Publications by Tag: Reporting & Communications
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Top Five Reporting Mistakes (An Unofficial List)
Dunstan Allison Hope, Managing Director, Advisory Services
I love making lists. Following my recent list of reasons why sustainability reports really are worth the effort, I’ve compiled a list of the five biggest mistakes we see companies make in reporting: Read more
Sustainability Reports: Worth the Effort?
Dunstan Allison Hope, Managing Director, Advisory Services
In Your Words: Christine Bader on Leadership
Christine Bader, BSR Advisor
This guest blog is part of BSR's ongoing series exploring what leadership for sustainability looks like in today's world.
Water, Water, Nowhere?
Linda Hwang, Manager, Research
It’s impossible to read the news these days without coming across an article about water scarcity: Read more
How to Tell Your Sustainability Story: the Messier the Better
Melanie Janin, Communications Director
We all know that a picture tells a thousand words and creative visuals are a powerful way to engage audiences around an issue of concern. In the world of sustainability communications, slideshows, video documentaries, and case study success stories are common—and often very effective—tools to highlight the many environmental, social, and economic challenges and opportunities facing global business today. So the question becomes, in the mid of all this creative cacophony for the greater good, how will your company’s own sustainability story stand out from the crowd? Read more
The Danger of ‘Web 2.0’ Enthusiasm for Sustainability Reporting
Dunstan Allison Hope, Managing Director, Advisory Services
I’ve been a proponent of increased sustainability reporting and transparency since the late 1990s. I produced one of the world’s first “written-for-the-web” sustainability reports while at BT in 2001. I’ve also been heavily involved in the recent internet and human rights agenda, advising Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft on freedom of expression and privacy issues. Read more
Five Merits of Sustainability Reporting for Management
David Korngold, Associate, Advisory Services
Some think of sustainability reporting as a tack-on to a company’s strategy—that it’s all a bunch of granola that doesn’t matter to meat-and-potatoes management decisions. Yet sustainability reporting offers a tremendous opportunity to generate and communicate management insight, develop a more robust organization, and drive value for the company. This is all in addition to the potential environmental and social benefits that can result from developing a sustainability strategy and report. Read more
Five Tips for Corporate Social (Media) Responsibility Communications
With sustainability reporting season in high gear, more company leaders are thinking about how social media plays into their overall reporting communications strategy. Whether you’re using social media now or plan to in the future, consider these five tips. Read more
How the Next Generation Views Business and Human Rights
Faris Natour, Director, Human Rights
One of the benefits of teaching is the opportunity to cross-pollinate ideas and share experiences between the worlds of CSR practice and academia. When it comes to business and human rights, the need for this exchange seems particularly great. Read more
Embedding the Millennium Development Goals into Business Strategy: the World’s Women Can Help
Racheal Yeager, Manager, HERproject
During the CERES conference earlier this month, Levi Strauss CEO John Anderson made an important announcement: Levi Strauss will begin to require their suppliers to go beyond compliance and support the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) through workplace policies and programs and community outreach. Using the MDGs as a measurement for impact, Anderson said, will help apparel companies and apparel manufacturing businesses create positive benefits for local communities—such as improved health and nutrition, or access to bank accounts and financial literacy. Support for local communities and economic growth can lead to industry stability and ensure a sustainable supply of quality products. Plus, it’s the right thing to do. Read more
Can Certification Schemes Collaborate to Raise Sustainability Standards?
Virginia Terry, Director, Advisory Services
Last week, company leaders, government representatives, NGOs, and certifying bodies gathered at the Just Means’ Certification, Consumption, and Change conference—which focused on the future of ethical product certification and eco-labels—to push for greater cooperation and consolidation among sustainability certification processes. Panel discussions—which included members from certifying organizations such as Forest Stewardship Council, Green-e, Fair Trade, and the Rainforest Alliance—explored challenges related to giving consumers simple, user-friendly market signals to drive more sustainable purchasing habits. Read more
Rebuilding Sustainability Reporting Guidance From the Ground Up—Starting in Chile
Cody Sisco, Manager, Advisory Services
Should organizations be accountable for the performance of their supply chains? What information should they disclose? The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Working Group on Supply Chain Disclosures met last week in Santiago, Chile, to answer these questions in order to help improve supply chain reporting—which was identified by stakeholders and the GRI board as a weak point in overall sustainability reporting. Read more
What Conflict Minerals Regulation Means on the Ground
Amaya Gorostiaga, Manager, Advisory Services
I recently returned from a trip to Kigali, Rwanda, where I attended a regional conference on mineral certification—an effort to create responsible supply chains for “conflict minerals” mined from the African Great Lakes Region. Through the discussions, I learned where the region stands on promoting transparency and good governance in the artisanal and small-scale mining sectors, and the implications that recent legislative efforts would have on companies operating in, or sourcing from, the region. Read more
Conflict Minerals Regulations and Round Two of Multi-Stakeholder Responses
Marshall Chase, Manager, Advisory Services
In advance of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) deadline for comments on proposed conflict minerals reporting rules, a multi-stakeholder group facilitated by the Responsible Sourcing Network has developed a set of comments on the SEC's draft regulations. The comments encourage greater clarity and specificity in certain parts of the regulations, and more importantly, highlight the need to support the continued sourcing of verifiably conflict-free minerals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and surrounding region. Read more
Conflict Minerals Reporting Regulations: Who is Covered?
