This comprehensive survey covers various aspects of an organization’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting, and includes the cost and benefits of reporting as well as making connections to financial performance.
Sustainability Reporting
Sustainability reporting is the disclosure and communication of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals—as well as a company’s progress towards them. The benefits of sustainability reporting include improved corporate reputation, building consumer confidence, increased innovation, and even improvement of risk management. There are many ways to build sustainability reporting into your corporate social responsibility programs, whether by making use of established sustainability reporting frameworks such as GRI or CDP, including sustainability performance as part of your overall performance disclosures, by using guidelines such as those created by the International Integrated Reporting Committee (IIRC), or making use of ranking tools such as the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI).
No matter what method you choose, the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship can help you get up to speed. How can companies gain executive buy-in for committing to sustainability reporting? While it's undeniable that certain social and environmental concerns can pose real business threats, research shows that investing both time and resources into sustainability and the reporting of progress toward CSR targets can help position companies to meet the demands of future challenges while maximizing returns.
The Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship is here to help you determine which sustainability reporting framework is right for your company and to help you get started. We are a certified training partner for most standards.
Below is a sample of the sustainability reporting examples and resources we offer our members.
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A report that compares responses from sustainability technology vendors to help you select a technology vendor so you can accurately collect detailed environmental data, launch or monitor progress towards environmental initiatives, and report using guidelines and frameworks such as GRI, CDP, and more.
COURSE - Learn about different sustainability reporting frameworks and indices to make a well-informed, strategic decision about which to use.
This spring, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) opened for comment a review of its Regulation S-K filing—inviting comment on both form and substance of disclosures for companies listed on U.S. stock exchanges.
Sustainability leaders from the public and private sector discuss how effective reporting will help meet global sustainability targets.
On April 13, 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued a new Concept Release regarding public company disclosures through Regulation S-K. The public comment period will be open until July 21, 2016.
RESEARCH BRIEF - Firms with formally communicated stakeholder engagement policies are more likely to disclose environmental information, however, this relationship does not hold for companies with especially strong financial performance.
RESEARCH BRIEF - Disclosing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) information via a CSR report has a positive impact on a company’s financial performance. This effect is stronger for firms with fewer employees.