A Better Way to Measure Social Impact

Large companies around the world disclose sustainability information in their ESG reports. Much of the content is climate-related, but many companies also report on social impacts — the “S” in ESG. The measurement of social impact, however, is not as simple as in financial accounting where currency serves as the basic unit of measure, or in environmental accounting, where objective, physical measures, such as kg of CO_2, emissions, can capture and quantify a company’s environmental impact.