Marshall Chase, Manager, Advisory Services
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released draft conflict minerals reporting rulesin December 2010 that have significant implications for a range of corporate sustainability issues—from supply chain monitoring and transparency to integrated reporting and responsible investing. In the short term, however, many people are simply focused on understanding and commenting on these rules, which are open for comment until the end of January 2011. Read more
Should Businesses Publish Integrated Reports That Include Sustainability?
Aron Cramer, President and CEO
As the 2010 reporting season winds down, and the debate over integrated reporting heats up, it is a useful time to take stock of where reporting is today, and where it may be headed. Read more
Making Your CSR Reporting Accessible and Sophisticated: Lessons from PVH
By Adrienne Cademenos
I’ve been working with Philips Van Heusen (PVH), the apparel company that owns brands like Calvin Klein, Izod, and Tommy Hilfiger, to help launch their second Corporate Social Responsibility Report online this month. PVH is on the crest of a new wave of apparel companies who report on their impacts. No longer an arena reserved for the largest companies like Gap and Nike, smaller companies like Abercrombie, Nordstrom, and Levi Strauss have started adding or significantly enhancing information on sustainability to their websites in recent years. Given heighted transparency expectations from consumers, socially responsible investors (SRIs), and retail customers, we expect to see more apparel companies—of all sizes—reporting. Read more
Rethinking Reporting in an Era of Systems Redesign
Guy Morgan, Director, Advisory Services
Last week I joined more than 1000 representatives from companies, civil society groups, and government agencies in Amsterdam for the Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI) biannual conference, “Rethink. Rebuild. Report.” Read more
BSR Debates: Should Sustainability Reporting Be Mandatory?
By Dunstan Allison Hope, Managing Director, ICT Practice, and Blythe Chorn, Associate, Advisory Services
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's announcement last week of guidelines regarding corporate disclosure of climate-related risks brings to the fore a question that has generated growing interest in business and policy arenas: Should sustainability reporting be required? Read more
BSR Conference Session Summaries
BSR Conference Session Summaries
BSR Conference Session Summaries
BSR Conference Session Summaries
BSR Conference Session Summaries
BSR Conference Session Summaries
BSR Insight Articles
France to Update CSR Reporting Law in May
With France poised to renew its CSR reporting law next month (it will apply starting January 1, 2013), it’s a good time for companies with operations in France to consider how the changes could affect them. Read more
Investor Insights: Improving ESG Disclosure by Chinese Companies
Lindsey Lim, Associate, Advisory Services
Cross-sector collaboration is needed to create effective, industry-specific ESG disclosure guidelines for Chinese listed companies. Read more
Report: Companies Compiling Sustainability Data Inefficiently
While the number of annual corporate sustainability reports continues to grow—a record 48 percent of S&P 500 companies compiled CSR reports last year—many of these reports are undermined by the tools companies are using to produce them, according to a recent study by Ernst & Young that was published in conjunction with GreenBiz. The study surveyed executives and thought leaders who work in corporate environmental strategy and performance. Read more
Shareholder Activism, SRI Identified as Useful Tools for Change
Laura Commike Gitman, Managing Director, Advisory Services
Shareholder activism and socially responsible investing (SRI) are viewed as important tools of social and corporate change, according to a recent SustainAbility and GlobeScan study (available with free registration).The study, which surveyed more than 640 sustainability experts from 77 countries, revealed that shareholder activism is more effective at driving changes in corporate strategy and behavior than other tactics, including public criticism through social and traditional media, dialogue with companies, and civil disobedience. Read more
Transparency in China: Rebuilding Trust in the Nonprofit Sector
Brooke Avory, Manager, CiYUAN
Note: This article is the second piece in a two-part series on transparency in China. Read part one of our series, on the increase in CSR reporting in the private sector. Read more
Advocating a Shift to Sustainable Capitalism
In the face of climate change, water scarcity, poverty, and other challenges, it’s time for a shift to sustainable capitalism, according to a white paper published last month by Generation Investment Management, a firm cofounded by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore. Read more
More Companies Using Social Media for Sustainability Communications
Elissa Goldenberg, Associate, Advisory Services
The “SMI-Wizness Social Media Sustainability Index,” explores the current social media and sustainability landscape, which has blossomed in the past two years. Research for this index reveals that 250 major companies in North America and Europe are engaged in social media for sustainability communications (compared to 120 in 2010), and more than 100 companies have a blog, YouTube, Facebook, or Twitter channel dedicated to sustainability. Read more
Four Key Sustainability Trends in Retail
The Retail Industry Leaders Association’s first sustainability report on the industry’s environmental, social, and community impacts features company case studies and identifies four key trends: Read more
Transparency in China: A New Generation of Sustainability Reports
Brooke Avory, Manager, CiYUAN; Morgan Zhang, Manager, Advisory Services; Dunstan Allison Hope, Managing Director, Advisory Services
Between 1999 and 2005, only 22 corporate responsibility reports were published in China. While they contained photos and cases highlighting corporate philanthropy efforts and employee volunteering, few contained details on how the companies were addressing the environmental, social, and governance issues relevant to their business. Read more
New California Regulation Spurs Greater Supply Chain Transparency
Sasha Radovich, Manager, Advisory Services
