For more than 10 years, Eurideas has supported clients – including the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), ClientEarth, Greenpeace International and WWF (World Wildlife Fund) – in the environmental sector with multilingual translation projects. Over this time, environmental translation has increasingly expanded beyond technical documentation to include a broader range of sustainability-related content, from environmental policies and corporate communications to ESG and sustainability reports.
For organisations operating across borders, translating this information is about more than simply making a document available in another language. Environmental and sustainability reports communicate how a company affects the environment, what it is doing to reduce its impact and, increasingly, how it is meeting regulatory and reporting requirements.
From environmental reporting to ESG
ESG stands for environmental, social and governance. In practice, ESG reporting brings together information about a company’s environmental and social impact, as well as its governance practices. Environmental topics can include areas such as emissions, energy use, waste, biodiversity, resource consumption and climate-related targets.
This information is increasingly relevant to investors, regulators, employees, customers and other stakeholders. For companies with international operations, ESG and sustainability documentation may therefore need to reach audiences in several countries and languages.
Translation needs to preserve both the meaning and the intended message. Unlike, for example, highly technical chemical documentation, ESG reports often combine data and regulatory information with more narrative, corporate language. A report may explain a company’s sustainability strategy, describe environmental initiatives or communicate its progress towards specific goals. The translation therefore needs to be accurate without losing the tone and clarity of the original.
When sustainability reporting becomes a regulatory requirement
Environmental and ESG reporting sometimes goes beyond being a voluntary way for a company to communicate its sustainability efforts. Depending on the organisation, its size, activities and jurisdiction, sustainability reporting may be required under EU or national legislation. Language requirements can also form part of the regulatory framework. For some companies, reporting obligations and documents, information may need to be made available in specific official or business languages. National rules can determine additional publication or accessibility requirements.
This makes sustainability documentation translation an important part of the reporting process. The translated document may be read not only by international stakeholders, but also by regulators, investors and other audiences that expect the information to be clear, consistent and reliable.
Environmental report translation challenges
Environmental reports combine specialised information, data and corporate communication. Some of the main challenges include:
Specialised terminology: Terms relating to emissions, carbon accounting, renewable energy, waste, biodiversity and environmental impact need to be translated accurately and consistently, taking the relevant industry and regulatory context into account.
Consistency across documents: Environmental information may appear in annual reports, sustainability documentation, websites and regulatory submissions. Key terms, indicators and company-specific language should remain consistent across all versions.
Figures, tables and layout: Reports often contain data, charts, tables and other visual elements. Translation can affect the space required, making proofreading and desktop publishing important to maintain a clear and functional layout.
Regulatory requirements: Environmental reports may refer to EU or national legislation, international frameworks and industry standards. Where documents are intended for regulatory or official purposes, terminology and reporting requirements need particular attention.
The intended audience also matters. A report prepared for investors or international business partners may require a different approach from documentation intended for regulators or environmental specialists.
Making environmental information accessible across languages
As organisations communicate more information about their environmental performance, high-quality translation helps make that information accessible to international audiences.
Whether you need to translate an environmental report, sustainability documentation or another environmental document, the translation needs to communicate the same information clearly and accurately while taking the target audience, regulatory context and purpose of the document into account.
At Eurideas, we provide specialist translation, post-editing, proofreading and desktop publishing to support multilingual environmental and sustainability projects. Contact us today to discuss your next multilingual environmental project!
