Norway’s $1.07 trillion Government Pension Fund Global, which owns stakes in more than 9,200 companies and owns 1.5% of all listed stocks, is pressing the companies it invests in to provide more tangible data regarding environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues.

The fund said it’s no longer enough to hear promises of responsible investing, and that it’s time for companies to start providing hard data to show they’re being true to their word.

“In recent years, we have requested companies to go from words to numbers in their sustainability reporting,” Norges Bank Investment Management CEO Yngve Slyngstad said in a statement.

“We wish to see more relevant and comparable reporting from companies, so that we, as an investor, can analyze the companies’ exposure to sustainability risks.” In its annual report on responsible investment, the fund said company boards must ensure that they regularly report relevant, quantitative, and comparable information on ESG issues. In 2019, the fund assessed more than 3,900 companies’ reporting and contacted 134 companies with poor reporting.

“We encourage companies to improve disclosure, and we have seen progress over time,” the report said. “We stressed the need for better and more consistent information on companies’ exposures, activities, and performance metrics in areas such as climate risk, human rights, and tax.” The report said economic activity can impose substantial indirect costs on other companies and on society as a whole, and that, because of this, the inability of companies to internalize such costs is a market failure, not just a company failure.

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