In a recent roundtable discussion that BSR and San Francisco’s Department on the Status of Women led on California’s new anti-human trafficking law—which requires retailers and manufacturers to disclose information related to labor and human trafficking in their supply chains—Verité Southeast Asia Founder and Director Maria Apostol said her organization found debt-bonded forced labor in every single one of its audits in Taiwan and Malaysia where foreign workers were present. Read more
HP, Dell, and Nokia Top Greenpeace’s Green Products Ranking
Greenpeace’s 2011 “Guide to Greener Electronics” ranks 15 leading mobile phone, TV, and computer manufacturers on their policies and practices to reduce climate impacts, produce greener products, and make their operations more sustainable. HP, Dell, and Nokia top the list of the greenest manufacturers, while LG Electronics, Toshiba, and RIM take the bottom three ranks. Read more
A Practical Guide to Social and Environmental Compliance in the Licensing Industry
Cody Sisco, Manager, Advisory Services
BSR’s new guide—created with the International Licensing Industry Merchandisers’ Association and BSR’s Licensing Working Group (which includes representatives from Hasbro, NBCUniversal, Time Warner, and the Walt Disney Company)—helps the licensing industry promote social and environmental standards among a complex network of licensors, licensees, agents, suppliers, factories, and retailers. Read more
New Tool Helps Companies, Investors Assess Water-Related Risks
The Ceres Aqua Gauge, an Excel-based tool to help companies and investors assess water-related risks and opportunities, allows investors to score a company's water-management activities using a four-tiered rating system: no action, initial steps, advanced progress, and leading practice. Read more
Best Features of the New Scope 3 Standard
Ryan Schuchard, Manager, Climate and Energy
Earlier this month, the Greenhouse Gas Protocol launched its Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard, establishing a common way for companies to define and measure their total greenhouse gas impacts, risks, and opportunities—including those that are beyond the company’s direct operating control but that may represent the most significant impacts on the price and stability of the company’s supplies, customer demand, reputation, and costs. Read more
Integrated Reporting: A New Vision for Disclosure
Virginia Terry, Director, Advisory Services; Dunstan Allison Hope, Managing Director, Advisory Services
A better model of company reporting is needed. While traditional annual reports deliver reliable financial statements, they fail to capture critical information about the company’s long-term value. And sustainability reports often overload the reader with information, despite the growing emphasis on limiting the reports to what is “material” or relevant to that company’s core business. Read more
Four Improvements for the Global Reporting Initiative’s ‘G4’ Guidelines
Dunstan Allison Hope, Managing Director, Advisory Services ; Virginia Terry, Director, Advisory Services
In its first major overhaul since 2006, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) plans to create a new “G4” version of its Sustainability Reporting Guidelines by 2013. In preparation for this, the GRI will be accepting comments from the public as well as multistakeholder working groups. Read more
Walmart: The Greatest Sustainability Story of Our Time?
Eva Dienel, Communications Manager
In Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edward Humes’ latest book, Force of Nature, Walmart is the unlikely hero in a tale about the environment and sustainability, which Humes calls “the most important story of our age.” I spoke with Humes—who will discuss sustainability storytelling at the BSR Conference 2011—about what makes Walmart’s story so compelling, how to make your business’ sustainability story part of company lore, and how to avoid the trap of “mego” (shorthand for “my eyes glaze over”) when chronicling your own experience. Read more
Best Practices in Reporting on Ethics
Dunstan Allison Hope, Managing Director, Advisory Services
Ethics and integrity disclosure—reporting on the implementation of codes of ethics—is an important part of corporate transparency. Leading companies typically take one of the following approaches: Read more
Evaluating the Socioeconomic Benefits of Mining
The International Council on Mining and Metals launched a toolkit that provides companies, civil society, and government with a framework to evaluate the socioeconomic benefits of mining at local, regional, and national levels. The toolkit—which has been tested in Chile, Ghana, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Peru, and Tanzania—is designed to encourage collaboration among a range of stakeholders on six focus areas: poverty reduction; economic development as it relates to revenue management, regional development planning, and local content; social investment; and dispute resolutions. Read more
Conflict Minerals Policy, Management, and Reporting for Supply Chain
Corporate executives are experiencing increased risk exposures from conflict minerals in an already challenging and rapidly changing international business environment. Pending regulation that requires companies using minerals originating in the Democratic Republic of Congo or adjoining countries to report on their due diligence measures regarding the source and chain of custody of those minerals is one evolving aspect of managing risks within supply chains. Read more
The UN Guiding Principles: What’s Next for Business and Human Rights
Faris Natour, Director, Human Rights
Last week, the UN Human Rights Council endorsed the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights proposed by UN Special Representative John Ruggie. The principles provide guidance for implementing the UN "Protect, Respect, Remedy" Framework, which rests on three pillars: Read more
CSR Dominant Factor in How People Form Impressions of Companies
Elissa Goldenberg, Associate, Advisory Services
According to GlobeScan’s 2011 “State of Global Public Opinion on CSR” survey, corporate responsibility is a major factor in how people form impressions of companies, particularly in the developing world. In a survey of 25,000 people from 28 countries, GlobeScan asked people to identify what matters most when they form a favorable or unfavorable impression of a company. Read more
U.S. ‘Proxy Preview’ Report: Environmental, Social Issues on the Rise
