New Sustainability Reporting Guidance Released for Public Consultation
27 June 2012 at 11:24 am
Sustainability experts, organisations and professionals are being asked to help shape the future of corporate sustainability reporting, as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) publishes an exposure draft of new guidance for public feedback.
The GRI provides a comprehensive sustainability reporting framework that is used around the world and it is now working on the next generation of its Sustainability Reporting Guidelines called G4.
As part of the development process, the second Public Comment Period is now open for organisations and individuals for public feedback.
Deputy chief executive of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Nelmara Arbex who is leading the G4 development process said: “We are at a point now where companies and other organisations have to be transparent about their economic, environmental and social performance: customers, suppliers, investors , governments and other stakeholders expect it.
“This exposure draft of the new generation of Guidelines – G4 – shows how G4 will help all organisations take a step towards much more focused, relevant reports, covering material topics.”
The G4 development is focused on five main areas – Boundary, Application Levels, Governance and Remuneration, Supply Chain, and Disclosures on Management Approach – and Working Groups have produced new and updated content. This content is now available for public comment. Individuals and organisations can provide feedback by answering questions about the new content and providing editorial suggestions and comments in the text of the exposure draft.
The content is available online from 25 June to 25 September 2012. It is available in English, and respondents can log in and out of the system as many times as they like.
A sustainability report is an organisational report that gives information about economic, environmental, social and governance performance.
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.
Non-financial reporting, such as sustainability and CSR reporting, is a fairly recent trend which has expanded over the last 20 years. Organisations improve their sustainability performance by measuring, monitoring and reporting on it, helping them have a positive impact on society, the economy, and a sustainable future.
Click here to read the exposure draft of G4 and provide feedback.
