No Social (S) Data for Your Sustainability Report? How to Fill It

What's usually missing on the social side isn't "things we did." It's "quantified results that can be verified." Many companies actually do quite a lot — giving, volunteer days, social procurement — but by the time it reaches the sustainability report, all that's left is photos and dollar amounts. What's missing are figures like "number of participants," "number of people helped" and "share of local hires": numbers with units, a defined scope, and a clear answer to who confirmed them.

Why the environmental section is easy to write and the social section isn't

Environmental data comes from well-established sources: carbon inventories have consultants, electricity has utility bills, waste has collection manifests. Every item has a record you can check against.

The social side has no such channels. Donate NT$500,000 to an association and you get a certificate of appreciation; it shows where the money went, but not what it achieved. Hold a volunteer day and take 200 photos; they show the event happened, but not how many person-hours went into it.

So the social section of a sustainability report often ends up reading like this:

The Company remains committed to social causes. In 2026 (ROC year 115) we held a number of volunteer activities with enthusiastic employee participation and broad praise from the community.

The paragraph is sincere, but it doesn't contain a single verifiable number. The ESG evaluation criteria for Taiwan's listed companies are explicit: companies should "disclose the results of the above measures, such as investment/donation amounts, number of people involved in activities, number of people helped... or other specific quantified performance."

Three things the evaluation actually wants to see

Take S-3 (promoting community development) in the 2026 (ROC year 115) ESG evaluation as an example. A company must meet all three requirements at once:

1. Define the company's community: a neighborhood, township, or county/city. If it isn't where the company operates, the reason must be explained.
2. Disclose the measures taken that year in response to community risks or opportunities: resource investment, business activities, donations, corporate volunteering, and so on.
3. Disclose the results of those measures: specific quantified performance.

Many companies get stuck on the first and third requirements: the first asks "where exactly is our community?" and the third asks "how do we quantify results?"

G-32 (concrete sustainability plans and implementation results) has a similar structure, and it explicitly lists "procurement from or investment in social enterprises" as one acceptable form of quantified performance.

Three places to start filling the social data gap

First, make sure money you already spend leaves a record. Gifts for Taiwan's three major festivals, employee events, client gifts — these budgets get spent anyway. When you buy from a social innovation organization, the purchase amount itself counts as quantified performance under G-32, and the supplier's status can be checked on the Ministry of Economic Affairs' Social Innovation Platform.

Second, make sure activities leave a record from the start. Volunteer-day person-hours should be recorded on the day: how many people actually showed up, how long they stayed, and who confirmed it. Figures come from the partner farm's records, not estimates based on sign-ups.

Third, align your community scope with where you operate. The first S-3 requirement asks about your company's community. If your partner is in the same county or city where your company operates, this requirement is met naturally; if not, you'll need to explain why. So when choosing a partner, it helps to check first whether it's in a county or city where you operate.

Which indicators connect

This is where mistakes happen most easily. It helps to sort them into two groups.

Direct fit, no specific company policy required first:

• G-32 Concrete sustainability plans and implementation results: purchase amounts from social enterprises, number of activity participants, number of people helped.
• S-3 Promoting community development: we match you with a partner farm in the county or city where your company operates and provide employment hours and activity results for that community.

Your company needs a policy first; the partner supplies implementation evidence:

• E-16 Supplier management (environmental): this assumes your company has already disclosed a supplier management policy. What a partner can add is weekly pesticide-free records and harvest batches.
• E-14 Biodiversity: this assumes your company has already set a biodiversity policy or commitment. What a partner can add is eco-friendly farming area and species observation records.

The first half of both indicators is your company's own framework. Check whether your sustainability report already includes these two policies, and you'll know whether a partner's records can go in.

Indicators that look related but don't connect

• E-6 Promoting circular economy or waste reduction: this is about waste from the company's own operations. Composting on a farm isn't your company's operational waste.
• E-15 Promoting natural carbon sinks: this requires a methodology, a baseline and proof of additionality. We have none of the three.
• S-2 Human rights due diligence: this is a full international process. A farm's records don't amount to your company's due diligence.
• S-17 Family-friendly policies or family care: this is about the company's own HR policies, and has nothing to do with a family day where employees bring relatives to the farm.
• S-15 Supply chain management (social): farms do carry out weekly checks on workplace safety and labor rights, but these are self-reported by the farm, so the evidence is weaker, and it could easily be read as a partner managing your suppliers on your behalf. So we leave it off the mapping list.

If one indicator in an evaluation clearly doesn't fit, it often prompts a closer look at the others too. Claiming fewer indicators, each of which holds up, is the safer approach. The full indicator mapping and tiered explanations are in our methodology.

FAQ

We don't have social data. Can we start by reporting donation amounts?

You can report donation amounts, but they are an "input," not a "result." The third S-3 requirement asks for implementation results, such as the number of people helped or number of activity participants, so it's best to show both together.

Our company isn't in Taoyuan. How do we define our community for S-3?

S-3 asks about your company's own community. Our partner farms are spread across several counties and cities, so in practice we match you with a farm in the county or city where you operate; if no match is available, the reason is explained in the report.

How much disclosable data can one corporate volunteer day produce?

For 20 people joining for half a day (4 hours), that's 80 person-hours, plus fields such as number of participants, activity type and partner organization. Actual figures are based on values reviewed by an administrator, not estimates from sign-ups.

Does this social data count as third-party verification?

No. The data is self-declared by Selvans and our partner farms, with supporting documents and a traceable audit trail, but it hasn't been reviewed by an external assurance provider. Simply label it accurately when you cite it. The data included with each of our three partnership plans is listed under corporate partnership plans.

Scope and limitations

Before putting anything in your sustainability report, please keep these points in mind:

1. The supporting evidence in this article covers only the supply chain of Selvans's partner farms, not your company's other suppliers.
2. Selvans provides reference material on implementation. It does not constitute compliance certification, and whether to disclose remains your company's decision.
3. The data is self-declared by Selvans and our partner farms, with supporting documents and an audit trail, and has not been reviewed by an external assurance provider. Species identification uses iNaturalist, and pesticide residues are tested by an external lab.
4. Platform-wide totals are not the same as any single company's results; what your company can cite is the share attributed to it based on how you partner with us.
5. Please don't use the data in this article for carbon sink or carbon neutrality claims. Those require a methodology, a baseline and proof of additionality, and we have none of the three.