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*connectedthinking
Voluntary Reporting of Sustainability-Related Information*Samuel GähwilerJune 2005
Page 2June 2005PricewaterhouseCoopers
Reporting & Assurance of Sustainability-Related Information
Objectives
• Communicate the current Voluntary Reporting landscape • Experience in the private sector with enterprise reporting and
environmental monitoring activities by public institutions• PwC Reporting & Assurance experiences and service offering• Proposal to encourage Voluntary Reporting in EECCA
*connectedthinking
1. Current landscape
Voluntary Reporting
Page 4June 2005PricewaterhouseCoopers
Reporting & Assurance of Sustainability-Related Information
Evolution of Reporting and Assurance
Overview
OFR
Sarbanes Oxley
Stakeholder Pressure
Low value unspecific, broad assurance
Degree of definition of assurance• scope of assurance (subject matter)• use of reporting standards and criteria • clarity regarding level of assurance and related work effort
High value specific assurance to international standards
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Sector reporting guidelines
Development of reporting standards
AA1000AS
IFAC
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Reporting
Reports
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Reporting
Reports
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Reporting & Assurance of Sustainability-Related Information
Global Trends
• Increasing number of reporters of environmental, social and ethical information*– 84 of the FTSE 100 companies produce sustainability-related reports (132 / FTSE 250)– Five years ago the number of FTSE 250 reporters was 30 and ten years ago only 6
• Regional differences in number of reporters*– 22 of the S&P Top 50 produce sustainability-related reports (40 of top 50 European
companies)
• Sectoral differences are also apparent*– The leisure, hotels, software and computer services sector are laggards in sustainability
reporting
• Increased consideration of GRI Guidelines when reporting**– Of the ten leading reporters in the survey, almost three-quarters comment that they have taken
the GRI guidelines into consideration when reporting
Reporting
*/**: Source: www.ft.com 11.09.2003
Survey of sustainability-related reporting trends in the FTSE 100 & 250*, and 100 largest companies in the Fortune 500**
Page 8June 2005PricewaterhouseCoopers
Reporting & Assurance of Sustainability-Related Information
Global Drivers
• Financial Perspective– Growing evidence for link between financial and sustainability performance; more
knowledge on effects of intangible value drivers – Financial Indexes: DJSI, FTSE4Good (Stock Market Indices, Rating Agencies)– Sustainability Investors such as Pension Funds and other Institutional Investors– Shareholder activism – Corporate Governance and stock listing requirements– EU IV Directive on Accounting & Reporting (to be confirmed)
• Stakeholder Perspective– Standards such as GRI Global Reporting Initiative, AA1000, OECD Guidelines for
Multinational Enterprises, United Nations Global Compact Principles– Erosion of public trust due to corporate scandals, need for greater corporate accountability
• Peer Pressure– Within Industry– Within Territory
Reporting
Page 9June 2005PricewaterhouseCoopers
Reporting & Assurance of Sustainability-Related Information
PRESSURES FOR CHANGE
Social and Environmental Reporting Stakes Raised
The Canadian Government has urged all listed companies to start reporting on their social and environmental performance. A letter was issued to the 1341 companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange stating that they should begin reporting if they are not amongst the estimated 100 businesses already doing so.
The letter emphasizes that social and environmental reporting is vital in allowing investors, employees, consumers and regulators to make informed decisions about a company.
At present social and environmental reporting is voluntary in Canada. Whilst the letter does not mention any sanctions that will be imposed on companies which fail to comply with the reporting requirements, the letter does suggest that the government may consider enforcing some form of regulation in the future.
Source: http://www.ethicalperformance.com, March 5, 2004
Page 10June 2005PricewaterhouseCoopers
Reporting & Assurance of Sustainability-Related Information
Territory Drivers
• Regulation– Denmark: The Law on Annual Accounts (2001) and the Law on Green Accounts (1996) – France: Law no.2001-420 related to New Economic Regulations (2001), Decree 2002-
221– Norway: The Accounting Act (1999)– Sweden: The Annual Accounts Act (1999)– The Netherlands: The Environmental Protection Act (1997)
• Soft Regulation, Stock Listing Requirements, Standards – Australia: Public Environmental Reporting Framework (2000)– Denmark: Social-ethical Accounts (2001)– EU: Green Paper “Promoting a European Framework for Corporate Social
Responsibility” (2002)– Japan: Environmental Reporting Guidelines / Environmental Performance Indicators
(2001)– South Africa: King II Report on Corporate Governance (2002)– UK: OFR, DTI “Accounting for People” (2003)
Reporting
*connectedthinking
2. Enterprise reporting and environmental monitoring activities by public institutions
Linkage
Experience of the private sector Image from Brandsite
Page 12June 2005PricewaterhouseCoopers
Reporting & Assurance of Sustainability-Related Information
Linkage between the enterprise data collection and reporting, and environmental monitoring activities by public institutions• Site-Level (international companies)
– Generally separate reporting lines and different requirements (parallel reporting). The site has requirements for statistic and compliance reporting from the local and the national administration, reporting requirements from the company, stakeholders and investors– Data source is generally the same, data aggregation is different (e.g. CO2 conversion factor, VOC Mass-balance)Corporate-Level
