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Global Reporting Initiative Year in Review

2008/2009

The Amsterdam Global Conference on

May 7-9 2008Sustainability Reporting Today: The Readers’ Verdict

1Global Reporting Initiative Year in Review

Layout:Tuuli Sauren, INSPIRIT International Communications

Table of Contents

GRI 2008 – 2009 1

About GRI 3

Objective 1 7

Objective 2 19

Objective 3 29

Financial Performance 32


GRI in 2008-2009Challenges and opportunities in a time of crisis

Governments are stepping up to the sustainability challenge

Global leaders from business, labor and civil society have demonstrated their belief that the lack of transparency in the existing system for corporate reporting has failed its stakeholders. In issuing The Amsterdam Declaration on Transparency and Reporting, Board Members of the Global Reporting Initiative called on governments to introduce policies requiring companies to address publicly environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors.

The declaration states that the root causes of the current economic crisis would have been moderated by a global transparency and accountability system based on the exercise of due diligence and the public reporting of ESG performance. It calls on governments to take leadership in rebuilding a revitalized and resilient economic system.

A few examples of reporting by governments are:

• The Chinese government recommended environmental reporting to its state-owned companies and entered a MOU on CSR with the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

• Norway launched a national CSR policy, with strong policy measures to promote CSR in developing countries, including a

role for the UN Global Compact, the OECD Guidelines and GRI.

Impact of the financial crisis on developing countries

The impacts of the financial crisis will be most severely felt in those areas that had no part in its causes: developing countries. By strengthening the sustainability performance of local business actors, enhancing the understanding of all stakeholders in developing countries, and creating a “culture” of multi-stakeholder dialogue reporting according to the GRI Guidelines offers an important contribution (both direct and indirect) to poverty alleviation and sustainable economic development in developing countries.

For this reason, GRI has since 2006 been working on promoting the use of the guidelines in developing countries, both by report makers and report readers. The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which supports the program, commissioned an external review of GRI’s program for developing countries, with a positive assessment of the governance and results of the program. During the reporting period GRI made a start on setting up local offices in India and China, following a successful pilot in Brazil.

Welcome to the Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI) first Year in Review report, which gives an account of the organization’s achievements during the financial year 2008-2009 and will help readers understand how GRI went about the business of meeting its stated mission and vision during the reporting period.

After a long period of economic growth the reporting period (2008-2009) was marked by the beginning of what some now call the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. In this perspective the words of US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, in his 1933 inaugural address delivered amidst the early days of Great Depression, ring as true today as they did 75 years ago:

Practices of the unscrupulous money changers stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men…They know only the rules of a generation of self-seekers. They have no vision, and when there is no vision the people perish…The money changers have fled from their high seats in the temple of our civilization. We may now restore that temple to the ancient truths. The measure of the restoration lies in the extent to which we apply social values more noble than mere monetary profit.

In today’s interconnected global economy, the long-term value and success of business are inextricably linked to the integration of environmental, social and governance issues into corporate management and operations. Research by A.T. Kearney has showed that companies who focused on sustainability outperformed their peers by 15% during the financial crisis. The current financial crisis marks the beginning of an era of new consciousness. An era in which long-term sustainable growth will hopefully vanquish over short-term gain.

For GRI, the current crisis has opened the hearts and minds of the many to the importance of sustainability. In this sense the past year has provided GRI with both challenges and opportunities.

Growth in number of GRI reporters

The financial crisis has forced companies to restructure the way they do business. This may go some way to explain why, despite the financial crisis, the number of reporters has continued to grow. During the reporting period the number of GRI reports that GRI is aware of has grown by a spectacular 50%. This growth has even been stronger in developing countries, which has seen a quadrupling since 2005.

2 Global Reporting Initiative Year in Review

Measurement and reporting

From GRI’s perspective, a paradoxical situation is emerging: while the GRI Guidelines are by far the most widely used framework for sustainability reporting (see KPMG’s and Ernst & Young’s recent international surveys) and several governments have become supportive of GRI, new reporting and disclosure initiatives are emerging and gaining some traction in specific niches. Some of these initiatives are born out of ignorance about the GRI and the use of the GRI Framework, while others are driven by interests in offering an alternative to the current GRI Framework. At a time when the need to mainstream sustainability reporting is increasingly likely to be accepted, the GRI is facing emerging competition.

Internal Developments

Firstly, GRI launched its first two completed sector supplements this year: Financial Services and Electric Utilities. These are the two sectors with the highest numbers of reporters, which now both have tailored commentary and additional guidance to the G3 Guidelines. GRI is pushing ahead with several more such supplements.

Secondly, GRI’s Certified Training program has really taken off. Started in 2007-2008, the program is fast becoming an important pillar for disseminating knowledge on sustainability reporting

around the world. Sixteen Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) were signed during the reporting period, 11 programs were successfully certified in six different languages and 747 participants were trained in 49 courses. The program expanded to Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Nordic Countries.

