Digitized ESG Reports Demonstrate Value of Machine-readable Sustainability Data

Moody's Corporation and Etsy, Inc. sustainability-related data published in Inline XBRL

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--XBRL US announced today the publication of corporate sustainability data in machine-readable XBRL format for Moody’s Corporation, the parent company of Moody’s Investors Service and Moody’s Analytics, and Etsy, Inc., which operates two-sided online marketplaces that connect millions of passionate and creative buyers and sellers around the world. The digitized reports were prepared using the SASB Standards XBRL Taxonomy developed by the Value Reporting Foundation (VRF) to demonstrate how machine-readable ESG disclosures can be prepared.

“Digitalization of SASB Standards based reporting in XBRL is part of our core mission of establishing ESG standards that facilitate communication between companies and investors. We commend companies like Etsy and Moody’s that are leading the way to more accessible, transparent data.” said Madhu Mathew, Director of Technology, Value Reporting Foundation.

On March 21, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published a rule proposing that public companies be required to report certain climate-related disclosures in XBRL format. XBRL is an open, nonproprietary data standard that is used by 6,000 public companies, 5,000 banks and 600 public utilities to report financial data to U.S. regulators. Globally, the XBRL standard has been adopted by 80 regulators, and is used in 184 implementations.

The XBRL ESG reports are both human-readable and machine-readable, combining HTML with XBRL through a technical standard called Inline XBRL. See reports for Moody’s Corporation and Etsy, Inc.

“We are dedicated to providing transparent information at Moody’s”, noted Natali Pelcman Ganfer, Senior Vice President, Sustainability, “As global demand for sustainability data continues to grow, we are glad to be early adopters in this project to pilot how better, more decision-useful ESG data can be brought to investors and other stakeholders.”

“Etsy’s core mission to “Keep Commerce Human” is the foundation for all that we do. You can see it reflected in our business model, which helps drive economic empowerment for creative entrepreneurs, as well as in our fully integrated financial and ESG reporting. We are leading by example to show that being a good corporate citizen and a successful business go hand in hand,” said Merilee Buckley, Etsy’s Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer.

The creation of these machine-readable reports was conducted through the XBRL US ESG Working Group, composed of representatives from the investor, investor relations, corporate governance, public company, accounting, ESG, and XBRL communities.

The mission of the working group was to investigate how the XBRL standard could be used to support the automation of climate and other ESG disclosures. The working group has also published a paper on “Supporting ESG Data with Standards” which addresses issues in ESG reporting today, and explains how data standardization can assist by providing relevant information in a format that supports evaluation and comparability. Read the report: https://xbrl.us/research/supporting-esg-with-standards/

“The recommendations in this publication reflect more than a decade of experience in the US, producing machine-readable data in XBRL. Moody’s and Etsy have helped the working group explore how a familiar data standard like iXBRL can be applied to power investor-trusted data in non-financial reporting.” said Anna Kwok, Vice President, Structured Data Initiatives, Workiva, Inc, Chair of the XBRL US ESG Working Group.

About XBRL US

XBRL US is the non-profit consortium for XBRL business reporting standards in the U.S. and represents the business information supply chain. Its mission is to support the implementation of business reporting standards through the development of taxonomies for use by U.S. public and private sectors, with a goal of interoperability between sectors, and by promoting XBRL adoption through marketplace collaboration. XBRL US has developed taxonomies for U.S. GAAP, credit rating and mutual fund reporting for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and has developed taxonomies for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, as well as industry-specific taxonomies for state and local government reporting, corporate actions, solar financing, and surety processing. http://xbrl.us

Links:

Moody’s Corporation ESG report in machine-readable format: Moody’s Corporation

Etsy, Inc. ESG report in machine-readable format: Etsy, Inc.

XBRL US paper, Supporting ESG Data with Standards: https://xbrl.us/research/supporting-esg-with-standards/