wide difference in reporting transparency in different nations and regions. There is still no uniform, internationally recognized standard in ESG reporting and this poses challenges for companies,” said Ariane Hofstetter, the GEM’s Co-Founder and Head of Research and Data Science. “Even though there is the widespread use of important analysis tools such as materiality assessments, there is still a lot of make believe and lack of validity and liability in the results.”

The research clearly shows that European companies set the pace globally on ESG transparency, as eight of the top ten companies were from Europe and two from Asia. The company with the highest overall score and thus the most transparent company with regards to ESG reporting was the Italian energy company, Enel SpA.

The GEM Top Ten

Rank Company Index GEM ASSAYTM SCORE
(of 100)
1 Enel SpA EUROSTOXX 90
2 Iberdrola SA EUROSTOXX 87
3 CRH PLC EUROSTOXX 84
4 Vonovia SE EUROSTOXX 84
5 Industria de Diseno Textil SA EUROSTOXX 81
6 Deutsche Post AG EUROSTOXX 80
7 TotalEnergies SE EUROSTOXX 78
8 Banco Santander SA EUROSTOXX 77
9 Anta Sports Products Ltd S&P 50 (Asia) 77
10 Fubon Financial Holding S&P 50 (Asia) 77

Further Information

The Global ESG Monitor 2022 Transparency Report

Gender Diversity: The world has changed – at least in some regions.

Gender diversity is a key part of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The GEM analyzed disclosures on gender diversity by collecting data on “male, female, other”. Because there was such little information disclosed in the “other” category, the GEM analysis focused on male and female.

Worldwide, the most gender diverse management structures and Boards of Directors were found in the United States, with 90% of companies having gender mixed boards and only 10% having a male-only board. In Europe, boards were found to be 12% male and 88% mixed; boards in Australia were 72% mixed gender with 28% all-male; boards in Asia came in last place with 57% male-only boards and only 43% having women members. Going deeper, it is noticeable that the average ratio of women to men is most balanced in Europe with at least 50% for each gender. It was significantly less balanced in the rest of the world with 33% of board members each in Australia and in the USA being women and only 20% in Asia.

What is the impact of no international ESG reporting standards?

In practice, companies know how to help themselves by consulting many different standards and frameworks. According to the 2022 GEM, 96% of the companies in the global sample refer to frameworks and standards in their reports, with an average of 9.1 frameworks being mentioned. In the EuroSTOXX an average of 12.3 frameworks are referenced. Some companies put too much emphasis on frameworks and publish separate reports specifically tailored to individual standards. For investors and stakeholders, orientation is difficult, and the risk exists that companies will pick and choose from the most favorable specifications.

Over all four indices, the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), created by the Financial Stability Board (FSB), is the most widely used framework or standard, followed by the UN (United Nations) SDGs and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI).

Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions in the spotlight

The scientific community agrees that CO2 is a major contributor to human-induced climate change and that the focus should be on reducing emissions. Accordingly, the companies analyzed in the GEM addressed emissions, but a limited number of these companies have become carbon neutral. But most companies have set carbon neutrality goals and aim to reach net-zero in the future. The highest rate of companies claiming carbon neutrality are among the S&P 50 in Asia, with the lowest in Europe.

Furthermore, 78% of EuroSTOXX companies are aligned with the Paris Climate Agreement goals to limit global warming to a maximum of 2° Celsius. Other regions are lagging with only 54% of Australian companies aligned with the Paris goals, 31% of Asian listed firms and 29% of the American companies.

ESG Reports leave shadows over supply chains

“We are clean – but we are not responsible for our suppliers,” used to be a common refrain from companies seeking to distance themselves from their suppliers. This has changed because companies, especially large companies, have great influence on their vendors and their supply chain and exercise their authority to achieve improvements. But the GEM shows that companies are still failing to provide adequate information on their supply chains. In Europe, a small majority (52%) of companies at least reveal the geographic location of their suppliers, while only 36% of firms in Australia do, followed by 29% of American listed companies and 24% of Asian S&P 50 listed companies. Disclosure of other supplier information is thin at best, with few companies addressing the types of or total number of suppliers engaged or estimating the total amount of payments made to vendors.

