On the business side, the digital planet provides an enormous market with ever-growing opportunities. The global digital economy was estimated to account for 24% of GDP by 2025; but it has already reached 30% share of the global economy, or USD 30 trillion, after COVID-19 pandemic triggered rapid digitalization.
But has the industry assumed the same responsibility of Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) commitment and disclosure for their operations in the digital sphere?
The answer is NO.
They are almost exempt from such responsibilities under the current framework of ESG disclosure.
The taskforce on digital-related financial disclosure (TDFD) is committed to ensure that businesses assume more responsibilities as to how the potential negative risks of their digital activities are managed and mitigated through Digital-ESG commitment and disclosure.
TDFD is devoted to develop, test, and deliver a standardized framework that will help businesses to effectively monitor, secure, and report on digital-related risks and opportunities, in the context of 2030 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As in the case of ESG indicators like carbon intensity or surface temperature, we aim to be able to quantify the digital-related risks into measurable categories, using the DQ Index previously developed by the DQ Institute.
Digital-ESG disclosure will be a crucial factor for businesses to build public trust and integrity across all stakeholders and a key to realizing a sustainable phy-gital world for the next generation.