Executives are preparing for more environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosures, a new survey by Deloitte has found.

Eighty-nine percent of the 300 executives at publicly owned companies with a minimum annual revenue requirement of $500 million or more polled “are proactively making strides now to hold themselves accountable and drive trust with their stakeholders, better positioning themselves to thrive and differentiate over the long term,” according to Deloitte’s 2022 sustainability action report.

The report comes as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) prepares to issue a new rule for climate-related disclosures. It found that executives and companies are not waiting for the new rule to be issued.

Sixty-two percent of those surveyed believe they are already prepared or currently undertaking extensive preparations for the expected increase in requirements. Andy 81 percent reported that new roles and responsibilities have been created to accommodate additional disclosure requirements.

Fifty-seven percent of the executives reported having implemented a cross-functional ESG working group tasked with driving strategic attention to ESG. Last year, only 21 percent had implemented a cross-functional ESG working group.

Sixty-one percent of the companies reported being prepared to disclose Scope 1 direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (those that occur from sources that are controlled or owned by an organization), and 76 percent are prepared to disclose Scope 2 GHG emissions (indirect GHG emissions associated with the purchase of electricity, steam, heat, or cooling), up from 47 percent in 2021.

Only 37 percent reported being currently prepared to disclose Scope 3 GHG emissions (indirect emissions resulting from activities from assets not owned or controlled by the reporting organization, but that indirectly affects the organization in its value chain). Eight-six percent reported challenges measuring Scope 3 GHG emissions.

“Companies are looking at and self-examining where they are today and where they need to go, specifically as it relates to greenhouse gas emissions,” said Lee Ballin, managing director for sustainability and ESG services at Deloitte, as reported by Accounting Today.

Companies are concerned about the accuracy and completeness of sustainability data, the survey reported. About one third of the executives listed quality as the top data challenge and another quarter cited access to data as the greatest challenge.

Almost all companies—99 percent—professed willingness to invest in new technologies and tools to meet stakeholder expectations and future regulatory requirements.