From perception to proof: how ESG transparency is reshaping reputation in Ireland

The Business & Finance ESG Awards, organised in partnership with Grant Thornton, recognise emerging and established leaders who are helping to build a more sustainable future. 

Clémence Jamet received the Future ESG Leader Award for her innovative approach to ESG issues and her contribution to promoting sustainability within corporate practices. Her work stands out for her commitment to integrating environmental and social responsibility into business strategies, establishing her as an emerging and authoritative voice in the ESG landscape.

Pictured (L-R): Clémence Jamet, Head of Operations and Sustainability, Guaranteed Irish, and Alma Bustos, Event Manager, Catalyst Media.

A growing credibility gap between ambition and delivery

ESG transparency is rapidly becoming one of the most significant drivers of corporate reputation risk. In Ireland, it is no longer a question of whether businesses should disclose their environmental and social impact, but how consistently, how comparably, and how credibly they do so – and whether that disclosure is matched by real operational delivery.

This shift matters because Ireland is already facing a clear credibility gap. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Ireland is currently projected to achieve just a 29% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, against a national target of 51% (EPA Climate Change Advisory Projections, 2024). This gap between ambition and delivery is not just a policy issue; it is increasingly a business one. It shapes investor confidence, customer trust, and the scrutiny placed on corporate ESG claims.

At the same time, regulation is moving decisively from voluntary disclosure to enforced standardisation. The EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) is fundamentally changing the scale and nature of ESG reporting across Europe, including Ireland. What was once largely communications-led is becoming audited, structured, and embedded in financial reporting. For many Irish companies, particularly those in European supply chains, ESG disclosure is no longer optional or narrative-led; it is a compliance requirement.

This regulatory direction will intensify further with the EU’s Green Claims Directive, expected to take effect from 2026 onwards. It will require environmental claims to be independently verified and properly substantiated, significantly reducing the scope for vague or unproven “carbon neutral” or “net zero” messaging. In practice, this will raise the baseline for what companies can say and what they must be able to evidence.

The shift is not regulatory. It is reputational.

We are moving into a phase where corporate reputation is shaped less by ESG ambition and more by ESG comparability. Increasingly, investors, regulators and even customers are placing organisations side by side using standardised disclosures and ESG benchmarks, despite ongoing challenges in data consistency and methodology. In that environment, inconsistency becomes a risk in itself. Even well-intentioned businesses can lose trust if reporting is fragmented, non-standardised, or difficult to interpret. 

This is particularly relevant in Ireland’s open, export-driven economy. Irish companies are not only judged domestically, but through international supply chains and global investor expectations. ESG performance is therefore no longer just a domestic communications issue; it is a competitiveness issue. The ability to demonstrate credible, comparable ESG data increasingly influences market access, investment decisions, and long-term partnerships.

Regulators are already signalling this shift in expectation. The Central Bank of Ireland has intensified scrutiny of sustainability disclosures in the financial funds sector, warning that inconsistent ESG reporting and weak data quality can result in investors being misled – even where there is no intention of greenwashing. The implication is clear: reputational risk is no longer tied only to misleading claims, but also to insufficiently robust information.

Greenwashing remains the most visible example of ESG reputational failure. However, the emerging risk is broader. It now includes inconsistency, lack of comparability, and reporting gaps that make it difficult to assess real performance. ESG transparency is increasingly exposing not just what businesses are doing, but how clearly and consistently they communicate it.

Building trust through trusted frameworks and supply chains

This creates a particular challenge for SMEs, which form the backbone of the Irish economy. Many are engaging with sustainability in practical and meaningful ways, but lack the capacity or expertise to translate that activity into structured reporting. Without accessible frameworks, there is a real risk that smaller businesses become excluded from ESG-driven supply chains, not due to performance, but due to reporting complexity.

This is where simplified reporting approaches, such as the Voluntary Sustainability Reporting Standard for SMEs (VSME), become important. They offer a proportionate way for smaller businesses to communicate ESG performance without the burden of full corporate reporting frameworks. The objective is not to dilute transparency, but to make it usable and inclusive.

Alongside this, organisations such as Guaranteed Irish play a practical role in anchoring trust within a more complex ESG landscape. In a market where sustainability claims are becoming more technical, fragmented, and harder to verify, trusted national frameworks provide a visible signal of responsible business practice. For members, this is not only a mark of business provenance but also a way of reinforcing credibility in how they operate, employ, and engage with their communities, while strengthening trusted supply chains and enabling businesses to work together with confidence. Ultimately, it serves as a clear and recognised signal of trust.

That signal, however, is only meaningful if it is underpinned by real, demonstrable progress. This is where Guaranteed Irish plays a further role. Through structured supports such as sustainability roadmaps, peer learning, and guidance on ESG reporting, it helps members translate sustainability activity into clearer, more consistent communication. This is particularly valuable for SMEs, which may be progressing in practice but struggle to evidence that progress in a way that meets growing stakeholder expectations. In that sense, the role is not only to signal trust, but to build it by supporting businesses to align what they do with what they can credibly demonstrate.

ESG transparency is redefining how reputation is built. It is moving from perception to proof, making the gap between intent and delivery more visible, more measurable, and more consequential. For Irish business leaders, the question is whether organisations are equipped to close the gap between what they say, what they report, and what they can genuinely evidence — in a system where trust is increasingly built on clarity, consistency, and proof.

Read more:

Business & Finance ESG Awards 2026: Winners

The evolution of European ESG strategy and its remaining gaps

Social Impact Leadership: Progress through Partnership