Reporting Trends: Transparency Becomes the Norm

Sustainability reports are becoming as important — and as widely viewed — as quarterly financial statements. That means companies have to become more and more transparent about how their reports are created and what the results are based on.

Voluntary disclosure activities have boomed, and the top three regions that report under the GRI are Europe (37 %), Asia (25 %) and North America (14 %).

Challenge: As investors see the financial benefits of sustainability, they’re now making decisions based on what their company reports. And as climate action becomes tied to company brands, a larger and larger microscope will be used to review reports. Both challenges demand a standard that sustainability reporting hasn’t been held to in the past. Sustainability executives must be able to ensure data accuracy to keep both boards and consumers satisfied.

Solution: Create an inventory management plan that governs and structures reporting mechanisms across the enterprise. The plan, which can be developed with the aid of an unbiased third party, needs to clearly identify roles and responsibilities of the various sustainability team members and the methods by which they collect their data and produce their reports.

Download “6 for 2016: Sustainability Reporting Megatrends” to stay up to date.

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