ESG and non-financial information as decision-useful evidence
The sustainability/ESG pages of an annual report appear as their own exam part almost every year — treat them as genuine evidence, not padding around the "real" financial statements.
How to argue ESG information is relevant
Name the SPECIFIC initiative or goal from the report (e.g. a named workstream, a stated staff wellbeing target, a sustainability commitment) — never just "the company cares about ESG".
Connect it to a FUTURE financial consequence: staff retention affects future productivity, environmental compliance avoids future regulatory cost, reputation affects future customer demand.
That future-consequence link is what gives the ESG information PREDICTIVE VALUE — the same aspect of relevance a financial figure has.
If the user's own stated values are given (e.g. kaitiakitanga, sustainability), connect the ESG evidence directly to those values as well as to future profitability.
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Treating ESG information as separate from "real" accounting
ESG and sustainability information is not a bonus topic bolted onto the standard — it is tested as genuine RELEVANT information with predictive value, exactly like a dollar figure. Dismissing it as "non-financial and therefore less important" misses that relevance does not require a dollar sign.