Reporting

Hallmarks of a leader in reporting

  • The organisation shows a deep understanding of its material issues, and the system for prioritising these is robust and transparent.
  • Reporting is used to drive performance and provide a structure for measuring and managing all material issues and impacts.
  • Sustainability is incorporated into the company’s main report and accounts. A variety of channels (e.g. the internet) are used to reach different stakeholders and meet their information needs, with a particular focus on the investment community.
  • Reporting delivers evidence of progress and challenges; the organisation doesn’t shy away from difficult and sensitive issues.
  • The company uses assurance wisely – to help challenge its approach and drive performance improvement.
  • The organisation engages with the wider business community to develop common standards for emerging issues, for example embodied carbon and water; and helps develop reporting standards (e.g. the Global Reporting Initiative).

Case studies:

BT’s sustainability reports make a strong business case for CSR and give a comprehensive account of the company’s approach to sustainable development.
 
The company has been recognised as a leader in the field of sustainability reporting, both in Sustainability’s, UNEP and Standard & Poor’s review of global reporting in 2006 and through an award from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants in 2007.
 
BT’s reports highlight a number of  key performance indicators (KPIs), with three-year trend data and a future target for each KPI. BT’s materiality process allows the prioritisation of issues for inclusion in its sustainability reports.  The top issues are featured in its short printed report, Changing World; Sustained Values. 
 
Detailed performance data and other issues are covered in a comprehensive online database. BT’s betterworld (sustainability) website includes discussions on topical subjects, for example climate change and education resources, as well as an online sustainability business game to test the users sustainability credentials. 
 
BT’s sustainability reports are produced in accordance with the AA1000 Assurance Standard, the GRI and are independently assured.

Akzo Nobel’s 2007 sustainability report is directed at the  investment community – with the specific aim of demonstrating how sustainability adds value to business. It is an unusual report in this respect, with all activities and policies reported in such a way that the reader understands how they contribute to long-term profitability.

At the end of the report the company explains how it engages with other stakeholder groups, such as employees, non-government organisations and neighbours. By using the concept of economic value added (EVA) per unit of ecological footprint, the company is able to align sustainability aims with traditional value levers such as top line growth and capital and operational efficiency.

The report draws on the GRI global reporting guidelines. The company’s annual report and sustainability report have not yet been fully merged but in 2007 were published together as a pair - and there are plans for further integration.


Westpac’s efforts to adopt and communicate strong ethical and environmental policies as a market differentiator have earned the bank international recognition as a leader in reporting and progress in this area.
 
Westpac was the only bank in the world to achieve a 100-point, AAA rating in the Innovest/Carbon Disclosure Project 2007 Climate Disclosure Leadership Index.
 
The bank understands that sustainable business practices are central to reducing risk and securing future success. Its ‘service-value chain’ approach - which links employees, customers, the community and outcomes for shareholders - recognises that the chain is only as strong as its weakest link.
 
In 2006 the bank developed key performance indicators by which it now monitors and reports on environmental, social and governance issues. The resulting ‘extended performance’ reports are published biannually, analysing progress against past performance and that of the bank’s peers.
 
A thorough review of the reporting process in 2006, informed by extensive stakeholder consultation and conducted in association with the Australian Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility, helped to ensure that Westpac maintains its leadership status when it comes to openness in communication.

Finnish retailer Kesko has consistently been named as a sustainability leader across a number of indices, including the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. It structures its corporate responsibility reporting around the three pillars of sustainability; economic, social and environmental responsibility, providing detailed analysis and KPIs in each area.

To demonstrate its contribution to generating long-term financial capital Kesko provides a breakdown of economic benefits by stakeholder groups (personnel, shareholders, partners, employees, municipalities and states).

Measurement of the geographic spread of these benefits across Finland’s regions is offered through a breakdown of purchases by the location of suppliers. Additional information is supplied, where possible, to address the inherent distortion resulting from the distribution of production across regions. For 2006, this analysis covered €4.9 billion of the total sum of €5.1 billion of Kesko’s purchases. Kesko offers transparency on its support for local suppliers, through an analysis of the proportion of products of domestic origin sold.

Average salary, training days, job satisfaction indicators, and ethical supply chain controls are used to track Kesko’s position on social responsibility.

Outside of traditional reporting lines, Kesko goes to considerable lengths to enable an open and transparent flow of information to its stakeholders, including the provision of an online tracking mechanism, where customers can trace individual coffee-packs back to the grower.

The report adheres to the GRI reporting guidelines, and provides detailed information in nine additional areas. Independent assurance for the economic components of the report is provided separately from that of social and environmental impacts in order to enable comprehensive analysis of these themes.


Sedex, the Suppliers Ethical Data Exchange, is a not-for-profit organisation comprising members from across the retail sector and their first, and increasingly second and third tier suppliers. It provides an online information hub through which suppliers can report information about labour standards to their customers in a secure manner.

Information provided includes supplier self-assessments, 2nd and 3rd party audit findings and corrective action plans. All this information is then openly shared amongst all retailers with a trading relationship with that supplier.

Sedex stores information on labour standards issues covered by ILO Conventions, ETI Base Code, and SA 8000, but it does not evaluate suppliers against these standards. Instead, members integrate supplier’s submissions into existing business processes and standards to determine compliance. Initially established to assess labour standards, Sedex has expanded to include analysis of environmental and business integrity issues. Guidance and report formats have been developed to enhance the sharing of audit data, and provide increased transparency into auditor qualifications and the audit approach underpinning a report.

Founded in 2001, Sedex’s membership has grown rapidly, comprising 200 retailers and suppliers with trading relationships, and over 6000 supply-only companies inputting data on their labour standards. Approximately 40% of sites registered on Sedex come from the food sector, with the remaining 60% being made up of suppliers in non-food sectors covering clothing, home-wares and accessories.

The benefit for suppliers is clear in reducing the burden of duplicated reporting across overlapping global supply chains, whilst retailers profit from an improvement in the data quality supplied. Sedex’s real value, however, stays true to its original mission. By encouraging and enabling convergence in ethical auditing standards and reporting, it is raising the bar on labour conditions throughout the supply chain.

Unilever has been recognised as a leader in the field of sustainability reporting, receiving an award from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants in 2007 and achieving a high 90-point, AAA rating in the Innovest/Carbon Disclosure Project 2007 Climate Disclosure Leadership Index.

Introducing the audience to the complexity and global reach of its 400 consumer goods brands, Unilever’s sustainability report offers a clear and succinct analysis of the impacts its brands have along the product lifecycle. This is set in context by a breakdown of Unilever’s business (operating profit, volume of purchases, number of employees and manufacturing site) by continent and product range.

The focus of reporting is on the impact of core business activities - how its business affects the environment, society and consumers, how Unilever is addressing global sustainability challenges such as climate change and examining how its operations benefit stakeholders. Case studies, employee profiles and speeches are presented separately to bring to life elements of its strategic approach rather than forming the reporting content in isolation. 

A clear picture of current sustainability performance is contrasted against past behaviours and future goals through a comprehensive array of KPI data. This spans a number of years with some data sets starting in 1995 and continuing, through targets, until 2011. In the eco-performance KPIs, headline information is presented in an absolute and normalised format (i.e. per tonne of manufactured product) allowing the audience insight into the speed at which efficiency is improving and the extent to which this is commensurate with the scale of Unilever’s growth.

Acknowledging the difficulty in addressing its impact on economic development, Unilever has conducted studies to consider how its presence in emerging markets creates and distributes wealth, formally measuring economic impact on jobs, incomes and social benefit to employees.