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In This Issue
Editor's Note
Four Questions to Guide Human Rights Reporting
As part of her series on sustainability reporting, BSR Advisory Services Director Virginia Terry, who leads our reporting practice, offers four questions to guide companies’ reporting on human rights.
Despite the growing awareness of the need for human rights reporting, there are few resources on how companies can do this well. Terry’s four questions are built around the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and its focus on company due diligence.
(Also read Terry’s articles on integrated reporting and reporting on sustainability strategy.)
This week we are also launching a new BSR report on how the private equity sector can increase transparency on environmental, social, and governance issues through reporting to investors and stakeholders. And we look at the Natural Resources Defense Council’s new research on food waste, which in the United States has reached the equivalent of US$165 billion in food each year.
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In Depth
Four Questions to Guide Human Rights Reporting
Virginia Terry, Former Director, BSR
More companies today are reporting on their human rights policies, risks, and management approaches, yet there is little guidance on how best to do this reporting. BSR's four key questions will help companies align their approach with sustainability reporting guidelines and with the UN Guiding Principles' emphasis on company due diligence.
Read more →
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Spotlight
ESG Reporting in Private Equity
Investors and stakeholders are demanding greater transparency and accountability from the private equity sector. The global economic crisis and the 2012 U.S. presidential election have stirred up a public debate on the economic and social impacts of the private equity industry, most notably on job creation. Meanwhile, limited partners and other investors want better disclosure of financial and extra-financial risks. BSR believes the private equity sector should respond to these demands by defining a robust and proactive approach to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting and by being more transparent about how it contributes to social and economic welfare. Our new report, which describes the public reporting practices of the top 20 U.S. and European firms, found that proactive ESG reporting to investors and the public at large is still emerging. BSR provides recommendations to fund managers on ESG reporting in private equity, such as using materiality assessments to integrate the most salient issues into reports, disclosing ESG management objectives and performance results, and developing tailored approaches to reporting to limited partners.
Toolbox
Food Waste: A Business Opportunity?
By Nathan Springer, Associate, Advisory Services, BSR
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) recently found that Americans waste the equivalent of US$165 billion in food each year. Just like any type of supply chain inefficiency, this could be considered an opportunity. Not only is food waste costly, it perpetuates issues with food security and has environmental implications. Food waste in landfills accounts for nearly 25 percent of U.S. methane emissions. Agriculture uses 10 percent of energy, 50 percent of land, and 80 percent of fresh water expended in the U.S.—waste reduction efforts could help the industry decrease its reliance on these resources. The NDRC offers suggestions to government, business, and consumers to decrease food waste:
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Find alternative markets for products that don't meet quality standards, such as farmers markets and food banks.
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Clarify expiration labels so that consumers do not discard fresh food.
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Revise quality standards for produce or create new product lines for aesthetically imperfect food.
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