Sustainability reporting

A sustainability report is an organizational report that gives information about economic, environmental, social and governance performance.^[1]

Sustainability reporting is not just report generation from collected data; instead it is a method to internalize and improve an organization’s commitment to sustainable development in a way that can be demonstrated to both internal and external stakeholders.

History

Corporate sustainability reporting has a long history going back to environmental reporting. The first environmental reports were published in the late 1980s by companies in the chemical industry which had serious image problems. The other group of early reporters was a group of committed small and medium-sized businesses with very advanced environmental management systems. Additionally, the tobacco industry adopted such reporting a lot earlier than the rest of the corporate world due to attempts by them to access new investors from the rise of ethical investing, that occurred at the time.

Non-financial reporting, such as sustainability and CSR reporting, is a fairly recent trend which has expanded over the last twenty years. Many companies now produce an annual sustainability report and there are a wide array of ratings and standards around. There are a variety of reasons that companies choose to produce these reports, but at their core they are intended to be "vessels of transparency and accountability". Often they also intended to improve internal processes, engage stakeholders and persuade investors.^[2]

Initiatives

Organizations can improve their sustainability performance by measuring (EthicalQuote (CEQ)), monitoring and reporting on it, helping them have a positive impact on society, the economy, and a sustainable future. The key drivers for the quality of sustainability reports are the guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI),^[3] (ACCA) award schemes or rankings. The GRI Sustainability Reporting Guidelines enable all organizations worldwide to assess their sustainability performance and disclose the results in a similar way to financial reporting.^[4] The largest database of corporate sustainability reports can be found on the website of the United Nations Global Compact initiative.

References

Notes

↑ "Sustainability Reporting". Globalreporting.org. Retrieved 2014-08-27.
↑ Rosie Bristow for the Guardian Professional Network. "Online discussion: sustainability reporting | Guardian Sustainable Business". theguardian.com. Retrieved 2014-08-27.
↑ Archived April 25, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
↑

External links

360report Glossary Definitions of terms concerning sustainability reporting
GRI Reports List - Global Reporting Initiative Reports List (1999 - current). GRI's mission is to make sustainability reporting standard practice by providing guidance and support to organizations.
The International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) A global coalition of regulators, investors, companies, standard setters, the accounting profession and NGOs. The coalition is promoting communication about value creation as the next step in the evolution of corporate reporting.
Non-Financial Reporting and CSR Resource Centre is focused on the topic of environmental / sustainability / social reporting and provides fully descriptive links which are in its international section listed in 30 categories.

Sustainability

Principles	Ecological modernization Environmentalism Human impact on the environment Planetary boundaries Social sustainability Stewardship Sustainable development

Consumption	Anthropization Anti-consumerism Ecological footprint Ethical Over-consumption Simple living Sustainability advertising Sustainability brand Sustainability marketing myopia Sustainable Systemic change resistance Tragedy of the commons

Population	Birth control Family planning Control Overpopulation Zero growth

Technology	Appropriate Environmental Sustainable

Biodiversity	Biosecurity Biosphere Conservation biology Deep ecology Endangered species Holocene extinction Invasive species

Energy	Carbon footprint Climate change mitigation Conservation Descent Efficiency Emissions trading Fossil-fuel phase-out Peak oil Renewable Energy poverty

Food	Forest gardening Local Permaculture Security Sustainable agriculture Sustainable fishery Urban horticulture

Water	Conservation Crisis Efficiency Footprint

Accountability	Sustainability accounting Sustainability measurement Sustainability metrics and indices Sustainability reporting Standards and certification Sustainable yield

Applications	Advertising Architecture Art Business City College programs Community Design Ecovillage Education for Sustainable Development Fashion Gardening Geopark Green marketing Industries Landscape architecture Living Low-impact development Sustainable market Organizations Packaging Practices Procurement Tourism Transport Urban drainage systems Urban infrastructure Urbanism

Management	Environmental Fisheries Forest Materials Natural resource Planetary Waste

Agreements	UN Conference on the Human Environment (Stockholm 1972) Brundtlandt Commission Report (1983) Our Common Future (1987) Earth Summit (1992) Rio Declaration on Environment and Development Agenda 21 (1992) Convention on Biological Diversity (1992) ICPD Programme of Action (1994) Earth Charter Lisbon Principles UN Millennium Declaration (2000) Earth Summit 2002 (Rio+10, Johannesburg) United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20, 2012) Sustainable Development Goals

Category Lists Outline Portal Science Studies Degrees

Social and environmental accountability

Ethics and principles	Aarhus Convention Corporate accountability / behaviour / social responsibility Ethical banking Ethical code Extended producer responsibility Organizational ethics Organizational justice Principles for Responsible Investment Social responsibility Stakeholder theory Sullivan principles Transparency (behavioral social) UN Global Compact

Social accounting	Double bottom line Ethical Positioning Index Higg Index Impact assessment (environmental equality social) ISO 26000 Genuine progress indicator OHSAS 18001 Performance indicator SA8000 Social return on investment Whole-life cost

Environmental accounting	Carbon accounting Eco-Management and Audit Scheme Emission inventory Environmental full-cost accounting / impact assessment / management system / profit-and-loss account ISO 14000 ISO 14031:1999 Life-cycle assessment Pollutant release and transfer register Sustainability accounting / measurement / metrics and indices / standards and certification / supply chain Toxics Release Inventory Triple bottom line

Reporting	Global Reporting Initiative GxP guidelines Sustainability reporting

Auditing	Community-based monitoring Environmental (certification) Fair trade (certification) ISO 19011

Related	Bangladesh Accord Benefit corporation Child labour Community interest company Conflict of interest Disasters Disinvestment Eco-labeling Environmental pricing reform Environmental, social and corporate governance Ethical consumerism Euthenics Health impact assessment Market governance mechanism Product certification Public participation Social enterprise Socially responsible investing Stakeholder (engagement) Supply chain management

Environment portal Category Commons Organizations

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