It’s easy to forget that the GRI is not the only game in town when it comes to CSR/ESG behaviour/performance indicator sets. Other well-established indicator sets include the DVFA ESG KPIs (Germany/EU) and the DEFRA Sustainable Development Indicators (UK) which were recently updated in July 2010. As a combination, these three indicator sets alone represent a significant body of knowledge for businesses to tap into to develop their own custom indicator set for holistic reporting.
The ICAEW’s recent publication Sustainability Assurance Your Choice is essentially a pitch to use a professional accountant to provide this assurance i.e. a typical marketing white paper. But I was amused by the reassuring feel of this section on page 11, discussing the level of assurance an accountant can provide:
Two types of conclusion are available. They differ due to the different nature, timing and extent of evidence-gathering work. A conclusion may be worded positively or negatively, depending on the type of assurance service (‘reasonable assurance’ and ‘limited assurance’, respectively).
A reasonable assurance conclusion might be worded as:
‘in our opinion, ABC’s report on its greenhouse gas emissions is fairly stated…’
A limited assurance conclusion is typically expressed as:
‘Based on our work, nothing has come to our attention that causes us to believe that XYZ’s report is materially misstated…’
The decision about which type of assurance conclusion is appropriate depends on factors such as the needs of users and cost and benefit considerations.
25Aug
Unilever’s Sustainability Reporting and Process
Stewart McKie | Category: Reviews | No Comments
Most sustainability reporting ‘old hands’ will have seen Unilever’s stakeholder feedback on its sustainability reporting and process ages ago but if you haven’t it’s worth a read even though it dates from early 2009.
From a holistic reporting perspective, I particularly liked:
- Illustrate linkage across issues and performance
- Reporting on achievements, challenges and dilemmas
- Connect with consumers on sustainability issues
- Social metrics need to be developed
Advertorial: This is a merely a solicitation to vote for a potential panel proposed for SXSW.2011 entitled:
Corporate Sustainability Reporting and Transparency: New Success Standards
If you read about the panel at the link above then hopefully you’ll add your positive vote by clicking the thumbs up.
In the end, social responsibility is a financial calculation for executives, just like any other aspect of their business. The only sure way to influence corporate decision making is to impose an unacceptable cost—regulatory mandates, taxes, punitive fines, public embarrassment—on socially unacceptable behavior.
Pleas for corporate social responsibility will be truly embraced only by those executives who are smart enough to see that doing the right thing is a byproduct of their pursuit of profit. And that renders such pleas pointless.
Source: Dr. Karnani article in WSJ