According to As You Sow's "Proxy Preview 2011"—a compendium of the 360 U.S. shareholder resolutions up for vote in 2011—investors now file about 50 percent more resolutions on social and environmental issues than they did 10 years ago. This year’s guide, which provides an overview of the major players, recent regulatory developments, shareholder proposal trends, and new issues, includes highlights such as: Read more
Answering the Call for Mandatory Sustainability Reporting
Chhavi Ghuliani, Manager, Advisory Services
A little over a year ago, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued guidance requiring companies traded publicly in the United States to report on the risks and opportunities their operations face due to climate change. The guidance came after three years of persistent advocacy from a coalition of investors and nonprofits including Ceres, Environmental Defense Fund, and Pax World Management Corporation, and the announcement was hailed as a major breakthrough for investor groups looking to minimize long-term risk in their portfolios. Read more
Conducting Site-Level Human Rights Impact Assessments
Alejandra Martin, Manager, Advisory Services
Although more than 270 companies have human rights policy statements in place, few have implemented the policies, and even fewer have conducted human rights impact assessments at the site level. These assessments are particularly relevant for companies operating in remote areas where local governments and civil society have limited experience interacting with the private sector. Read more
Prosperity on a Crowded Planet: BSR’s Next Phase of Work on Sustainable Consumption
Virginia Terry, Director, Advisory Services
By nearly any measure, our current consumption patterns are not sustainable. The 2010 World Wildlife Fund Living Planet Index—which reflects changes in the health of the planet’s ecosystems—shows a drop by about 30 percent since 1970, and its 2010 Living Planet Report concludes that we are now using 50 percent more natural resources than Earth can sustain. This decline is already stalling progress addressing the needs of the more than 1 billion people who still lack adequate food, clothing, and shelter. As the population continues to grow, from 7 billion today to 9 billion in 2050, we need to shift to a more sustainable form of consumption that meets people’s needs without overtaxing natural resources. Read more
Practical Applications of the UN Business and Human Rights Framework on the Rise
Faris Natour, Director, Human Rights
John Ruggie, the UN special representative for business and human rights, issued a report listing practical applications of the UN "Protect, Respect, and Remedy" Framework. The framework, which has emerged as the de-facto standard for business and human rights, has already been applied by numerous governments, companies, investors, multilateral institutions, NGOs, national human rights institutions, academia, and the United Nations. Read more
New Cell Phone Ratings Increase Transparency for Consumers
Marshall Chase, Manager, Advisory Services
GoodGuide, which provides information on the social, environmental, and health impacts of a variety of consumer products, recently launched its 2011 rankings of cell phones. The company rated 576 cell phones using criteria including environmental and social performance at the product and company levels. These rankings are also available via a mobile application, which allows consumers to browse, search, or scan barcodes to see detailed information for more than 70,000 products and companies. Read more
Will Old Europe Become the New World of Sustainability in 2011?
Peder Michael Pruzan-Jorgensen, Managing Director, Europe, Middle East, and Africa
European companies, government officials, and civil society representatives have tended to scoff at their American cousins’ approach to sustainability, and also at the perceived fundamental disregard for the environment and human rights in BRIC countries. But as we make our way into 2011, I sense a shift in Europe toward a more somber mood, similar to the sobriety that comes to a soccer team the day after an unexpected defeat by a mignon competitor: heads down, feet dragging, and a realization that something different has to be done. Read more
State of Green Business 2011
GreenBiz's fourth annual "State of Green Business" report presents the top 10 trends and 20 indices for measuring how well companies are improving their environmental performance. According to the report, green business did not die during the recession; rather, companies are diving deeper and investing in longer-term sustainability initiatives. Read more
BSR Comments on Draft Human Rights Principles
This week, BSR submitted a commentary on the draft "Guiding Principles for the Implementation of the United Nations 'Protect, Respect, and Remedy' Framework" proposed by Professor John Ruggie, Special Representative to the UN Secretary General for Human Rights and Business. Read more
Companies Report on Water-Related Risks and Opportunities
The Carbon Disclosure Project's (CDP) latest report summarizes the results of its first annual water disclosure questionnaire that was distributed to 302 of the world’s 500 largest companies in the FTSE Global Equity Index Series. The survey asked companies for information about their water strategies and management plans, water-related risks and opportunities, and water use within the context of local scarcity or abundance. Read more
What to Look for in 2011
Aron Cramer, President and CEO
Over the past couple of years, relentless focus on the basic vitality of the world’s economy has distracted attention from important underlying trends. As we go into 2011, the market meltdowns of 2008 are receding from view. This means that structural changes in the world are—thankfully—again capturing the world’s attention. These longer-term developments are again shaping the business environment—and pointing to an even greater focus on sustainability as one of the defining characteristics of business success. Here are five key trends that will shape our world in 2011. Read more
Scope 3 Preview: An Interview With WRI’s Director of the GHG Protocol
Interview with Pankaj Bhatia, Director, GHG Protocol Initiative, World Resources Institute, by Ryan Schuchard, Manager, Climate and Energy, BSR
The art and science of carbon footprinting is about to take a step forward: The long-awaited launch of the Scope 3 standard for value chains and the Product standard for life-cycle analysis is just around the corner. Read more
ESG Integration in Emerging Markets
