Report & evaluate
Why should organisations be reporting on their sustainability impacts?
Effective reporting is about ensuring that the organisation is transparent in recognising its sustainability objectives and the progress it is making towards meeting them when communicating with external stakeholders. The arrangements for reporting performance should therefore clearly indicate the extent to which objectives are being met, and what has helped or hindered progress.
Effective reporting is also about ensuring there are channels of communication to inform employees about sustainability policies and that employees have access to relevant information.
How can sustainablity be taken into account in reporting and evaluation?
In the public sector there are a number of organisations that have a role in evaluating outcomes. These include independent advisory bodies, notably the Sustainable Development Commission, and auditing committees and bodies such as the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee, the National Audit Office and the Audit Commission. The Sustainable Development Commission produces a detailed annual appraisal of the UK Government’s performance against its own targets.
In the private sector, reporting of social and environmental impacts is not mandated although all medium and large companies are required to produce a business review. In the case of quoted companies, directors are required (to the extent necessary for an understanding of the business) to report on environmental matters, the company’s employees and social/community issues. Many companies now produce Sustainability or Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reports; driven in large part by the recognition of a need to engage key stakeholders on particular issues of public interest.
Connected Reporting Framework
The Accounting for Sustainability project has developed a Connected Reporting Framework, which we believe will help provide clearer, more consistent and comparable information for use both within an organisation and externally. Follow the link at the bottom of this page for further information about that model.
An example of monitoring and reporting on outcomes against strategy is the Kent Council Environment Strategy, which is reported on annually . The government also produces an annual report Sustainable Development Indicators in your Pocket which is an accessible reference for experts to help illustrate the breadth and challenges of sustainable development, and read about progress towards meeting targets.