How to Maximize Sustainability Reporting Value

For many in the corporate responsibility field, the annual reporting process has become dull. The last 20 years has seen a massive explosion in the number of non-financial reports. But who actually reads them? What difference do they really make?

In a new paper, The Future of Reporting: From Routine to Strategic, global consultancy Corporate Citizenship explores whether sustainability reporting is really worth the effort.

Through extensive reporting work with clients, plus ongoing research, Corporate Citizenship has identified developments happening within the reporting landscape, which will change the way businesses view and use sustainability reporting in the coming years. The paper identifies four key trends reshaping the reporting landscape. These are:

1. Strategic Alignment. Closer alignment between sustainability and commercial decisions is becoming a business imperative.
2. Issues Expansion. The scope and significance of issues are exploding across extended value chains.
3. Standards Proliferation. There is a dramatic proliferation of sustainability-related standards, rankings, ratings, and indices.
4. Digital Innovation. Digital innovations offer new ways of presenting data and communicating with audiences.

Corporate Citizenship has also created a “Routine to Strategic Reporting Map,” designed to guide practitioners through the reporting journey — from standard and routine reports to strategic and engaging communications.

Earlier this month the Global Reporting Initiative said it plans to expand its scope to advance sustainability reporting and help organizations make more sustainable decisions.

Photo Credit: CSR via Shutterstock