Elissa Goldenberg, Associate, Advisory Services
Eurosif's "Emerging Markets Report</a>" explores the integration of ESG factors into business operations and reporting by companies in emerging markets, which is on the rise but still lower than in developed markets Read more
Back to Basics for Tackling Consumption—With a Twist
Linda Hwang, Manager, Research
All of us buy, use, and dispose of a wide variety of products every day. Some products we buy out of habit, and others are purchased only after extensive deliberation. Some of our purchases are made daily—like grabbing that double shot of espresso at 3 p.m.—while others occur only once a year or once in a lifetime. What this means is that consumers’ decision-making varies tremendously depending on the context. For companies, recognizing the unique contexts in which people make purchasing decisions can increase the likelihood of affecting those decisions, and ultimately steering people toward more sustainable choices. Read more
‘Green Guides’ Help Steer Environmental Marketing
Ryan Schuchard, Manager, Climate and Energy
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently released its draft guidance on environmental marketing, which helps marketers avoid misleading customers—and avoid FTC actions against them. Read more
Nine Key Trends in Corporate Responsibility Reporting
Dunstan Allison Hope, Managing Director, Advisory Services
A new BSR guide highlights nine trends that are shaping the evolution of corporate responsibility reporting and can be built into a company's reporting strategy: Read more
Going Local: Increasing the Value of Local Sustainability Reporting
Adam Lane, Manager, Advisory Services
In addition to producing a global sustainability report, a growing number of multinational companies (MNCs) are reporting on local sustainability performance at the regional, country, and site-specific levels—a trend that holds true for 27 out of the 100 largest global companies. Read more
Decoding Chinese CSR Reports
Between 2005 and 2009, the number of CSR reports released in China went from less than 10 to more than 500. Unfortunately, this increase in quantity has not necessarily been matched by improved quality. Instead of creating valuable new data for investors, the influx of reports may have just created more for investors to (not) read. Read more
ESG Performance Reporting by Mainstream Data Providers
Over the last two years, more mainstream financial data providers—including MSCI, Thomson Reuters, and Bloomberg—have launched environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data services or acquired socially responsible data providers such as KLD, Asset4, Innovest, and Risk Metrics. While this shift has made data on ESG performance more accessible to mainstream investors, companies are concerned that the data will lack the context necessary for accurate interpretation. Read more
New Initiative Promotes Global Integrated Reporting Framework
Dunstan Allison Hope, Managing Director, Advisory Services
The International Integrated Reporting Committee (IIRC), a new initiative by the Prince's Accounting for Sustainability Project and the Global Reporting Initiative, aims to create a globally accepted framework for sustainability accounting that combines financial, environmental, social, and governance information in a clear and comparable format. Read more
The Art and Science of Reporting Water-Related Risks
Linda Hwang, Manager, Research
In 2011, S2C Global Systems plans to perform the world's first large-volume export of water in order to distribute water from Alaska to India for pharmaceutical, high-tech manufacturing, and other uses—highlighting the impacts of growing water scarcity on heavy-water users around the world. Read more
Trends in Voluntary and Mandatory Reporting
Elissa Goldenberg, Associate, Advisory Services
A new report from the Global Reporting Initiative and others gives an overview of mandatory and voluntary approaches to sustainability reporting and assurance in 30 countries. It also explores the advantages and disadvantages of mandatory and voluntary approaches, and describes selective legislation, codes, standards, and guidelines at the global, regional, and country levels. Read more
Leadership for Sustainable Business
Aron Cramer, President and CEO
For anyone who thought that drama in the world’s economy had subsided, 2010 has delivered shocks and surprises—many related directly to sustainability—that reinforce just how dynamic and unpredictable the business environment still is. Read more
How Timberland Learned to Talk About Its Walk
Though Timberland has had a longstanding commitment to sustainability, the company hadn't widely communicated about it until just a few years ago. At last week’s Sustainable Brands 2010 conference, Timberland's chief brand officer explained how the launch of the company's Earthkeepers line of boots, shoes, and accessories made from recycled and renewable materials was an opportunity to tell a new story and engage its customers. Read more
Report Review Panels: How They Can Deliver Value
Aron Cramer, President and CEO
Spending time at the GRI global conference in Amsterdam, where I chaired the business plenary session, was a good opportunity to reflect on the three report review panels I’ve been involved with over the past year, and to distill some lessons about how these panels do—and don’t—deliver. Read more
Trends in Investor Sustainability Surveys
As new sustainability issues emerge and practices evolve, so, too, do the investor surveys that track companies' environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance. BSR has noticed several new trends emerging in these surveys that signal investors' increased sophistication in evaluating companies' ESG performance. Read more
The Proliferation of Eco-Labeling
According to a recent survey by the World Resources Institute, Duke University, and Big Room Inc., there are approximately 500 "eco-labels" in use for various products worldwide. As noted in a recent Washington Post article, the environmental certification field is becoming increasingly crowded as consumers and businesses grow more conscientious of product origins. And because certification is a self-regulated industry, the integrity of these labels varies. Read more
2010 Proxy Preview
Elissa Goldenberg, Associate, Advisory Services
As You Sow's "2010 Proxy Preview" categorizes the hundreds of proxies filed in the United States on social and governance issues, explores important issues, identifies the key investors and organizations filing them, and provides a list of companies and upcoming proxy votes. Read more
