This from Environmental Leader today: “The Global Reporting Initiative’s creation of an extensible business reporting language taxonomy for the many indicators itemized in its sustainability framework could automate sustainability reporting in much the same way that the SEC believes XBRL will aid the production of financial reports,” according to CFO.com.
This development could even drive a new trend that combines standard financial data with sustainability data in a single annual report. A handful of companies already do this, according to CFO. Eric Israel, a managing director at KPMG, believes more will follow.
“There is a serious need for IT support to make this happen,” Israel says. “It’s missing now, but as expectations change and sustainability reporting becomes less about PR and more about satisfying investors’ need for data, more automation will become essential.”
Half of the S&P 500 released Corporate Social Responsibility reports last year, according to SIRAN, the Sustainable Investment Research Analyst Network.
Corporate decision makers would be well advised to consider making investments in CSR information management software now. The pressure is on. Companies that delay will find they are unprepared when CFOs will be accountable for CSR reporting in the future.
Tags: corporate social responsibility csr financial reports global reporting initiative kpmg siran sustainability reporting sustainable investment research analyst network
October 28th, 2008
Competition is good for everyone. So it’s not so surprising that many leading corporations, municipalities and small businesses are participating in a different kind of competition: a contest to see which organizations can go beyond regulatory requirements to improve the quality of the environment.
Companies like industry leaders Intel and John Deere are examples of organizations participating in the National Environmental Performance Track program. Sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Performance Track competition encourages organizations to develop programs that reduce emissions is excess of EPA-regulated limits for air, water and land pollution. For example, another noteworthy participant, the City of Dallas, has pledged to reduce water consumption at city-operated sites by 49 million gallons over 3 years, a 5 percent reduction.
Performance Track participants are encouraged to develop measurable emissions reduction goals that drive improvements to air, water and land quality. Since the program launch in 2000, more than 500 Performance Track member organizations have established in excess of 4,000 goals, resulting in a reduction of 310,000 metric tons of GHG emissions, 13,000 tons of nitrogen oxide and 52,000 tons of hazardous waste from being released into the environment.
Your organization still has a few more days to submit a 2008 Performance Track application. If your organization or government entity would like to join the competition, applications will be accepted through October 31. Members can obtain annual performance reports and renewal applications starting February 1, 2009. Submission deadline is April 1.
Needless to say, ESS can help Performance Track participants monitor progress against EPA and corporate benchmarks. ESS’ integrated EHS platform and powerful software tools, including our Environmental Compliance and GHG/Carbon Management solutions, help organizations streamline collection, processing and communicating emissions information to reduce complexities and risks and costs associated with generating both mandatory and voluntary reports.
Tags: environmental compliance epa ghg emissions hazardous waste National Environmental Performance Track reduce emissions
October 28th, 2008
