All Articles About Reporting & Communications

BSR Insight Article: Making Sustainability Reports Relevant to Diverse Audiences

Julia Robinson, Communications Associate

With sustainability reporting becoming mainstream, it is crucial that reports continue to evolve to meet the needs of diverse audiences. In a new publication from the UN Environment Program, Deloitte Southern Africa, and the University of Stellenbosch on the future of corporate reporting, released in advance of Rio+20, BSR President and CEO Aron Cramer examines how to engage with multiple audiences. Cramer suggests that companies should narrow reporting strategies to focus on three audiences, recognizing that they have different priorities: Read more →

Posted: June 19, 2012 | Topics: Reporting & Communications, Stakeholder Relations

Blog: CFO and the CSO: Six Areas for a Lasting Friendship

Steve McCoy-Thompson, Director of Operations

The CFO serves as the great reality check on corporate initiatives, capable of reducing grand intentions to sobering data. And that is why she can also be a CSO or CSR leader's best friend. Here are six priority areas that can form the basis for a lasting friendship. Read more →

Posted: May 31, 2012 | Topics: Reporting & Communications, Strategy & Integration

BSR Insight Article: Reporting on Sustainability Strategy

Virginia Terry, Former Director, Advisory Services

Over the past couple years, the corporate responsibility community has seen a legion of material (including our own articles and Conference sessions) focused on integrated reporting. All of this attention seems to indicate that the practice of creating one report covering both financial and sustainability performance and addressing the connections between the two has taken a firm hold. It hasn't. Only a handful of companies--including UTC, Novo Nordisk, and Philips--are publishing integrated reports. And it is far too early to predict whether integrated reporting will become a standard practice, especially in the absence of government mandates. But even if it does not, the concepts behind integrated reporting are likely to have a profound--and positive--influence on sustainability reporting, particularly when it comes to how companies communicate about their overall sustainability strategy. By the Corporate Register's account, nearly 6,000 companies published sustainability reports last year. At BSR, we see a wide range of quality in the way companies present and communicate their overarching strategy for sustainability. While a number of these reports demonstrate a company's recognition of the importance of sustainability for business, far too many fail to explain how company leaders are thinking strategically about sustainability and integrating long-term considerations of environmental and social trends into their approach for business success. If companies adopt some of the building blocks of integrated reporting--especially the future-orientation, connectivity of information, and contextualization--there is likely to be a marked improvement in the quality and value of sustainability reporting more generally. And all of this is likely to have a positive impact on corporate strategy. Read more →

Posted: May 29, 2012 | Topics: Reporting & Communications

BSR Insight Article: 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. Later this year, BSR will publish a paper on the implications of the new law. In the meantime, here’s a primer: What the law will cover: Article 225 updates France’s 2002 New Economic Regulation, which requires reporting on 32 social, environmental, and governance indicators, including employment figures, waste management, and anti-corruption practices. The new law calls for six new indicators: diversity and equal opportunity, climate change, stakeholder relations, social and environmental issues in procurement, consumer safety and health, and human rights. Which companies the law will affect: The law applies to all business entities with more than 500 employees and €100 million (approximately US$131 million) in revenue that have operations in France—including corporations (SAs) and publicly traded partnerships (SCAs). Other entities—most notably LLCs (SARLs) and wholly owned subsidiaries (SASs)—are not affected by the current draft of the law, but this portion of the law is under review. Read more →

Posted: April 17, 2012 | Topics: Reporting & Communications

BSR Insight Article: Investor Insights: Improving ESG Disclosure by Chinese Companies

Lindsey Lim, Former Associate, Advisory Services

Cross-sector collaboration is needed to create effective, industry-specific ESG disclosure guidelines for Chinese listed companies. Read more →

Posted: March 20, 2012 | Topics: Financial Services, Investor Perspective, Reporting & Communications