White Paper on Project Savannah: Common ESG Metrics for Generating Digital Sustainability Credentials for MSMEs

Publication cover

White Paper on Project Savannah

pdf (1.4MB)

Download

White Paper on Project Savannah: Common ESG Metrics for Generating Digital Sustainability Credentials for MSMEs

March 15, 2024

Micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) play an important role in economic and social development by fostering value-adding activities, taking part in global supply chains, driving innovation, and promoting inclusive growth through the creation of job opportunities. However, complex Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reporting frameworks and limited resources often lead to fragmentation in reporting efforts, with high costs and limited accessibility to technology preventing MSMEs from embarking on their sustainability reporting journeys.

To address this challenge, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in collaboration with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF), launched Project Savannah to provide a strong starting point. Project Savannah aims to empower MSMEs in their sustainability (reporting) journey through three key pillars: Metrics, Technology, and Opportunities. This report proposes a baseline set of metrics for common adoption by MSMEs globally, discusses the technology that can be harnessed to power MSME reporting, and the opportunities available.