What IS a Sustainability Report?
A sustainability report is a timely and reliable disclosure of corporate impacts. A good report celebrates strengths but also identifies weaknesses. Scary! But admitting that there are negative impacts of product development, provides accountability and motivation to improve operational efficiency. The document should be an honest account that builds the organization a reputation of being trustworthy and proactive. It should outline the scale of operations and describe the lifecycle & stakeholders in the product, as well as disclose the corporate strategy for creating the product sustainably.
What's in the report?
The report should demonstrate a commitment to transparency and should give the reader an idea of corporate priorities for creating positive change. It should outline the corporate policies, practices and strategies for managing sustainability. Topics often include impacts on:
ENVIRONMENT: emissions data, conservation practices, water & waste management, soil reclamation, renewable energy
SOCIETY: human rights, safety, equality (gender, race, income etc.), education, creating access to resources
ECONOMY: financial benefits to the local community & employees, development of climate-resilient local infrastructure
A sustainability report covers not only measurements taken over the year, but also how the company plans to decrease negative impacts. The company will often set targets, provide their operational plan and follow up with progress from previous reports.
Is it all just talk or another form of greenwashing?
ABSOLUTELY NOT! The difference here is that annual sustainability reports are curated documents - just like financial reports. Look for reports that are created in accordance with global sustainability frameworks (GRI, SASB, TCFD). The best reports are the ones that admit their faults and create a plan to rectify their processes.
Let's normalize progress over perfection! Reward honesty with loyalty.
Is reporting boring?
It shouldn't be! Reporting sustainability metrics can be complex. The reports themselves can be long and sometimes tedious. But the information within them CAN & SHOULD be used for marketing communications. Consumers are looking for brands they can trust!
