Does your sustainability measure up?
Strategy consultancy SustainAbility has partnered with Flag, one of the world’s leading CSR communications agencies, and credit360, the data management system providers,
to develop Learn from the Leaders, an online database containing benchmark research into sustainability reporting excellence.
Since 1992, SustainAbility has been rigorously benchmarking the quality of international sustainability reporting in its Global Reporters biennial reports. These
reports have become the gold standard for companies interested in corporate reporting on economic, social and environmental issues.This Global Reporters research will now be publicly available through the Learn from the Leaders resource, providing an overview of current trends and best practice, supported by hundreds of good practice examples from sustainability reports. Each example includes an analysis of what sets leading reporters ahead of the rest.
Each report in the database has been assessed across four principal categories: governance and strategy, management, presentation of performance and accessibility
and assurance.For the user this offers an assessment of how well a particular company explains and evaluates its sustainability activities, integrates sustainability into its business strategy and how successful its reporting approach is in meeting the needs of key audiences.The database provides a powerful resource for driving continuous improvement in sustainability reporting and is an indispensable tool for practitioners who are serious about exploiting market opportunities through effective sustainability strategies.
Mark Lee, CEO of SustainAbility, comments: “Learn from the Leaders has been developed to bring a decade of cutting edge analysis and insight on best practice
sustainability reporting under one virtual roof. For any company wanting to benchmark themselves against the world’s leading practitioners, this database should be the first
port of call.”
The Learn from the Leaders database will specifically help practitioners to:
• compare their reporting with competitors and peers
• understand common targets and emerging trends by sector
• appreciate how others identify and manage material issues
• decide how to adapt narrative and design
• assess approaches to assurance and verification
Awareness of the social and environmental responsibilities of companies has grown rapidly over recent years and non-financial reporting is now recognised as an integral
part of any business strategy. The quality of reporting has improved significantly since SustainAbility published the first Global Reporters survey ten years ago, as companies recognise that sustainability strategies, performance and reporting can and will deliver value and competitive benefits.
John Elkington, co-founder and chief entrepreneur of SustainAbility, comments:“Companies are now recognising that sustainability and reporting are about far more
than just mitigating risk and satisfying stakeholders' information needs. Extending reporting to help deliver real solutions to sustainability challenges has tremendous
market potential and should be at the heart of any decision-making processes about transparency and stakeholders’ expectations.
To date, 34 companies including Vodafone, BP, Coca-Cola, McDonalds,GlaxoSmithKline and Volkswagen, are set to have access to this research as part of their membership in SustainAbility’s Engaging Stakeholders program. Learn from the Leaders now opens this resource up to all companies for the first time.
Krista Gullo, Sustainability Reporting Manager, Ford Motor Company, comments: “The database will provide comprehensive, practical examples of how other companies are
addressing reporting challenges, and help Ford stay at the leading edge.” Ramon Arratia, Corporate Responsibility Manager, Vodafone, comments: “Writing a report is hard as it is difficult to come up with innovative ways to put across information on every issue. Having the best examples in one place will save lots of time.”
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