Finally, GRI successfully established a Governmental Advisory Group. This group has created an opportunity for GRI to have the benefit of the advice of experts in sustainability from various governments and governance organizations. In return, it offers a platform for discussion with GRI. More importantly, however, the group is an opportunity for its members to come together and exchange experiences from their different policy environments.

These are only the major milestones that make tangible the energy in the GRI’s commitment to constantly improve reporting standards and make it an increasingly common practice, for reporters and users.

We hope you will find this report a useful overview and invite you to contact GRI with suggestions, comments and questions. Transparency is achieved through dialogue.

Mervyn King Ernst Ligteringen

Chair of the Board of Directors Chief Executive


About GRI

3


History

In 1997, the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies (CERES) in Boston, United States, came up with the concept of a universal framework to measure and report on organizational economic, environmental and social performance. CERES partnered with the United Nations Environment Programme – UNEP – and began a series of stakeholder dialogue and working groups to initiate a process that would lead to the formation of the Global Reporting Initiative as an independent institution. Since then, GRI has grown , became a formal collaborating centre of the UN Environmental Programme (UNEP), and moved to Amsterdam1, where the Secretariat provides services to many organizations and engages with GRI’s very large Stakeholder group (more than 30,000 around the globe).

The first version of the GRI Guidelines (G1) was published in 2000; two years later, at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg, the second version of the Guidelines (G2) was released.

It was also in 2002 that GRI was formally inaugurated at the United Nations and named as a collaborating centre of UNEP. Later that year, GRI relocated to its new home – Amsterdam, The Netherlands – and was incorporated as an independent, non-profit organization.

Since then the Secretariat has remained in Amsterdam from where it provides services to many organizations and engages with its very large Stakeholder group of more than 30,000 around the globe.

The Network

In order to ensure the highest degree of technical quality, credibility and relevance, the reporting framework is developed through a consensus-seeking process with participants drawn globally from business, civil society, labor and professional institutions. The GRI network is at the core of GRI and consists of thousands of people from all over the world, who play a range of complementary roles.

The Organization

The GRI is a large, multi-stakeholder network of thousands of experts, in dozens of countries worldwide, who participate in GRI’s working groups and governance bodies, use the GRI Guidelines to report, access information in GRI-based reports, or contribute to developing the Reporting Framework in other ways – both formally and informally.

1 Under Dutch law GRI is classified as a foundation, or ‘Stichting’. A Stichting is a legal entity that is set up to realize a stipulated (usually philanthropic or social) purpose. The purpose may not be the distribution of grants to the founders or to any other parties directly related to the foundation.

What is GRI?

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is a network-based organization that has pioneered the development of the world’s most widely used sustainability reporting framework and is committed to its continuous improvement and application worldwide.

GRI’s Mission and Vision

Mission GRI’s mission is to create

conditions for the transparent and reliable

exchange of sustainability information through

the development and continuous improvement of the GRI Sustainability Reporting Framework.

VisionGRI’s vision is that disclosure

on economic, environmental, and social

performance should become as commonplace

and comparable as financial reporting, and as important

to organizational success.

The GRI Reporting Framework

Sustainability reporting enables organizations of all shapes and sizes, including companies and public agencies, to measure, manage and publicly disclose their economic, environmental and social performance. A Sustainability Reporting Framework can be compared to a financial reporting framework: it is designed to guide reporters on what information should be disclosed and how it should be disclosed.

The GRI Reporting Framework sets out the principles and indicators that organizations can use to measure and report their economic, environmental, and social performance. The cornerstone of the framework is the Sustainability Reporting Guidelines. The third version of the Guidelines (the G3 Guidelines) was published in 2006, and is a free public good.

Other components of the framework include Sector Supplements (unique indicators for industry sectors) and National Annexes (unique country-level information).

Principles

Standard Dislcosures

Content

Boundary

Quality

Disclosure Items

Strategy and Analysis

Organizational Profile

Report parameters

Governance, Commitments and

Engagements

Disclosure on Management Approach and Performance

Indicators

Economic SocialEnvironmental


GRI’s governance bodies are structured as follows:

Representing the institutional side of GRI is a series of multi-stakeholder governance bod-ies that coordinate the formal components of the GRI network. GRI’s governance bodies consist of:

Board of Directors

The Board of Directors (the Board) maintains the ultimate fiduciary, financial and legal responsibility for GRI. The Board meets at least twice a year and is the final decision-making authority on Framework developments and organizational strategy. It takes strategic and policy-related advice from the Stakeholder Council, and technical advice from the Technical Advisory Committee.