Disclosures on child labor and forced labor raises questions

People living in affluent, western democracies often are not focused on child and forced labor. But in many parts of the world, these conditions are a part of everyday life. Globally connected value chains make it necessary for large corporations to take on responsibility for putting an end to this. However, the GEM paints a more than sobering picture in this regard:

While 72% of the EuroSTOXX companies disclose the risk for incidents of child, forced or compulsory labor in their ESG reporting, only 54% from the USA, 51% from Asia and 36% from Australia do so. And it is getting worse: in Europe, 60% of companies are disclosing strategies for preventing forced and child labor as well as other forms of exploitation. It is less than one third in the US (27%), Asia (27%) and Australia (26%). It is to be hoped that companies will take these issues seriously and that the GEM 2023 will be able to show marked improvement.

Auditing – not yet mandatory or common

Auditing is intended to foster trust and reliability. But only 68% of companies provide some voluntary assurance of their disclosures via an audit. An audit with limited assurance is still the most common (88 of the 353 audited reports indicate the audit depth).

European companies are preparing for increased auditing because the European Commission’s (EC) Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) proposal introduces an EU-wide requirement for limited assurance on sustainability information with the end goal to move to reasonable assurance in the longer term.

The Top 4 Auditors working in ESG are the so-called Big 4. PwC is the largest with ESG mandates in all four GEM analyzed indices (21%), followed by KPMG (15%) and EY (15%), and ending with Deloitte in 4th place (14%). The depth of inspection differs from reasonable (dominant in US and Asia) to limited assurance, which is the dominant procedure in Europe and Asia, and with substantially less companies in Asia mandating an auditor at all.

[1] * The GEM Global Report covers the most relevant stock market indices from Europe (EuroSTOXX), the USA (S&P 50); Asia (S&P 50) and Australia (ASX 50).

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

About the Global ESG Monitor

The Global ESG Monitor (GEM) is a unique research initiative to examine transparency in non-financial reporting of the largest companies in the world.​ The GEM monitors, analyzes and reports on the transparency of non-financial ESG reporting using the GEM ASSAYTM, a proprietary research tool adapted annually in response to evolving conditions and developments.

The operationalization of transparency underlying the GEM ASSAYTM is based on the relevant guidelines of Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), ISO Standard 26000, World Economic Forum (WEF) and Accountability.

The Global ESG Monitor is headquartered in Wiesbaden (Frankfurt), Germany with partner offices in Washington, DC; Melbourne, Australia; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Hong Kong, China; Warsaw, Poland and Bucharest, Romania.

Global Premiere of the First-Ever NFT Art Film “SHIP” is an alarming Success in Singapore

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 30 November 2022 – Art Tokyo Global (“ATG”), a Singapore company, announced the successful completion of the Global Premiere of its “SHIP” film on 28 November 2022 at the National Gallery Singapore. The SHIP film is the world’s first immersive NFT art film. Incorporating user-interactivity techniques, the film sets new milestones for the film industry, enabling viewers to interact with the film in cinemas or from the comfort of their own homes.

Featuring 221 NFT artworks across 14 scenes, SHIP showcases the work of over 80 emerging and established Asian artists. The film features novel cinematographic techniques, such as advanced volumetric photography,to construct virtual spaces from images taken by 2D cameras. During the film production, the film’s director, Mr. Naohiko KISHI, used up to 400 cameras to film each scene to deliver an immersive experience as a vehicle for rich visual storytelling. Viewers were treated to a multi-sensory display of cutting-edge NFT art, spectacular soundtracking, moving stories of humanity, and had an opportunity to purchase the artworks that feature in the film right from their seats.