On the Horizon: BSR’s Research & Innovation Agenda 2010
Interview with Faris Natour, Director, Research & Innovation, by Eva Dienel, Manager, Communications
Each year, BSR’s Research & Innovation department produces independent, applied sustainability research to help BSR members stay ahead of the curve and to advance corporate responsibility as a whole. The team’s aim is to offer practical solutions that will address the key sustainability challenges of today and tomorrow, with insights informed by BSR’s consulting work, interviews with business leaders, and our active participation in global initiatives that address sustainability issues for the private sector. Read more
Corporate Climate Reporting: How to Communicate About Policy Engagement
Ryan Schuchard, Manager, Climate and Energy
With the fiscal year drawing to a close for many companies, it’s writing season for corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports. As usual, reports provide a medium for communicating to investors who want to see companies creating value, customers who want to know which companies and products are leaders versus laggards, and watchdogs looking for inconsistencies. Read more
Comparing Like With Like: Privacy, Security, and Content Issues
Dunstan Allison Hope, Managing Director, Advisory Services
The world today is increasingly dependent on all-pervasive networks provided by the information and communications technology (ICT) sector. Commonplace tasks, such as placing a phone call, making airline reservations, or banking via the internet are all built on extensive flows of information and supported by vast ICT infrastructures. The rapid expansion of bandwidth, and the resulting growth of social networking have dramatically increased the social, political, and economic significance of user-generated content. Read more
Capitalizing on ESG Integration
Mainstream investors are increasingly integrating environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues into their decision-making processes. According to a recent BSR report, this shift is exemplified by increased participation in responsible investing, new ESG products from mainstream institutions, greater access to company data (especially ESG data), and a rise in regulation of ESG reporting. Read more
Mandatory Reporting: BSR Debates the Pros and Cons of Requiring Companies to Report on Sustainabilit
Interview with Dunstan Allison Hope, Managing Director, ICT Practice, and Blythe Chorn, Associate, Advisory Services, by Eva Dienel, Communications Manager, BSR
At BSR’s most recent conference in October 2009, Ben Verwaayen, the CEO of Alcatel-Lucent, spoke favorably about the need for mandatory sustainability reporting. At a breakout session later that same day, however, many corporate responsibility (CR) practitioners said they opposed mandatory reporting. Read more
Measuring Metrics That Matter in Supply Chain Sustainability
BSR's recent report guides companies on how to design effective supply chain sustainability indicators and metrics, which are essential tools in helping companies demonstrate both internally and externally the value of these strategies. Read more
Mary Robinson Calls on Companies to Issue Human Rights Statements
By Nikki Weston
Now through the end of June 2010, Realizing Rights, a human rights organization headed by Mary Robinson—the former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights—is encouraging major companies to adopt a formal human rights policy statement, which will be posted on the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre's website. Read more
New Guide to Human Rights Reporting
Faris Natour, Director, Human Rights
According to a new resource guide on corporate human rights reporting—developed by Realizing Rights, the UN Global Compact, and the Global Reporting Initiative—many businesses struggle with how to integrate human rights into their business practices and public reporting. In fact, most companies do not publicly disclose information on their human rights impacts. Read more
Embedding Gender in Sustainability Reporting: A Practitioner’s Guide
The International Finance Corporation and Global Reporting Initiative's practitioner's guide covers trends, stakeholder perspectives, and recommendations for how companies can embed gender in sustainability measurement, policies, and reporting in the following areas: Read more
Bloomberg Launches ESG Data Service
Bloomberg's new environment, social, and governance (ESG) data service allows investors to search and compare relevant ESG data on 3,000-plus public and private companies. Users have access to a wide range of numerical and qualitative data, ranging from companies' emissions and energy consumption to their human rights policies and the size of their boards of directors. Read more
Integrating Environmental Performance into Annual Financial Reporting
According to the new report "Turning Questions into Answers: Environmental Issues and Annual Financial Reporting," by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and the Environment Agency, climate-related issues are now driving reporting and assurance in annual financial statements. The report explores this subject in three main sections: Read more
Integrating Financial and Corporate Responsibility Reporting
Dunstan Allison Hope, Managing Director, Advisory Services
In its 2008 report, United Technologies Corporation included corporate responsibility (CR) topics that have a direct impact on the company’s financial performance, such as energy efficiency, throughout the report. The company also devoted a separate section of its report to its overall CR strategy and performance. Read more
Winning Back the Public’s Trust in Business
Aron Cramer, President and CEO
The fall of Lehman Brothers last September triggered a collapse in financial markets, and then the real economy. It also signaled a dramatic decline in the public’s trust in business. Read more
Behind Gap’s New Label
Linda Hwang, Manager, Research
As a member of BSR's Sustainable Water Group (SWG), Gap Inc. has spent the last five years creating and evolving its Clean Water Program for its denim laundries worldwide. Last week, the company’s Gap brand launched its new denim collection—1969 Premium Jeans—which, for the first time, features a "Clean Water Wash" label indicating that the water used to wash and dye the jeans was treated to meet safety and quality standards before leaving the denim laundry. Read more
