LONDON, UK -- Companies that publish longer environmental reports tend to earn more awards, companies in low carbon-intense sectors put out longer reports and almost all companies fail to define key sustainability terms, according to a study of corporate reports.
Admitting the variety of reporting methods and ways companies present sustainability information presents many limitations, communications consultancy Spada hopes its white paper, Environmental Reporting: Trends in FTSE 100 Sustainability Reports, spurs further research and discussion on sustainability reporting.
"Now is the time to develop a more rigorous consensus on how theseissues should be communicated and appraised in the public domain,"writes Spada managing director Gavin Ingham Brooke and research consultant Ana Catalano in the report.
Spada looked at reports from companies listed in the U.K.'s FTSE 100, examining terms and themes used and the report lengths.
Many corporations do not define important and frequently-used termssuch as sustainability, clean energy and zero carbon.
In the case ofsustainability, 79 companies use that word, but only two define whatsustainability means to them in the first instance.
By using a standard word count as a baseline for how long a page is,Spada calculated that the average report from FTSE 100 companies is 21pages.
Those companies that have won Business in the Community Top 100 awards averaged 25 pages, winners of Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations averaged 26 pages and Carbon Disclosure Project Leaders averaged 30 pages.
For every 10-page increase in a sustainability report, the odds of acompany winning an award increase 30 percent. However, Spada admitsthat its findings do not mean the length of a report is the sole causeof a company winning an award.
Although Spada questions that heftyreports might be seen as meaning more than smaller, though possibly more substantive, reports, it does not investigate if the quality ofreporting also coincides with report length.
Spada also found that companies in more carbon-intense areas do notc ommunicate as much as companies in lower-carbon areas or companies that are more in the public eye.
Sectors that affect consumers tend to devote more writing toe nvironmental issues than companies with lower public awareness, such as those in metals and other industrial areas.
Utilities and oil and gas companies, though, exhibit a better spread and depth of reporting, Spada says, than companies that face higher regulations or are less known to the public.
Showing posts with label green biz. Show all posts
Showing posts with label green biz. Show all posts
Monday, November 24, 2008
Monday, November 10, 2008
Industry Must Lead Toward Sustainable Economy: Panel
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- In his acceptance speech Tuesday night, President-Elect Barack Obama acknowledged a planet in peril and global economy in tatters.
Yet he didn't connect the two crises.
"We cannot think about these two issues separately," Mindy Lubber, president of Ceres, told business leaders gathered for the opening of the Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) conference Wednesday. "They have got to be integrated."
The business community needs to take on a leadership role in addressing societal problems by incorporating sustainability into their economic policies, according to Lubber and a group of experts gathered as part of a panel discussion on how the economic crisis and presidential election will impact sustainability and industry.
They must look beyond short-term financial performance to the bigger picture, the panelists said. And despite the historic election and Obama's promise to foster a green economy, the business community must not wait for government to come to the rescue.
"Barack Obama is not the only person who has an opportunity to capture the mantle of leadership and take us in a positive direction," said Aron Cramer, BSR president and CEO. "Everyone in this room holds in her hands or his hands the very same opportunity to demonstrate leadership and take the passion for sustainability we all have ... and to be part of the story of how we build economic recovery that points in the right direction not only in the next two, three or four quarters, but over the next two, three, or four decades."
Cramer agreed that times were tough but urged attendees to rise to the challenges before them.
"If we are going to navigate a more punishing business environment, we who believe in sustainable business have to make the case that it's an essential piece of a strong economy," Cramer said.
In order to do that, he offered three three prescriptions: concentrate on the long-term, focus on value and think big.
"We have very strong short-term pressures but we have to make sure that we and all of our companies and all of those with whom we work stay focused on the long-term trends that really are shaping our world and remain very dynamic," Cramer said.
The economic downturn creates a stronger need to demonstrate that corporate social responsibility brings value to business and society, he said. Businesses need to think big by honing in on the systemic and collaborative solutions that go beyond the limitations of what an individual company can achieve.
"In fact, in a difficult economy, collaboration is often the efficient choice," Cramer said. "It's a way to leverage the power of individual companies by acting together. This is especially true on supply chains, which is why we've seen so many industry groupings come together to try to make progress jointly."
Lubber of Ceres, a coalition of investors, environmental and public interest groups, argued that building a sustainable economy is impossible if businesses continue to ignore resource challenges. She pointed to two examples of bold and practical actions companies can take to integrate sustainability into their business models.
