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The last 3 weeks have been packed with the publication of many Sustainability / CSR Reports. Here I some I came across and found interesting:

• Verizon (North American Telecoms Company)
• Infosys (Business Consulting, IT Systems and Outcourcing Company)
• Ford (I guess there is no need to tell you who Ford is)
• Siemens (Germany-based global technology company)
• Aracruz Cellulose (Global leader in eucalyptus pulb – very resource intensive)
• BCE (Canadas largest communications company)
• ST Microelectronics (Producer of semiconductor products)
• Coca-Cola Hellenic (One of the largest bottlers and vendors of Coca-Cola company’s products in the world)
• Orange (a large Telecommunication company based in Europe)
• Lufthansa (Global Airline)
• BAA (Owner of a lot of Airports across the globe)
• Enel SpA (Italian Energy Company)
• Xstrata (Global Mining Company)
• Vodafone (One of the largest telecommunication companies globally)

Have I missed any? All feedback welcomed.

We are at the height of the 2009 Sustainability / CSR Reporting season at the moment and I have seen some very interesting reports being published so far.

Todays post is about three of the most interesting I have come across in the past few weeks. I have also added a shortlist of other reports I would like to share with you.

My Top Three

Motorola
As you would expect from a consumer product driven company, this reporting website is visually very good and easy on the eye. There is more then enough content to get a good overview of their company specific issues such as Privacy, Environmental Impact of their products, supply chain management, socio-economic impact, etc.. All in all a very good reporting approach in my opinion.

British American Tobacco (BAT)
One of the important players in the Sustainability / CSR Reporting field in my opinion. They have been reporting at a very high quality level for many years now and in my opinion are still doing a great job at this. Don’t get me wrong; I do not agree with their product range (ie. Tobacco) but they are still one of the best in terms of stakeholder engagement and Sustainability /CSR Reporting. This report is definitely worth checking out. The fact that they explicitly state what they have and what they have not reported on throughout the website stands out in my opinion. Very ‘material’ as BAT would say.

Lafarge
This is an interesting report with a lot of detailed information. Maybe too much text and information for a web format at times. The only real downside in my opinion is the presentation. This could have been a bit more engaging at times. But I guess this is the trade off you have to take for granted when you want to provide so much information.

Here are some other Sustainability / CSR Reports that I came across over past few weeks but did not review in further detail:

• Legal and General (Financial Services)
• Segro (Real Estate)
• Amorin Group (Global cork manufacturer)
• Aviva (Insurance Group)
• Deutsche Börse (German Stock Exchange)
• Abbott (Pharmaceuticals)
• BAE Systems (Defence Industry)
• GlaxoSmithKline (Pharmaceuticals)

Have I missed any interesting reports? If so please either get in touch or just add your report via the commenting option.

Sorry for the lack of posts this week. It has been an extremely busy week. Nevertheless have I been reading some interesting stories this week. The most interesting articles make it into my weekly top 5 list.
This week my favourite in terms of topical area is the article on nuclear power as I believe that our decision whether to invest in nuclear power is a decision of great significance for our sustainable future. I also really liked the Al Gore’s article on Sustainable Capitalism in the WSJ.
Take a look and let me know what you think by commenting below.

My Top 5 Sustainability/CSR News Stories this week:

British Energy chief: “We can’t meet our climate change obligations without nuclear”
Nuclear operator claim plans for four new reactors need to be accelerated. If you like it or not we need to find a solution on the nuclear debate soon. One way or the other. Our time runs out.

Size matters: Long CSR reports win most green gongs
Longer corporate responsibility reports are more likely to win companies an environmental gong but they are still packed with greenwash and vague references to terminology such as ’sustainability’.

We Need Sustainable Capitalism
Nature does not do bailouts. An article by Al Gore.

Yahoo! Study Finds Growing Green Market
The drive to sustainability is having a broad effect on consumers, with three in four defining themselves as “green,” according to a new survey by Yahoo!.

Green Building Could Triple by 2013 – Report
The U.S. green building market is accelerating at a dramatic rate. The value of green building construction starts was up five-fold from 2005 to 2008 (from $10 billion to $36-$49 billion), and could triple by 2013, reaching $96-$140 billion, according to a new report.

Picture Credit: huntz

While being on holiday I had good idea for a new blog category and series. Each week (if possible) I am going to write a review of either a new or interesting sustainability report or website I have come across.
Sustainability reports and the sustainability websites of organisations are getting more and more sophisticated and complex as they are increasingly seen as being a key communication tool for organisations across the globe. They usually include information on their environmental, social and some economic performance.
I will start with the first company next week.
Before starting I wanted to provide everyone with a rough guide to sustainability reporting and what to look for when you either read a sustainability report or when browsing the sustainability section of a company’s website.

What To Look For In A Sustainability Report

• What is the time span of the reporting period? Annually or bi-annually? Companies that take reporting on sustainability serious usually report on an annual basis
• What are the topics they report on? Are these topics really important topics or just window dressing?
  Are they providing a lot of stories and case studies? Stories and case studies bring you closer to the people and challenges the organisation faces.
• Do they have a set of key performance indicators (KPI)? What are they and have the reported on these before? KPIs are either numbers or qualitative indicators that provide comparibility over a period of time for the companies. If a company has defined a set of indicators and report on these over years than this is a good sign that they know what they are doing.
• Do they use the GRI G3 principles? If yes what is their rating? The GRI is the Global Reporting Initiative and they developed a very sophisticated set of principles as part of a reporting framework every company should report on. Reporting according to the GRI is a must if you want to produce a respected report. Altough it needs to be said that for smaller organisations the GRI is not always useful as it is very extensive. GRI is most useful multi-nationals in my opinion.
• Do they refer to their website? If not then they are missing the trick of interactivity
• Do they have a contact person in their report or just an email address? An essential part of stakeholder engagement in my opinion.

What To Look For On Their Corporate Sustainability Website

• All of the above
• Do they have a standalone sustainability report or do they only provide the information on this website? Both ways can be successful if you have the stakeholder in mind.
• Do they provide regular updates of their key performance indicators or any other information? An essential factor for interactivity and communication.
• Are they trying to engage with you as the stakeholder and viewer of the website or are they purely relaying company information?

These are just some of the questions a good sustainability report and website should answer.

I will starting next week to use these and more questions to see whether the particular report is delivering value to you the reader and stakeholder.
Next weeks report will be the AllianceBoots 2007/08 Corporate Social Responsibility Report if you want to have a sneak preview.

Photo Credit: B_Tal