The Global Premiere Event was well attended by an audience made up of famous investment personalities and art collectors from more than 15 countries. The Mexican Ambassador to Singapore, Mr. Agustin Garcia-Lopez Loaeza, graced the event and gave a thumbs up to the film which blends the genres of art, graphics, performance, music and technology into a coherent experience for the very first time. Professor FU Qiang, Academic Director, Department of Strategy and Policy of the National University of Singapore, who also heads the EMBA Program, calls it his “first close-up encounter with entertainment” that blew his mind!

Hashtag: #ArtTokyoGlobal #ATG

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

Caspin Resources welcomes best gold and moly yet at Duchess

Melbourne, Victoria – News Direct – 30 November 2022 –

PressReleaseTMPRmRvli.jpg

Caspin Resources Ltd (ASX:CPN) CEO Greg Miles says they’ve delivered the best gold and moly grades to date during a reconnaissance aircore drilling program at Duchess Prospect within the Mount Squires Project in the West Musgrave region of Western Australia. At Duchess West, the intersection of 1-metre at 6.04 g/t gold and 4 g/t silver at the bottom of hole are the best gold grades returned from the prospect so far.
Hashtag: #CaspinResources

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

Petrol Truck Drug Smuggler Alters Story Following Arrest in Thailand

Nong Khai customs officers photographed with the seized drugs | (Photo: Nong Khai News)

Thai police have said that the arrested driver who attempted to smuggle drugs into the country in an oil tanker last week has changed his version of the incident.

Police Crack Down on Kratom Plantation in Vientiane Capital

Lao police destroy Kratom plantation in Sangthong District, Vientiane Capital.

Police officers from the Inspection and Drugs Control Office in Sangthong District have destroyed a Kratom plantation that was grown illegally.

Singaporeans most pragmatic when it comes to shopping sustainably, Carousell Group’s Recommerce Index reveals

Carousell Group reveals impact on secondhand selling and buying over the past decade in 10th anniversary report

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 30 November 2022 – In celebration of its 10th anniversary, leading multi-category platform for secondhand in Greater Southeast Asia Carousell Group released the Carousell Recommerce Index (10th Anniversary Edition) revealing the sustainability impact its collective community has made by buying and selling secondhand items.

Caption

Over the past decade, the Group’s users have extended the life cycle of millions of items, including: 76.8 million fashion items; 33.9 million electronics; 26.6 million hobby items and toys; 11.1 million home items and furniture; and 10.6 million babies & kids items.

To further illustrate the impact, if we take the total number of used fashion listings on Carousell, we can provide every single person in Singapore with 13 outfits. Additionally, assuming all used electronics listed are iPhone Xs, the height when stacked together is the equivalent of over 23,500 times the height of Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.

The Recommerce Index also showed a study conducted by iAB and Carousell Media Group that Singaporeans topped the chart with 44% choosing “saving money” as their key motivations for buying secondhand.

The report also highlighted key trends in each market, specifically for Singapore:

  • Top 3 most popular categories to sell secondhand items are Fashion, Hobbies & Toys, Home & Furniture
  • Top 3 most popular secondhand category to browse are Fashion, Hobbies & Toys, Home & Furniture
  • All-time top 3 most searched keywords for secondhand items: Rolex, AG06 (Yahama Channel Mixer) and Road Bike

Recommerce refers to the selling and buying of previously-owned products, including both new and used in condition. The report covers data from 9 of Carousell Group’s family of brands across Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan markets — Carousell, Cho Tot, Laku6, Mudah.my, OneKyat, One Shift, Ox Luxe, Ox Street, and Refash.

Since its inception in 2012 as a mobile-first app to make selling and buying underutilised items easier, Carousell has grown from a C2C classifieds marketplace into a multi-category platform for secondhand goods in Greater Southeast Asia. To accelerate the next decade of recommerce, the Group has been working on additional capabilities to offer more features and services to users that make buying secondhand items as trusted and convenient as buying brand new items.

