Dive Brief:
- ESG reporting software firm Workiva has paired up with lease management platform Visual Lease to streamline and boost their mutual clients’ financial and sustainable reporting, the companies announced Monday.
- The collaboration will allow organizations to more accurately and transparently report progress on their respective sustainability goals, according to the release. The partnership will also help clients comply with multiple disclosure standards and requirements, the companies said.
- Workiva’s Senior Vice President of Solutions and Growth Paul Volpe said the partnership would let clients’ to automate data workflows, guarantee precision when it comes to validating data for assurance and allow “shared clients to make informed, data-driven decisions benefiting both their organizations and the environment.”
Dive Insight:
Recent research shows that over 40% of global carbon dioxide emissions stem from the real estate sector. Around 27% of the sector’s emissions are generated by building operations and 15% come from construction. In order to achieve national or global climate goals, the real estate sector would need to undergo substantial changes to slash emissions in both operations and construction, per the findings.
The heightened scrutiny surrounding ESG — both regulatory and political — has put a spotlight on companies, impacting just about every aspect of their operations, including lease management, according to a survey of 200 finance and accounting executives Visual Lease conducted last year.
“Considering that 40% of global carbon dioxide emissions stem from real estate-related assets, effective lease management serves as an organization’s gateway to not only quantifying and disclosing its environmental impact but, also to tracking its progress against internal and external sustainability goals,” Robert Michlewicz, CEO of Visual Lease, said in the survey previously covered by ESG Dive.
In the Sept. 9 press release, Volpe said the accurate depiction of a corporation’s sustainable initiatives and impact “demands meticulous tracking of real estate and equipment changes alongside financial and climate implications.”
Visual Lease is now able to offer that service to Workiva through its ESG Steward software. The software, launched last year, is the first carbon accounting and sustainability management solution offered to real estate and equipment portfolios, per Visual Lease.
The tool offers clients a greenhouse gas inventory in compliance with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol which helps measure and manage scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. The software can also record water, energy use and waste management by connecting directly to utility providers and maintains a centralized system of record and controls to “ensure sustainability calculations and reflect the latest portfolio changes,” per its website.
The partnership between Workiva and Visual Lease comes shortly after Workiva launched a carbon solutions platform in June to help its clients comply with the rising demand of climate-risk reporting and global disclosure regulations. The ESG software firm unveiled the platform the same day it acquired carbon accounting and emissions reporting startup Sustain.Life.
