Reporting and Communication to Stakeholders
How do you tell your sustainable business
story to stakeholders, including employees, customers, suppliers, neighbors,
investors and others? There are many pressures now to report on sustainable
business practices, especially for large organizations, and the act of
preparing a report can drive big improvements in sustainability management.
Just trying to figure out what to say is an education!
The resources in this section describe why, where, how and to who
sustainability reports should be managed.
Clean, Green and Read All Over: Ten Rules for Effective Corporate
Environmental and Sustainability Reporting.
ASQ Press. 2004. 38 pages.
This is the table of contents and first chapter of the book of the same
title. It gives a very good concise explanation of why to prepare a
sustainability report, and the table of contents lists the 10 rules quite
nicely. The book itself is the best out there on
sustainability / CSR reporting.
Strategic challenges for business in the
use of corporate responsibility codes, standards, and frameworks.
World Business Council for Sustainable Development. 2004. 48 pages.
Provides overviews of about a dozen leading international standards for
responsible organizations.
Communicating Sustainability - How to produce
effective public campaigns.
United Nations. 2005. 68 pages.
The guide provides advice on where, how and when to engage with the public.
It offers help with a wide variety of communications, from planning
workshops and designing exhibitions to briefing an agency for a large-scale
campaign. Designed for communications professionals and policy
makers or program managers of sustainable development initiatives
Talk the Walk: Advancing Sustainable Lifestyles through
Marketing and Communications
United Nations. 2005. 52 pages.
A companion report to "Communicating Sustainability", this report provides
companies with a selection of case studies from various sectors to show what
kind of marketing and communication strategies are efficient when it comes
to promoting sustainability issues. It includes case studies, a
self-assessment, and additional resources guide.
G3 Draft Sustainability Reporting
Guidelines
Global Reporting Initiative. 2005. 56 pages.
These are the recent global standard for reporting on sustainability, and by
inference, on what to manage for sustainability. The zip file includes a
background document, the Guidelines, and technical supplements.
High 5! Communicating your Business
Success through Sustainability Reporting - A Guide for Small and
Not-So-Small Businesses
Global Reporting Initiative. 2005. 56 pages.
High 5! is a simplified version of the Sustainability Reporting Guidelines
from GRI to help small business (or anyone) better integrate economic,
environmental, and social information about products, services, and
activities into business communications.
Risk & Opportunity: Best Practice in Non-
Financial Reporting - The Global Reporters 2004 Survey of Corporate
Sustainability Reporting.
UN 2004. 56 pages.
This provides a snapshot of the state of sustainability reporting with
trends, major issues and concerns, and recommendations.
Environmental, Social and Sustainability
Reporting on the World-Wide Web: A Guide To Best Practice.
Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. 2001. 44 pages.
Describes the state of web-based reporting (as of 2000) and provides
guidelines and examples.
Deloitte Sustainability Reporting
Scorecard.
Deloitte Touche Tomatsu. 2002. 42 pages.
Detailed report evaluation tool - a "how to" guide stripped down to its
essence.
The INEM Sustainability Reporting Guide -
A Manual on Practical and Convincing Communication for Future-Oriented
Companies.
International Network for Environmental Management. 2003. 63 pages.
Easy-to-read introductory guide sponsored by the German government.
Shared Values? The first world-wide
stakeholder survey on non-financial reporting.
ECC Kohtes Klewes GmbH. 2003. 66 pages.
Important survey that identifies major differences in the information
demands between stakeholder groups. Provides recommendations on
communicating with specific groups.
Sustainable development reporting:
Striking the balance.
World Business Council for Sustainable Business. 2003. 64 pages.
Practical and well-designed guide with case studies.
Driving Success: Marketing and sustainable
development
World Business Council for Sustainable Business. 2005. 20 pages.
Describes how marketing can and should use sustainability principles to
create better brands, reputation and trust.
Conversations with Disbelievers:
Persuading Companies to Address Social Challenges.
Ford Foundation. 2000. 130 pages.
A unique report that summarizes quantitative evidence for the impact of
sustainability on specific functions in business, such as marketing, human
resources, etc. Designed to make a case to people based on their functions
in companies.