Ng Chee Soon, Managing Director, Carousell Singapore, said, “Carousell was founded a decade ago with the mission of making secondhand the first choice. The Recommerce Index serves as a crucial guide to help us better understand the motivations behind our consumers’ behaviour, especially amidst the post-Covid economic uncertainty. With 1 in 3 Singaporeans using Carousell monthly, secondhand is even more accessible to everyone and we are excited to fuel the shift and for Carousell to drive recommerce growth in the Greater Southeast Asia region.”

The Carousell Recommerce Index (10th anniversary edition) is available for download on http://press.carousell.com/carousell-green.

Hashtag: #Carousellgroup

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

About Carousell Group

Carousell Group is the leading multi-category platform for secondhand in Greater Southeast Asia on a mission to inspire the world to start selling, and to make secondhand the first choice. Founded in August 2012 in Singapore, the Group has a leading presence in eight markets under the brands Carousell, Cho Tot, Laku6, Mudah.my, OneKyat, Ox Luxe, Ox Street, and Refash, serving tens of millions of monthly active users. Carousell is backed by leading investors including Telenor Group, Rakuten Ventures, Naver, STIC Investments and Sequoia Capital India. Visit for more information.

Fast Fashion brands Zara and Uniqlo topped Carousell Philippines’ most-searched for secondhand items

Carousell Group reveals impact on secondhand selling and buying over the past decade in 10th anniversary report

MANILA, PHILIPPINES – Media OutReach – 30 November 2022 – In celebration of its 10th anniversary, leading multi-category platform for secondhand in Greater Southeast Asia Carousell Group released the Carousell Recommerce Index (10th Anniversary Edition) revealing the sustainability impact its collective community has made by buying and selling secondhand items.

Over the past decade, Carousell Group’s users have extended the life cycle of millions of items, including: 76.8 million fashion items; 33.9 million electronics; 26.6 million hobby items and toys; 11.1 million home items and furniture; and 10.6 million babies & kids items.

To further illustrate the impact, the number of used fashion listings can provide 70% of the population in the Philippines with an outfit. Additionally, assuming all used electronics listed are iPhone Xs, the height when stacked together is the equivalent of over 1600 times the height of Mount Pulag.

The report also highlighted key trends in each market, specifically for the Philippines:

  • Top 3 most popular categories to sell secondhand items are Fashion, Hobbies & Toys, Babies & Kids
  • Top 3 most popular secondhand category to browse are Fashion, Hobbies & Toys, Electronics
  • All-time top 3 most-searched keywords for secondhand items: Zara, Uniqlo and iPhone

Recommerce refers to the selling and buying of previously-owned products, including both new and used in condition. The report covers data from 9 of Carousell Group’s family of brands across Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan markets — Carousell, Cho Tot, Laku6, Mudah.my, OneKyat, One Shift, Ox Luxe, Ox Street, and Refash.

Since its inception in 2012 as a mobile-first app to make selling and buying underutilised items easier, Carousell has grown from a C2C classifieds marketplace into a multi-category platform for secondhand goods in Greater Southeast Asia. To accelerate the next decade of recommerce, the Group has been working on additional capabilities to offer more features and services to users that make buying secondhand items as trusted and convenient as buying brand new items.

Djon Nacario, General Manager, Carousell Philippines, said, “As Philippines slowly recovers from the financial impact of the Covid pandemic, we see more and more consumers considering and buying secondhand as their first choice. The Carousell Recommerce Index serves as a crucial guide to help us better understand the fast-changing consumer behaviors in the post-Covid era, and how we can explore developing additional features to help improve the marketplace experience, and provide even more frictionless ways to drive recommerce growth.”

The Carousell Recommerce Index (10th anniversary edition) is available for download on http://press.carousell.com/carousell-green.

