ESG Report Assurance

Certification Overview (Business Overview)

ESG Report Assurance (also termed verification or attestation) is an independent third-party review that validates the accuracy, completeness, and reliability of the data and claims presented in a company's ESG or sustainability report. As regulatory frameworks increasingly encourage or mandate independent assurance — the A-share Sustainability Report Guidelines and the Ministry of Finance's upcoming disclosure standards both recommend that companies provide independent assurance statements — the credibility gap between self-reported ESG data and stakeholder trust is bridged through rigorous professional verification.

NGV conducts ESG assurance engagements based on the AA1000 Assurance Standard v3 (AA1000ASv3), evaluating:

Inclusivity: Whether the organization has genuinely considered and responded to stakeholder expectations.

Materiality: Whether the organization has identified and disclosed the sustainability topics that matter most to its stakeholders and its own performance.

Responsiveness: Whether the organization has provided timely and appropriate responses to stakeholder concerns and material issues. Impact: Whether the organization has monitored, measured, and reported on its actual sustainability impacts.

Our assurance process includes on-site verification of source data — energy bills, emissions monitoring records, employee payroll and welfare documentation, supply chain compliance evidence, and community investment records — resulting in an independent assurance statement that can accompany the published ESG report.

Scope of Certification

At present, China does not impose a mandatory requirement for third-party assurance of ESG/sustainability reports. However, multiple regulatory frameworks explicitly encourage companies to engage independent assurance providers:

A-share Sustainability Report Guidelines (issued by SSE, SZSE, and BSE, effective May 2024): The guidelines encourage listed companies to introduce third-party assurance or verification to improve disclosure quality, and specify requirements for the independence, experience, and qualifications of assurance providers, as well as the scope, basis, and procedures of the assurance engagement.

Ministry of Finance — Enterprise Sustainable Disclosure Standards (Basic Standards, Trial) (issued December 2024): Encourages companies to provide independent assurance statements alongside their sustainable disclosure reports.

Ministry of Finance — Sustainable Information Assurance Business Standards (No. 6101, Trial) (issued January 2026): Establishes the first national regulatory framework for sustainable information assurance practice, specifying assurance procedures, assurance levels (reasonable assurance and limited assurance), quality management, and independence requirements for assurance practitioners. This standard fills a long-standing gap in China's ESG assurance regulatory landscape.

Climate Standard No. 1 (Trial) (issued December 2025): Explicitly encourages enterprises to engage independent third-party institutions to perform assurance on climate-related disclosures.

Internationally, mandatory assurance is advancing rapidly: the EU CSRD requires limited assurance of all sustainability information (moving toward reasonable assurance by 2028); Singapore mandates external assurance of Scope 1 and 2 GHG data for listed companies starting FY2027. China's Ministry of Finance has announced a roadmap to establish a complete sustainable information assurance standards system by 2027, signaling a clear trajectory from voluntary encouragement toward eventual mandatory requirements.

Despite the absence of mandatory requirements, third-party ESG assurance delivers significant and demonstrable benefits:

Credibility enhancement: Independent assurance bridges the trust gap between self-reported ESG data and stakeholder confidence, effectively countering "greenwashing" concerns. According to market data, only about 9.11% of A-share companies disclosing ESG reports (226 out of 2,481 in 2024) obtained third-party assurance — yet those that did reported measurably higher investor confidence and stakeholder engagement.

ESG rating improvement: Major ESG rating agencies (MSCI, Sustainalytics, CDP, FTSE Russell) assign higher scores to companies with assured ESG data, recognizing verified information as more reliable and comparable.

Regulatory preparedness: Companies that adopt assurance proactively gain a significant head start when mandatory assurance requirements are eventually introduced — avoiding the scramble, capacity constraints, and cost spikes that typically accompany new compliance mandates.

Supply chain compliance: International brand owners, retailers, and procurement platforms increasingly require verified ESG data from suppliers as part of responsible sourcing programs.

Capital market advantage: Institutional investors and ESG-focused funds preferentially allocate capital to companies with assured sustainability disclosures, viewing them as lower risk and better governed.

Other Matters

NGV provided AA1000 assurance services to a tire mold manufacturer — one of the world's leading suppliers of tire molds and large mechanical components, serving top global tire brands including Michelin, Continental, Bridgestone, and Pirelli.

NGV conducted a thorough assurance engagement covering the company's ESG report data on greenhouse gas emissions, environmental compliance records, energy consumption and efficiency metrics, employee welfare statistics, and supply chain management practices. The on-site verification process included review of energy billing records, emissions monitoring reports, and supplier audit records. The resulting assurance statement was published alongside the company's ESG report.

This case illustrates that for manufacturing enterprises with significant international client exposure, third-party ESG assurance serves not merely as a compliance exercise but as a strategic investment — strengthening credibility with global customers, supporting ESG rating progression, and demonstrating governance maturity to institutional investors.