The end of days is near, the signs are clear. If we look at the earth at this moment, it has a 'sickness' called Global Warming. History says that the destruction of the earth has been going on since the Industrial Revolution 150 years ago. The source is the over-use of energy, especially fossil energy from oil and coal which emits carbon dioxide (CO2) and increases the volume of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which can destroy the ozone layer. Add to all of these the chemicals that have the potential to damage the ozone layer, and increase CO2 emissions.
The awareness about saving the earth started in 1983 with the establishment of the Bruntland committee by the United Nations. This committee underlines the purpose of sustainable development is to fulfil the needs of today's generation without disturbing the ability of the future generation.
The recommendation of the Bruntland report has been followed up by a number of parties which established a number of initiatives or other disciplines. They include Agenda 21/MDGs (1992), Environmental Accounting (1992), Kyoto Protocol (1998), World Summit on Sustainable Development (2002), Equator Principles (2002), Environmental Management Accounting (2002) and Bali Road Map (2007).
The core of these initiatives are: the business community should conduct their operations on the basis of '3Ps' (planet, people, profit) as the triple bottom line. This means in order to obtain profit a company needs to be responsible far taking care of the planet and care about people.
Sustainability reporting is the practice of measuring, disclosing and being accountable to internal and external stakeholders for organisational performance towards the goal of sustainable development. 'Sustainability reporting' is a broad term considered synonymous with others used to describe reporting on economic, environmental and social impacts. A sustainability report should provide a balanced and reasonable presentation of the sustainability performance of a reporting organisation - including both positive and negative contributions. Sustainability reports based on the GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) present outcomes and results that occurred within the reporting period in the context of the organisation's commitments, strategy, and management approach.
All GRI Reporting Framework documents are developed using a process that seeks consensus through dialogues between stakeholders from the business circle, the investor community, labour force civil society, accounting, academia, etc. All GRI documents are subject to testing and continuous improvement, which is intended to serve as a generally accepted framework for reporting on an organisation's economic, environmental and social performance. It is designed for use by organisations of any size, sector or location. It takes into account the practical considerations faced by a diverse range of organisations - from small enterprises to those with extensive and geographically dispersed operations.
The GRI reporting process contains general and sector-specific content that has been agreed by a wide range of stakeholders around the world to be generally applicable for reporting an organisation's sustainability performance. The Sustainability Reporting Guidelines (the Guidelines) consist of principles for defining report contents and ensuring the quality of reported information. It also includes Standard Disclosures made up of performance indicators and other disclosure items, as well as the guidance on specific technical topics in reporting.
The GRI has been the go-to place for sustainability reporting for years and has responded to growing concerns of periodical amendments (from G3, G3.1 and G4) of core principles such as materiality and dropping its perverse incentive of giving a better score to companies that ticked more of the boxes. Sustainability practitioners need to know about these new frameworks and understand how they relate to each other.
In the late 1990s, corporate sustainability reporting was virtually unknown. Yet, in little more than a decade, it has developed to a extraordinary level. By the standard of major innovations in business practices, it ranks among the most remarkable in recent years. Till today more than 10,000 companies publish their reports every year.
The global increase in sustainability reports is noteworthy and now the credibility of the reports is marked by assurance statements. In Europe, a number of public accountants, especially in the big four, provide assurance services against sustainability reporting.
The GRI promotes the use of sustainability reporting as a way for organisations to become more sustainable and contribute to sustainable development towards sustainable earth.
The writer is Deputy Managing Director of Modhumoti Bank Limited. He is also Associate Member of the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Bangladesh (ICMAB) and first Certified Sustainability Reporting Assurer (CSRA) in Bangladesh. touhid1969@gmail.com
Sustainability reporting for sustainable earth
Md. Touhidul Alam Khan | Published: July 27, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00
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