Introduction to Corporate Sustainability Reporting

What is sustainability data?

The term sustainability is used as an umbrella for multiple concepts and is today most commonly used as a synonym for being a ‘good’ company. When we apply an environmental lens, the definition is more focused on “the idea that goods and services should be produced in ways that do not use resources that cannot be replaced and that do not damage the environment”. Sustainability is commonly used today as a catch all term for how an organization applies its “do no harm” lens to how it operates.

What are ESG metrics?

Environmental, social and governance, or ESG, criteria have origins from the investment community, where investors use metrics on a company’s performance in each of these areas to assess the risks and opportunities within a company’s operations, and therefore their financial risk-return payoff.

• Environmental metrics consider how a company performs as a steward of the natural world.
• Social metrics examine how an organization manages relationships with employees, customers, suppliers and the communities in which it operates.
• Governance metrics look at a company’s leadership and how the organization is managed.

Why might a company report?

There are a number of reasons why a company might report their ESG metrics or sustainability information:

• Legal requirements
• Maintaining business
• Winning new business
• Understanding risks
• Positioning of products and services
• Staff, client and investor engagement and retention

How to start reporting sustainability data?

A company may use frameworks and standards to help them structure their corporate sustainability disclosures. Corporate sustainability reporting is a journey. Having established a baseline, companies will typically then focus on improving the coverage and quality of their data, setting targets, increasing the scope of their reporting and identifying initiatives to improve performance.