• The data collected from the sites is used for statistic reporting (e.g. CO2)• The data collected from the sites is used for internal monitoring and support
management decision-making• The consistency check of the different reporting lines are generally part of an
external Assurance
Page 13June 2005PricewaterhouseCoopers
Reporting & Assurance of Sustainability-Related Information
The experience of the private sector in adapting to various data collection and reporting environmental requirements
• Internal Reporting:
– Site-Level: Increasing and different reporting requirements to satisfy the corporate reporting requirements, but with focus on local and regional reporting definitions
– Corporate-Level: The reporting guidelines and reporting standards play an important role in the definition of the reporting parameters (e.g. water consumption according to GRI)
• External Reporting:
– Site-Level: Parameters, conversion factors follows the definition of national regulatory reporting (site-level environmental reports are generally rare)
– Corporate-Level: Parameters, conversion factors follows the company reporting definitions which are often based on reporting guidelines, reporting standards or EU legislation (e.g. GRI, OECD Guidelines, sector specific guidelines)
*connectedthinking
3. PwC’s Expertise
Reporting
Page 15June 2005PricewaterhouseCoopers
Reporting & Assurance of Sustainability-Related Information
PwC International Relationships
• CSR Europe - Board member • ESRA - Management Committee and Jury Member of the European
Sustainability Reporting Award Scheme • FEE - Active members in the Sustainability Working Group of the European
Federation of Accountants • GRI – Charter sponsor of the Global Reporting Initiative and active
involvement in many GRI working groups • ISEA - Council Member of the International Institute for Social and Ethical
Accountability (AccountAbility) - AA1000AS training as well as various other co-operations
• WBCSD - Member of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development where Sam DiPiazza co-chairs a working group on Accountability & Reporting
PwC Services
Page 16June 2005PricewaterhouseCoopers
Reporting & Assurance of Sustainability-Related Information
PwC Service Offering Overview
• Communications Planning and Strategy• Governance, Systems and Processes for Communications • Content Development• Analysis and Feedback• Assurance
* All parts of the service offering may be applied to both internal as well as external reporting and communications
PwC Services
Page 17June 2005PricewaterhouseCoopers
Reporting & Assurance of Sustainability-Related Information
Selection of Reporting Engagements
• USA, Global Food & Beverage Company – GRI assessment
• Switzerland, Pharmaceutical Company– Assurance of Corporate Citizenship reporting
• Denmark, Ministry of Environment – Green accounts reporting
• Russia, Norilsk Nickel – Assurance of social report
Case Studies
Page 18June 2005PricewaterhouseCoopers
Reporting & Assurance of Sustainability-Related Information
Case Studies
Russia, Norilsk NickelClient Issue(s) Unsure what / how to report to a Global audience
Previous reporting had been contained as a section in the Annual Report Assurance that internal controls and systems are functioning as designed, and providing high-quality data
Our Solution • Advisory for developing a reporting framework based on international and industry guidelines and best practice (ILO, UN Global Compact, GRI, ICMM (International Council on Mining & Metals) based on extensive stakeholder engagements at Company Facilities
• Assurance on systems, processes to capture, generate and compile data and information, quality of information, status of implementation of social policies
• Recommendations for improvement• Leverage the Western European assurance experience in Russia
Page 19June 2005
Selected PwC Projects in Russia
Framework for Social Report
Assurance on Social Report
Assurance on Social Report – Sakhalin Island Operations
Environmental Management Systems Audits
Environmental Training
Environmental Management Systems Audits
Environmental Training
Supply chain audits – Health and Safety, workplace conditions
Audits - Health and Safety, workplace conditions
Environmental Management Systems Audits
Environmental Training
*connectedthinking
4. Voluntary Reporting in EECCA
Proposals
Page 21June 2005PricewaterhouseCoopers
Reporting & Assurance of Sustainability-Related Information
Encouraging Reporting in EECCA
• Using sustainability related business platforms– Discuss and encourage corporate reporting (e.g. Responsible Business
Forum event in Poland 2003 (PwC presented reporting landscape, business case for reporting…outcome: if the government support it, companies will invest)
• Public sector driven Workshops:– raise awareness of the importance of voluntary reporting– disseminate best practice
• Participation in developing guidance documents• Assessment of voluntary reporting in EECCA:
– assess the current status of voluntary reporting – identify obstacles to voluntary reporting
– recommend initiatives to encourage more voluntary reporting• Existing PwC Environmental reporting services, ISO 14001 / OHSAS 18001 /
AA1000
Proposals
Page 22June 2005PricewaterhouseCoopers
Reporting & Assurance of Sustainability-Related Information
© 2004 PricewaterhouseCoopers. All rights reserved. PricewaterhouseCoopers refers to the networkof member firms of PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited, each of which is a separate andindependent legal entity. *connectedthinking is a trademark of PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Thomas ScheiwillerPartnerXLOS Sustainability Leadership Team
Zurich, Switzerland
phone +41 1 630 28 10e-mail [email protected]
Samuel GähwilerSenior ConsultantSustainability Team Switzerland
Zurich, Switzerland
phone +41 1 630 27 93e-mail [email protected]