Facing the Inevitable— Integrated Financial-Sustainability Reporting for Business (PAN3167) By William R. Blackburn Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education AASHE 2010 Conference October 11, 2010 Denver, CO
Growing Global Multistakeholder Consensus on SR/Sustainability Scope ISO 26000 Social Responsibility Core Subjects GRI Sustainability Indicator Categories/Aspects Organizational Governance Governance Human Rights Labour Practices Labor Practices & Decent Work The Environment Environment Fair Operating Practices Society: Corruption, Public Policy, Anti-competitive Behavior, etc. Consumer Issues Product Responsibility Community Involvement & Development Society: Community Economic: Economic Performance, Market Performance, etc. Governance (oversight structures for legal and ethical compliance and risk control) Human Rights (civil rights, nondiscrimination, etc.) Labor Practices (wages, working conditions, etc.) Environmental Issues (pollution, energy and resource conservation, biodiversity, etc.) Fair Operating Practices (anti-corruption, fair competition, etc.) Consumer Issues (fair marketing, consumer safety, etc.) Community Involvement & Development Economic Viability of the Organization
General Definition of Sustainability “The 2 Rs” Values-driven management based on--- Respect: for people and other living things Resources: the wise use of economic and natural resources —for the purpose of sustaining and promoting the long-term well-being of the organization and society (including the environment).
Growing Global Multistakeholder Consensus on SR/Sustainability Reporting Principles ISO 26000 SR Information Characteristics GRI Reporting Principles (with Tests) Complete Completeness Accurate Accuracy Balanced (Transparent) Balance (Transparency) Timely Timeliness Understandable Clarity Responsiveness Stakeholder Inclusiveness Accessible Comparability Sustainability Context
The Evolution of SR/Sustainability Reporting Environmental (CERES Reports) Environmental + health & safety (EHS) EHS + social + partial economic (GRI “Sustainability”) EHS +social + complete economic (“Integrated” sustainability + financial)
Some Integrated Reporting Companies Novozymes-first in 2002 Novo Nordisk in 2003
The Evolution of SR/Sustainability Reporting More reporters (3000+; GRI=1000+) Broader audience and scope; more global reports Greater length; more coverage of value chain More innovative use of web (XBRL, custom reports, etc.), social media (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) More prioritizing based on materiality (significance), with stakeholder engagement (GRI, ISO 26000, AA 1000) More mandatory reporting (France, UK, Sweden, Denmark, South Africa; SEC guidance on climate change, board diversity) XBRL like HTML—Extensible Business Reporting Language (w.tags) King III June 2010
What’s Driving Integrated Reporting? Failure of traditional financial reporting to identify risk Linkage among financial, social and environmental performance (e.g., BP) Sustainability as a strategy/governance model rather than collection of practices Competition for the attention by and resources from top management by social/environmental activists (e.g., SEC guidance on reporting climate change risk) Efficiency
Some Issues with Integrated Reporting Integrated reporting standards (IIRC); metrics vs narrative Assurance process/ standards, expertise, cost Transparency Addressing enterprise risk management (ERM) Defining audiences and addressing their information needs for decisionmaking Ecosystem cost accounting, valuation Narrative reporting MDA GRI collaborating with the Prince of Wales Accounting for Sustainability Project and the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) to form the International Integrated Reporting Committee for this purpose.
The Sustainability Handbook— The Complete Management Guide to Achieving Social, Economic and Environmental Responsibility (See www.WBlackburnConsulting.com )