"I want to issue a challenge to all of us and that is that we move towards universal, mandatory reporting," Lubber said. "Why (should) these issues be voluntary, why (should) they be a burden that you all share but not your competitors?"
American companies need to "scale up," she said.
"What we do in the United States needs to be exported to other countries," Lubber said. "We need to make sure our products, our facilities and our employees are part of the solution. We need to integrate principles that we apply here to our supply chain."
Panelists George Kell, executive director of the United Nations Global Compact, and Kumi Naidoo, secretary general and CEO of CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, called on governments and businesses to recognize and address the "imbalances" with which we live.
"The leadership that is required for governments, businesses and civil society right now is for us to be able to recognize that this world is out of balance and that we have to recognize that finding the answers to re-balance this world is going to be difficult," Naidoo said. "But if there is political will, this can be achieved."
Naidoo advised the business community to align itself with the civil society and push the new Obama administration to turn the campaign rhetoric into action.
"As somebody coming from the developing world, we have a lot of optimism ... for what you achieved yesterday but we are also not naive," said Naidoo, a South African native. "People and leaders only change when there is constant vigilance, constant pressure and people are willing to step up."
Yet he didn't connect the two crises.
"We cannot think about these two issues separately," Mindy Lubber, president of Ceres, told business leaders gathered for the opening of the Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) conference Wednesday. "They have got to be integrated."
The business community needs to take on a leadership role in addressing societal problems by incorporating sustainability into their economic policies, according to Lubber and a group of experts gathered as part of a panel discussion on how the economic crisis and presidential election will impact sustainability and industry.
They must look beyond short-term financial performance to the bigger picture, the panelists said. And despite the historic election and Obama's promise to foster a green economy, the business community must not wait for government to come to the rescue.
"Barack Obama is not the only person who has an opportunity to capture the mantle of leadership and take us in a positive direction," said Aron Cramer, BSR president and CEO. "Everyone in this room holds in her hands or his hands the very same opportunity to demonstrate leadership and take the passion for sustainability we all have ... and to be part of the story of how we build economic recovery that points in the right direction not only in the next two, three or four quarters, but over the next two, three, or four decades."
Cramer agreed that times were tough but urged attendees to rise to the challenges before them.
"If we are going to navigate a more punishing business environment, we who believe in sustainable business have to make the case that it's an essential piece of a strong economy," Cramer said.
In order to do that, he offered three three prescriptions: concentrate on the long-term, focus on value and think big.
"We have very strong short-term pressures but we have to make sure that we and all of our companies and all of those with whom we work stay focused on the long-term trends that really are shaping our world and remain very dynamic," Cramer said.
The economic downturn creates a stronger need to demonstrate that corporate social responsibility brings value to business and society, he said. Businesses need to think big by honing in on the systemic and collaborative solutions that go beyond the limitations of what an individual company can achieve.
"In fact, in a difficult economy, collaboration is often the efficient choice," Cramer said. "It's a way to leverage the power of individual companies by acting together. This is especially true on supply chains, which is why we've seen so many industry groupings come together to try to make progress jointly."
Lubber of Ceres, a coalition of investors, environmental and public interest groups, argued that building a sustainable economy is impossible if businesses continue to ignore resource challenges. She pointed to two examples of bold and practical actions companies can take to integrate sustainability into their business models.
"I want to issue a challenge to all of us and that is that we move towards universal, mandatory reporting," Lubber said. "Why (should) these issues be voluntary, why (should) they be a burden that you all share but not your competitors?"
American companies need to "scale up," she said.
"What we do in the United States needs to be exported to other countries," Lubber said. "We need to make sure our products, our facilities and our employees are part of the solution. We need to integrate principles that we apply here to our supply chain."
Panelists George Kell, executive director of the United Nations Global Compact, and Kumi Naidoo, secretary general and CEO of CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, called on governments and businesses to recognize and address the "imbalances" with which we live.
"The leadership that is required for governments, businesses and civil society right now is for us to be able to recognize that this world is out of balance and that we have to recognize that finding the answers to re-balance this world is going to be difficult," Naidoo said. "But if there is political will, this can be achieved."
Naidoo advised the business community to align itself with the civil society and push the new Obama administration to turn the campaign rhetoric into action.
"As somebody coming from the developing world, we have a lot of optimism ... for what you achieved yesterday but we are also not naive," said Naidoo, a South African native. "People and leaders only change when there is constant vigilance, constant pressure and people are willing to step up."
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