How mature are firms in terms of 'ESG assurance'?

New KPMG study breaks down maturity scores by industry and region.

KPMG has released the 2025 edition of its ESG Assurance Maturity Index, examining the relative maturity of companies' environmental, social, and governance reporting programmes to assess their readiness for third-party assurance.

Polling 1,320 senior executives and board members with ESG reporting and assurance knowledge across various industries and regions, KPMG found that businesses headquartered in North America continue to lead the way.

Sector-wise, energy and natural resources firms have outdone their peers from financial services who previously topped the index.

KPMG reported: "As expected, the larger the company, the more prepared they are for independent assurance. Organisations with revenue in excess of $10b have an average score of 52.8, considerably greater than businesses with revenue under $1b where the average is just 40.4."

The surveyed firms are classified as leaders if they're in the top 25th percentile; advancers if in the next 50th percentile; and beginners if ranked in the bottom 25th percentile.

"Overall, Leaders are significantly ahead, with their maturity score sitting at 65.2 (which is a slight drop from 67.0 in 2024)," KPMG went on to note. "Their score is appreciably greater than that of the middle Advancer category (45.7) — and more than double that of Beginners (30.5).

"The gap has not narrowed since last year, indicating that organisations earlier in the journey have not yet made the foundational 'quick wins' that would move them up the maturity scale."

In terms of challenges in preparing for ESG assurance, respondents consider reporting requirements complexity (51%) and unclear, evolving regulations (49%) as the main barriers.