Responsible Engagement on Water Policy
By Gavin Power, Deputy Director, UN Global Compact
As the CEO Water Mandate prepares for its fourth working conference as part of World Water Week in Stockholm this week, we believe it is important to reflect on the broader context in which water resides—specifically, its role as a global security issue, and its relation to other critical environmental and social issues. Read more
Sprint’s Latest Phone Paves Way for Greener Products
Marshall Chase, Manager, Advisory Services
Sprint's recently released Samsung Reclaim is the latest example of the company's efforts to improve the environmental impacts of its products and services. According to Sprint, this phone—made from 80 percent recyclable materials—is the first phone in the United States constructed from "eco-friendly bio-plastic materials." Read more
Rising Above the Noise of Greenwash
Linda Hwang, Manager, Research
Despite countless indicators that today's "battered consumer" is seeking deep discounts and shopping for necessities only, consumer demand for environmentally friendly products is on the rise, according to National Geographic and Globescan's 2009 Greendex survey of consumers in 17 countries. Read more
Business and Government: Working Together in the Reset World
Aron Cramer, President and CEO
I've just returned from a few days in Washington, D.C., and with that fresh in mind, the link between public policy and corporate responsibility seems a perfect topic for this inaugural edition of the BSR Insight. Read more
Events
BSR Conference 2011: Leadership Required
Leadership in business is changing fast. In today’s global, integrated, and transparent world, business is expected to do more than deliver shareholder returns. At its best, business is a creative force and an integral player in delivering prosperity for 9 billion people, applying game-changing technologies for social benefit, and radically reducing our use of natural resources. Learn more
Preparing for the International Integrated Reporting Committee’s Proposals
A better model of reporting is needed. That is the rationale behind the International Integrated Reporting Committee’s (IIRC) vision of a new reporting framework that brings together financial, non-financial, and sustainability disclosure to provide a more holistic accounting of business value. Now the IIRC has published its discussion paper, “Towards Integrated Reporting – Communicating Value in the 21st Century,” laying the groundwork for a new reporting framework. Learn more
ESG Investment and Implications for the Energy and Extractives Sector
Following our Sustainability Matters webinar on integrating ESG issues into investor relations, BSR will host a webinar for energy and extractives members to discuss the implications of these trends on the sector. Given increasing attention from both mainstream and socially responsible investors, there is a critical need to understand investor expectations as well as explore potential impacts on company management. Learn more
Asia Socially Responsible Investment Roundtable
Socially responsible investment (SRI) is the practice of integrating environmental sustainability, social responsibility, and corporate governance (ESG) considerations into the investment process. It is not only a means of risk mitigation for financial institutions, but also a powerful lever for shifting to a more sustainable global economy. Learn more
Reports
Good Practices for Complying with Licensors’ Social and Environmental Requirements
This guide serves as a starting point for licensee executives and professionals to understand how they can meet licensors’ requirements related to social and environmental compliance. It also provides guidance on how licensees can improve working conditions within their direct and contract manufacturing operations and supply chains. Read more
Conflict Minerals Reporting Regulations: Who is Covered?
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) draft conflict minerals reporting rules will have significant implications for a range of corporate sustainability issues. BSR has prepared this issue brief to help companies understand how they may be affected and whether they may have to respond. Read more
Going Local: Increasing the Value of Local Sustainability Reporting
This report provides an overview of trends in local reporting and offers a framework by which sustainability practitioners may approach local reporting in a manner that generates value for the company and its stakeholders. Read more
Corporate Responsibility Reporting: A View for the Next Cycle
This short concept paper sets out our view on nine trends shaping the future direction of reporting and describes how BSR can help during your next reporting cycle. Read more
Communicating on Climate Policy Engagement
Public policy engagement has rapidly become a crucial aspect of reporting on climate change. While reporting on direct climate impacts and on risks and opportunities remains important, environmental advocates and other stakeholders are calling on companies to demonstrate how they are playing a role in climate policy development. In response, a growing number of companies are reporting on their climate policy engagement efforts, and emerging third-party measurement frameworks are providing a basis for comparison Read more
Mandatory Reporting: BSR Debates the Pros and Cons of Requiring Companies to Report on Sustainability
With more industry leaders beginning to ask whether sustainability reporting should be required, two BSR consultants debate what form it might take, whether mandatory reporting would impact innovation, and what would need to happen in order for such a system to work. Read more
Achieving Effective REACH Implementation: A BSR Issue Brief on New European Registration, Evaluation
Understanding and Preventing Greenwash: A Business Guide
Do you trust business? Read more
Aligned for Sustainable Design: An A-B-C-D Approach to Making Better Products
Eco-Promising: Communicating the Environmental Credentials of Your Products and Services
This business briefing is intended to help managers in consumer- facing companies to communicate the environmental credentials of products honestly and convincingly. We examine why businesses are increasingly using environmental messaging on products, how different formats (such as eco-labels) have developed, and the risks and challenges associated with making environmental claims. Read more