Hashtag: #CarousellGroup

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

About Carousell Group

Carousell Group is the leading multi-category platform for secondhand in Greater Southeast Asia on a mission to inspire the world to start selling, and to make secondhand the first choice. Founded in August 2012 in Singapore, the Group has a leading presence in eight markets under the brands Carousell, Cho Tot, Laku6, Mudah.my, OneKyat, Ox Luxe, Ox Street, and Refash, serving tens of millions of monthly active users. Carousell is backed by leading investors including Telenor Group, Rakuten Ventures, Naver, STIC Investments and Sequoia Capital India. Visit for more information.

BTS merchandise amongst Malaysians’ most-searched keywords for secondhand items, Carousell Group’s Recommerce Index reveals

Carousell Group reveals impact on secondhand selling and buying over the past decade in 10th anniversary report

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA – Media OutReach – 30 November 2022 – In celebration of its 10th anniversary, leading multi-category platform for secondhand in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan, Carousell Group released the Carousell Recommerce Index (10th Anniversary Edition) revealing the sustainability impact its collective community has made by buying and selling secondhand items.

Over the past decade, the Group’s users have extended the life cycle of millions of items, including: 76.8 million fashion items; 33.9 million electronics; 26.6 million hobby items and toys; 11.1 million home items and furniture; and 10.6 million babies & kids items.

In Malaysia, Carousell Group stands out as a dominant player in the recommerce industry, with 46% of study’s respondents in the country saying they buy and sell secondhand on the Group’s platforms. To further illustrate the impact, assuming all used electronics listed are iPhone Xs, the height when stacked together is the equivalent of over 10,000 times the height of the Petronas Twin Towers in Malaysia.

The report also highlighted key trends in each market, specifically for Carousell Malaysia and Mudah.my:

  • Top 3 most popular categories to sell secondhand items are Fashion, Electronics, Cars
  • Top 3 most popular secondhand category to browse are Fashion, Cars, Hobbies & Toys
  • All-time top 3 most searched keywords for secondhand items: IKEA, BTS and Nike

Recommerce refers to the selling and buying of previously-owned products, including both new and used in condition. The report covers data from 9 of Carousell Group’s family of brands across Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan markets — Carousell, Cho Tot, Laku6, Mudah.my, OneKyat, One Shift, Ox Luxe, Ox Street, and Refash.

Since its inception in 2012 as a mobile-first app to make selling and buying underutilised items easier, Carousell has grown from a C2C classifieds marketplace into a multi-category platform for secondhand goods in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan. To accelerate the next decade of recommerce, the Group has been working on additional capabilities to offer more features and services to users that make buying secondhand items as trusted and convenient as buying brand new items.

Commenting on the release of the Carousell Recommerce Index 2022 Report, Lucas Ngoo Co-founder, Carousell Group, said: “This year’s report, which is also our 10th Anniversary edition, serves as a crucial guide to help us better understand consumer behaviour in the post COVID-19 era. This will help us to keep up with the changing trends in the country so that we can continue to drive recommerce growth.”

“As a group founded on a mission to address the problem of overconsumption through technology, we are proud that our platforms have enabled millions of preloved and underused items over the years find new homes and purpose, thus reducing waste to protect our environment, while providing value to buyers and side income to sellers. We endeavour to continue with this mission to promote a sustainable and circular economy in Malaysia,” he added.

The Carousell Recommerce Index (10th anniversary edition) is available for download on http://press.carousell.com/carousell-green.

Hashtag: #CarousellGroup

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

About Carousell Group

Carousell Group is the leading multi-category platform for secondhand in Greater Southeast Asia on a mission to inspire the world to start selling, and to make secondhand the first choice. Founded in August 2012 in Singapore, the Group has a leading presence in eight markets under the brands Carousell, Cho Tot, Laku6, Mudah.my, OneKyat, Ox Luxe, Ox Street, and Refash, serving tens of millions of monthly active users. Carousell is backed by leading investors including Telenor Group, Rakuten Ventures, Naver, STIC Investments and Sequoia Capital India. Visit for more information.