Unified content management

  • Release version: Washingtondc
  • Updated February 1, 2024
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of ESG content accelerator

    The ESG content accelerator is a centralized application designed to streamline the adoption of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) frameworks. By installing it from the ServiceNow Store, users can access a repository of frameworks, metric definitions, citations, and emission factors, enhancing their ESG management capabilities.

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    Key Features

    • Frameworks and Regulations: Supports major frameworks such as GRI, SASB, TCFD, and more, with the ability to evolve as new standards emerge.
    • Emission Factors: Provides standardized emission factors from various sources, enabling users to estimate emissions accurately and efficiently.
    • Custom Emission Factors: Users can create their own emission factors alongside the provided ones, facilitating tailored emissions calculations.
    • Installation and Updates: Users can activate, update, and manage frameworks and emission factors easily through the application interface.
    • Metric Definitions: Streamlines the creation and editing of metric definitions linked to citations, ensuring consistent ESG reporting.

    Key Outcomes

    By leveraging the ESG content accelerator, ServiceNow customers can expect:

    • Increased efficiency in ESG reporting and compliance through ready-to-use frameworks and emission factors.
    • Improved interoperability across different ESG frameworks, promoting consistent performance reporting.
    • Time savings by eliminating manual processes for creating and updating metric definitions.
    • Access to the latest updates and frameworks, ensuring adherence to evolving ESG standards.

    The Unified content management application is a centralized repository of frameworks, citations, metric definitions, and emission factors. Using this application accelerates the adoption of ESG frameworks.

    You can install Unified content management from the ServiceNow Store. After installation, you can launch the application by selecting the Unified content management icon (ESG content accelerator icon.).

    Frameworks and regulations

    The application contains the following frameworks and regulations.
    • Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)
    • Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB)
    • Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)
    • United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
    • SustainableIT.org (Available on version 18.0.3)
    • European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS/CSRD) (Available on version 18.0.3)
    • The International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) (Available on version 19.1.0)
    • IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards(ISSB) (Available on version 19.1.0)
    Note:
    The list of frameworks supported is not exhaustive and may evolve over the future releases.

    Emission factors

    An emission factor is a coefficient that quantifies the emissions released per unit of activity or output. It is used extensively in environmental science, engineering, and regulatory contexts to estimate the amount of pollutants or greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere from various sources. The Unified content management also contains several emission factors. For more information on emission factors, refer to Set up the emission factor library.

    Emission factors are sourced from certain standard content providers. These content providers publish the emission factors for a variety of industries and geographies. As an ESG administrator, while you can create your own emission factor to calculate your emissions, you can also use the emission factors provided through the Unified content management application. Using the emission factors through the Unified content management application saves your time and effort. The following emission factors are provided by this application.
    • eGRID
    • GHG Emission Factors by US EPA
    • UK GHG factors (From DEFRA and DESNZ)
    • US Environmentally-Extended Input-Output (USEEIO)

    You can activate or update the ones that meet your requirement. Whenever there is a latest version of the emission factors available, you can update it using the Unified content management application.

    Note:
    Selecting the information icon on any tile displays the description of the framework or the emission factor.

    Benefits of the Unified content management application

    The following are the benefits of the Unified content management application:
    • Provides the ability to choose the framework you want to use.
    • Facilitates the alignment of the metric definitions with the relevant citations from different frameworks. This helps achieve interoperability between citations of different frameworks and ensures consistent reporting of ESG performance across various standards and regulations.
    • Enables you to choose the citations that are associated with a particular framework and install them in the active state in your instance.
    • Allows the installation of the metric definitions, which are associated with the citations, in the inactive state.
    • Eliminates the need to manually create the metric definitions.
    • Enables the users to edit the metric definitions.
    • Aims to integrate updates as they become available.

    Workflow of the Unified content management application

    The following figure displays the life cycle of the Unified content management application.Workflow of how the ESG content accelerator application works.

    For more information see, Activate or update a framework and install citations using the Unified content management.