BSR Insight Articles About Reporting & Communications

Integrated Reporting: A New Vision for Disclosure

Virginia Terry, Former 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 →

Posted: October 4, 2011 | Topics: Reporting & Communications

Four Improvements for the Global Reporting Initiative’s ‘G4’ Guidelines

Dunstan Allison Hope, Managing Director, Advisory Services Virginia Terry, Former 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 →

Posted: September 20, 2011 | Topics: Reporting & Communications

Walmart: The Greatest Sustainability Story of Our Time?

Eva Dienel, Associate Director, Communications

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 →

Posted: September 6, 2011 | Topics: Environment, Reporting & Communications, Strategy & Integration, Toxicity & Product Design

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 →

Posted: August 30, 2011 | Topics: Governance & Accountability, Reporting & Communications, Stakeholder Relations

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 →

Posted: August 2, 2011 | Topics: Community Engagement & Development, Economic, Social & Cultural Rights, Mining, Reporting & Communications