Why calculated metrics matter
KEY ESG's platform already provides robust functionality to create custom metrics, empowering companies and fund managers to measure and track the specific topics most relevant to their business. This flexible feature allows users to define unique data points through various field types, proving highly valuable for tailored ESG reporting.
What You Can Do with Custom Calculated Metrics
Enhanced Flexibility
Custom metrics can be precisely tailored to organisational goals. Want to track energy efficiency across different assets? Or measure diversity and inclusion performance beyond simple counts? You can now do exactly that - with full control over units, thresholds, and improvement indicators (i.e. whether "higher is better"). You can also set targets against custom calculated metrics and track your progress towards your objectives.
Target Setting & Progress Tracking
Set specific targets against your custom calculated metrics and monitor your progress over time. This enables more meaningful goal alignment across teams and helps drive accountability toward sustainability objectives.
Streamlined ESG Reporting
The KEY ESG platform includes pre-loaded data points for major reporting frameworks. However, every organisation has different priorities and different metrics. Custom calculated metrics ensure that all relevant sustainability information can be stored in the same platform.
How to create custom metrics
In the platform find the ‘custom metrics’ button under the ‘setup’ section.
On the main screen of your custom metrics, you will be able to see all the metrics you have created, in their respective categories: Social, environmental, Governance and General
Once you have gone through the steps to create your metric group (see custom metrics article) and your simple metrics (non calculated metrics) you can get started.
4. In this example, we will be using the simple metrics we created to base our calculated metrics of.
5. We will be creating these this calculated metric
6. The custom calculated metrics creator is based of calculation expressions:
You can choose from SUM and PERCENT ans use any calculation combinations with the arithmetic operations:
7. These can be used in combination with the output of any of the calculations done within the KEY ESG platform (seen below for Scope 1) OR they can be used with the data entered for the simple metrics
8. Once you have created your expression, the platform will let you know if this is valid or not.
9. Lastly, you can choose a unit of measure and indicate what the ideal value looks like year on year (Higher or lower)
10. Once the data that feeds into your calculated metric has been submitted, you will see the calculated metric as an output within your reports in the KEY ESG platform.
Example use cases
1. Sustainable Mobility: Electrification Progress Tracker
A leading European ride-hailing platform wanted to demonstrate its progress towards electrifying its fleet. Using custom calculated metrics, they created:
Total Number of Rides
Number of Rides by Zero-Emission Vehicles (ZEVs)
Percentage of Rides Completed by ZEVs = (ZEV rides / Total rides) × 100
This allowed them to:
Benchmark performance across regions
Satisfy CSRD and ESRS E1 requirements
Provide transparent, investor-ready disclosures on climate transition plans
2. Food Manufacturing: CO₂ per Unit of Product
A large food manufacturer wanted product-level GHG emissions tracking. They used:
Simple metrics for CO₂ emissions and Products Sold
A calculated metric for CO₂ Intensity per Unit = CO₂ / Products Sold
Benefits included:
Retailer-specific reporting on emission footprints
Facility benchmarking across product types (bread, pastries, cakes)
Support for Scope 3 accounting and eco-design decisions
If you have any questions about adding Custom metrics, please do reach out to the KEY ESG support team via the in-app chat function, or by contacting support@keyesg.com.