Upright, a company specialising in impact data, has announced the launch of its new AI-powered sustainability due diligence tool. This innovative solution is designed to assist investors in evaluating company sustainability, risks, and opportunities simply by entering a company URL.
The tool aims to tackle significant issues affecting the efficacy of sustainability due diligence in decision-making. Traditional methods often rely on reported information, which can overlook critical elements such as value chain risks, supply chain dependencies, and exposure to end-use markets.
Annu Nieminen, founder and CEO of Upright, highlighted the shortcomings of existing ESG due diligence processes, stating that they have not effectively helped investors discern whether sustainability poses a risk or an opportunity for future deals. The traditional approach has focused on internal and operational aspects, neglecting the significant risks and opportunities present in the value chain, such as raw material costs, supply constraints, and regulatory-driven changes in end-use.
The new tool allows investors to input a target company’s website URL to generate a sustainability assessment. This assessment models the impacts, risks, and opportunities related to the company’s products, services, and value chain dependencies. The results are aligned with frameworks such as CSRD double materiality, UN SDGs, PAI indicators, EU Taxonomy, and net impact.
Upright asserts that the solution is applicable to both listed and unlisted companies, thus providing private market investors and asset managers with the capability to analyse and screen a wide range of assets.
Nieminen further noted that the landscape of ESG data is poised for change. Currently, the majority of sustainability information used by investors is derived from company disclosures, with a smaller portion coming from external modelling. Nieminen anticipates this ratio will soon reverse, as understanding key sustainability factors, such as physical climate risks, increasingly relies on external data sources like satellite imagery and location data, rather than solely on company reports.
