Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

This page answers common questions about SEPI’s positioning, scope, and Trust Layer approach. It is written for boards, investors, and public institutions seeking decision-grade environmental performance benchmarking. SEPI does not publish sensitive company outputs at this stage. Public benchmark outputs and detailed technical documentation will be released in line with the validated publication roadmap and expert review process.

Results & interpretation

  • No. SEPI does not publish company results, rankings, or league tables at this stage. The Trust Layer provides positioning, methodology summary, and governance principles only. Public benchmark outputs will be released under the validated roadmap (first public digital release planned for December 2026).

  • SEPI communicates results primarily as distance-to-reference benchmarking (Swiss baseline and sector reference), highlighting best practices and improvement potential. Public communication is designed to support comparability and learning, not “blame & shame”.

  • Distance-to-reference expresses how far an observed signal is from defined reference points (e.g., Swiss baseline and sector reference). It supports interpretation across companies and sectors while maintaining clear assumptions, limitations, and coverage context.

  • Yes. Interpretation is designed to be sector-aware. SEPI aims to avoid false comparisons by stating scope, coverage, and sector context, and by maintaining consistent definitions and units across releases.

  • SEPI treats missingness explicitly. Coverage and missing data handling rules are documented so interpretation reflects scope and data availability constraints. Public documentation will reflect the final rules prior to the December 2026 release.

What SEPI is (and is not)

  • SEPI (Strategic Environmental Performance Index) is a comparability-first, decision-grade environmental performance benchmarking framework. It translates publicly available corporate information into standardised environmental pressure signals and benchmarking outputs, with documented assumptions, explicit limitations, and versioning discipline.

  • No. SEPI is not an ESG rating. It does not aim to aggregate broad ESG narratives into a single black-box score. SEPI focuses on standardised, measurable environmental pressure signals designed for comparability and audit-readiness.

  • No. SEPI does not claim certification or regulatory endorsement. It is designed as a public-interest benchmarking initiative with an assurance-compatible governance mindset (definitions, versioning, traceability, and correction mechanism).

  • Boards and top management, institutional investors, and public institutions. The Trust Layer is structured to be readable at institutional level and to support decision-making through comparability and transparent limitations.

  • SEPI is Switzerland-first (Phase 1), with a planned European expansion (Phase 2). The publication principles and governance discipline remain stable across phases to preserve continuity and comparability.

What SEPI measures (high level)

  • SEPI focuses on measurable environmental pressure categories that can be standardised across companies and sectors (e.g., emissions, energy, water, waste and related categories). Headline categories are designed to remain stable over time; refinements are managed through versioning and documentation.

  • No. Narrative statements (policies, ambitions, commitments) are not treated as performance substitutes. SEPI is disclosure-driven and prioritises observable, comparable signals derived from publicly available information, with explicit limitations.

  • SEPI’s approach is designed to handle emissions categories in a comparable way, subject to disclosure availability and documented assumptions. Public documentation will clarify definitions and treatment rules in line with the validated roadmap.

  • SEPI focuses on measured pressures and standardised signals designed for comparability. Where relevant, SEPI may distinguish measured pressures from narrative “levers” to reduce gaming risk and maintain interpretability.

  • SEPI is designed to maintain a structured view across environmental themes, with emphasis on comparability and measurable signals where possible. Limits of public data availability and definitional complexity are stated explicitly.

How SEPI measures (method summary)

  • At a high level, SEPI follows four steps:

    1. Data intake from publicly available corporate information and structured sources

    2. KPI mapping and normalisation for comparability

    3. Scenario-based weighting and robustness checks (high level)

    4. Benchmarking outputs released under the validated publication roadmap

  • Normalisation enables meaningful comparability across companies and sectors by applying consistent units, definitions, and documented assumptions. SEPI avoids false precision and states interpretability limits clearly.

  • Weighting scenarios are designed to improve robustness and reduce gaming risk. They allow sensitivity checks across plausible weighting logics. Public documentation will reflect the final review outcome prior to public release.

  • SEPI is designed to be compatible with widely used reporting frameworks and measurement conventions where relevant (e.g., emissions accounting conventions, reporting standards). SEPI does not claim endorsement; references are used for definitional alignment and interpretability.

  • Yes, a versioned documentation set is planned as part of the public digital release (publication pack) scheduled for December 2026.

Data sources, quality, and limitations

  • SEPI primarily uses publicly available corporate information and structured sources. Inputs and assumptions are documented to support traceability and comparability. The Trust Layer does not publish company outputs at this stage.

  • Coverage and missingness are treated explicitly. SEPI uses documented handling rules and communicates limitations so interpretation reflects scope and coverage constraints.

  • Where proxies are used, they are documented and treated with explicit limitations. SEPI’s approach prioritises interpretability and disciplined disclosure-driven comparability.

  • Key limitations typically include: reliance on publicly available corporate information, variations in disclosure scope/quality, sector comparability constraints, and the need to avoid overstating precision. SEPI makes limitations explicit to protect institutional readability.

  • At this stage, SEPI’s Trust Layer is designed around publicly available information and documented assumptions. A formal approach to supplementary data (if any) would require governance rules and would be documented under versioning discipline.

Governance, versioning, and correction mechanism

  • Governance protects comparability and interpretability. SEPI prioritises consistent definitions, documented assumptions, explicit limitations, and reproducible versioned releases.

  • Each release is designed to have a stable version identifier, documented assumptions, and a change log discipline for material updates. This supports reproducibility and clarity across time.

  • If you believe a datapoint or statement is incorrect or materially misleading, you may request a review through the correction channel. Please provide supporting public references so the issue can be assessed efficiently. If applicable, corrections are reflected in the next published update and logged accordingly.

  • SEPI does not claim certification or regulatory endorsement. The roadmap includes expert review and refinement prior to the first public digital release (publication pack) planned for December 2026.

  • The gate exists to protect comparability, reduce interpretability risk, and ensure institutional readability. Public outputs are released only once core definitions, documentation, and governance elements are locked under versioning discipline.

Access, reuse, and citations

  • No public results are released at this stage. First public digital release (publication pack) planned for December 2026.

  • A versioned methodology and governance documentation set, downloadable benchmark output formats (company-level and sector-level), and interpretation guidance including limitations and coverage context.

  • Stakeholder dialogue is possible (boards, investors, public institutions, research). Requests can be routed through the contact channel and handled under the Trust Layer’s publication gate.

  • Suggested citation format (draft, to be finalised at public release):
    SEPI — Strategic Environmental Performance Index. Trust Layer website and governance summary. Developed under the Eric Zangger Stiftung (CH). Version v0.9. Accessed YYYY-MM-DD.
    A final citation template will be published with the December 2026 publication pack.

  • No public outputs exist at this stage. Any future reuse conditions will be stated explicitly in the publication pack and associated documentation.

Privacy and contact

  • Personal data submitted via the contact form is processed to respond to your request, in line with the Privacy Policy. SEPI does not use optional analytics cookies at launch.

  • Please contact privacy@sepi-index.org for privacy-related requests.

  • Use the contact form and select “Request briefing deck”. Please include your role/context (board, investor, public institution, company) so the request can be routed appropriately.

For the high-level approach, see Methodology. For governance, versioning principles and the correction mechanism, see Governance. For timing and scope expansion, see Roadmap.