Offsetting Emissions: A Business Brief on the Voluntary Carbon Market (Second Edition)
This business brief is intended for companies that are considering the purchase of voluntary offsets for their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. It offers clear steps that guide early assessments and enable corporate decision makers to become educated consumers within voluntary carbon markets. Read more
The Leadership Challenge for CEOs and Boards
Over the past 18 months, the World Economic Forum Global Corporate Citizenship Initiative (GCCI) Advisory Committee, which is composed of top corporate citizenship executives of leading Forum member companies, explored how companies can contribute constructively to efforts to improve public policy frameworks and the capacity of public institutions. The project has attempted to improve understanding of the business case for improved public governance and provide guidance on how businesses can engage in public-private efforts to strengthen the effectiveness of such frameworks and institutions. The outcome of these deliberations is a CEO leadership statement and supporting analysis that together provide a roadmap for business leaders seeking to work with governments to improve the enabling environment for sustainable economic growth and development. Read more
Case Studies Report
Sumitomo Trust and Banking: A Sustainable Investment Strategy for China
Our research and analysis enabled Sumitomo to create a new investment model and achieve outstanding performance that has attracted significant attention and serves as a role model for investors in China. Learn more
Leading Business Action on Conflict Minerals
In the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where armed conflict has claimed more than 5.4 million lives over the past 15 years, militant groups controlling most of the region’s mines use the trade in tin, tantalum, tungsten, and gold as important sources of funding. At the same time, this trade—which feeds into complex supply chains for products ranging from cell phones and cutting tools to jet engines and jewelry—is an important source of income for a million people in the region. Learn more
GE’s Citizenship Report Sets the Bar High
GE decided to create a reporting strategy that would communicate a global, companywide approach while also encompassing its diverse business lines: GE Money, Commercial Finance, NBC Universal, Infrastructure, Industrial, and Healthcare. Learn more
Sustainability Matters
Introducing the New ‘Scope 3’ Value Chain Greenhouse Gas Inventory Standard
The long-awaited “Scope 3” standard for greenhouse gas accounting and reporting in value chains, along with its companion standard for evaluating products, was released last month by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. Learn more
Myth-Making and Culture-Changing: Telling Your Sustainability Story
Sustainability is one of our culture's "core stories"—used to define who we are and our purpose in life. Today, more often than not, big brands own those stories and can use them to influence customers by promoting the values of sustainability. Learn more
Integrating ESG in Investor Relations
The incorporation of ESG criteria into investment analysis continues to grow among mainstream investors. Signatories to the UN Principles for Responsible Investment have increased from 50 to more than 850 in the last four years, representing US$22 trillion in assets, or 10 percent of total global capital markets. Asset managers from Deutsche Bank to Goldman Sachs to State Street Global Advisors have all developed products focused on ESG integration. Learn more
Preparing for the 2011 Proxy Voting Season
Proxy voting is an important tool that many investors use to show their support for ESG issues, with a goal of garnering attention for areas they view as critical to a company's business.
Learn moreResponding to the Carbon Disclosure Project
May 31, 2011, is the deadline for responding to the Carbon Disclosure Project's (CDP) Investor Questionnaire on climate change. What will your company report? Learn more
Telling Your CSR Story
It’s no longer enough to have a good CSR program—you also need to tell your company’s CSR story if you’re going to engage target audiences and achieve maximum impact. But how do you create and tell a story in a way that sets you apart from the competition and breaks through the clutter? Learn more
Communicating on Climate Policy Engagement
Listen to our discussion on the findings of BSR's report, "Communicating on Climate Policy Engagement," and understand how they apply to your job today. Learn more
Integrated Reporting: Current Trends and Best Practices
As sustainability reporting becomes more sophisticated—and a broader set of audiences use the data provided in such reports—more and more companies are combining their corporate responsibility/sustainability and annual financial reports. Learn more
Understanding and Preventing Greenwash
In this webinar, you will learn about the key themes from BSR's new report, "Understanding and Preventing Greenwash: A Business Guide," cowritten with U.K.-based Futerra. Learn more
BSR Review
Reporting
We stand at a significant juncture in the development of sustainability reporting. Many companies are integrating sustainability issues into their annual financial reports, and the International Integrated Reporting Committee (IIRC) recently published proposals for a new framework that has the potential to re-shape corporate reporting for the 21st century. At the same time, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is embarking on a process to create the "G4" version of its Sustainability Reporting Guidelines, while an increasing number of regulators around the world are putting new disclosure requirements in place. View email publication
Sustainability in the Chinese Context
With China's incredible growth, it will soon become the world's second-largest economy. However, the country strives for more than just economic prosperity—sustainable development is a top priority for the country, as evidenced by the latest 12th Five-Year Development Plan. View email publication
Other Publications & Events Tagged, Reporting & Communications
- Blog [ 19 ]
- BSR Conference Session Summaries [ 6 ]
- BSR Insight Articles [ 68 ]
- BSR Review [ 2 ]
- Case Studies [ 1 ]
- Events [ 5 ]
- Research Reports [ 12 ]
- Sustainable Investment in China Article [ 0 ]
- Sustainability Matters [ 9 ]
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