GRI Board meeting 28-29th February 2008. Peter Wong, Ernst Ligteringen (CE), Ignasi Carreras, Denise Esdon, Paul Freundlich (Chair SC), John Evans, Jacqueline Aloisi de Larderel, Mervyn King (Chair BoD), Sean Harrigan, Hanna Thorsteinsdottir (GRI staff), Judy Henderson, Kumi Naidoo

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Organizational Stakeholders

2005/2006 2006/2007 2007/2008

600

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Income (Millions of Euro)


2005/2006 2006/2007 2007/2008

6

5

4

0

2

3

1


Auditors &Assurors

PublicAgencies

Consultants

Academics Civil SocietyOrganizations

BOARD

ChiefExecutive

Sustainability Reporting Framework Development

Team

Operations Team

Communications and Network Relations

Team

Learning ServicesTeam

SECRETARIAT

Accountants Labor Organizations

Training Community

Companies Investors

2008/2009

TechnicalAdvisory

Committee

StakeholderCouncil

Stakeholder Council

The Stakeholder Council (the SC) is GRI’s formal stakeholder policy forum, similar to a parliament, that debates and deliberates key strategic and policy issues. The maximum 60-member SC meets annually, and comprises a balance of stakeholder and geographic constituencies. The SC’s key governance functions include approving nominations for the Board of Directors and making strategic recommendations to the Board, such as future policy or business planning activities. They are also the “eyes and ears” of the GRI network in their diverse locations and constituencies.

As at June 2009

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Top 10 CountriesNumber of reports

Spain

140

120

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60

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20

AfricaAsia/Paci�cEurope/North AmericaLatin America/CaribbeanWest Asia

Geographical spread of SC Members:Proportion of Stakeholder Council Seats

BusinessCivil Society/AdvocacyMediating InstitutionsLabor

Rise in GRI Reports (Snapshots 2002, 2005, 2008)

29 52

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DACOECD

Latin AmericaAsiaEastern EuropeWestern EuropeUS/CanadaAfrica/Middle East

Percentage of GRI reporters

EuropeAsiaNorth AmericaLatin AmericaOceaniaAfrica

NON-OECD/NON-DAC

Publication Year

2002 2005 2008

10 10 9

24

817

42

57

107

GRI Reports from DAC Countries - by Region 2002, 2005, 2008

0

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Repo

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Regions

Africa Asia Latin-America

200220052008

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1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Top 10 Countries Number of reports

USA

Brazil

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alia UK

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da


Secretariat

The Secretariat is based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands during the reporting period it was comprised of around 40 staff members. It executes the work plan laid out by the Board on the advice of the SC and the TAC. The Secretariat is led by the Chief Executive, who also serves as a non-voting member of the Board.

GRI Secretariat, December 2008:Joris Wiemer, Luke Ringland, Kerstin Diegel, Sam Brooksbank, Ara Avakian, Monique Hutten, Florentine Versteeg, Marjella Alma Bastian Buck, Asthildur Rutten, Leena Wokeck, Aliona Tency, Leontien Plugge, Scott McAusland, Annelies Poolman, Elina Sviklina, Wouter Huizinga, Tamara Bergkamp, Drusilla Mulwa Barbara Revelli, Janne Wiegersma, Enrique Torres, Ernst Ligteringen, Romie Goedicke, Maaike Fleur, Teresa Fogelberg, Peter Westra, Asuka Ashida, Letshani Ndlovu, Sarah Billens-Smith

Technical Advisory Committee

The Technical Advisory Committee (the TAC) comprises of ten international experts in the fields of the environment, human rights, labor, economics and finance, reporting, and/or accounting. The TAC oversees the overall quality and coherence of the Framework.

The Organizational Stakeholder (OS) Program

The Organizational Stakeholder (OS) Program is at the heart of the global, multi-stakeholder network that constitutes GRI. Engaging hundreds from all regions of the world, the OS are the “committed core” of what is GRI’s main strength: various stakeholder groups who see value in GRI’s voluntary, multi-stakeholder process. The OS program is “inclusive”, for the dual purposes of securing funds as well as acting as an instrument for ongoing stakeholder engagement.

At the end of the reporting period GRI had 562 OS from over 50 countries.

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Spain

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29 52

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DACOECD




NON-OECD/NON-DAC

Publication Year

2002 2005 2008

10 10 9

24

817

42

57

107


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PAGE 1

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PAGE 15


2005/2006 2006/2007 2007/2008

600

500

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0

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300

100



2005/2006 2006/2007 2007/2008

6

5

4

0

2

3

1


Auditors &Assurors

PublicAgencies

Consultants

Academics Civil SocietyOrganizations

BOARD

ChiefExecutive

Sustainability Reporting Framework Development

Team

Operations Team

Communications and Network Relations

Team

Learning ServicesTeam

SECRETARIAT

Accountants Labor Organizations

Training Community

Companies Investors

2008/2009

TechnicalAdvisory

Committee

StakeholderCouncil


Objective 1

7

Maintain and improve GRI’s position as the leading sustainability reporting standard setter globallyIn over ten years of existence, the GRI Guidelines have become the de facto standard in the field of sustainability reporting. During the reporting period GRI worked to maintain and improve its position as the leading sustainability reporting standard setter globally. Within each department of the organization, specific steps were taken to promote and enhance the position of GRI as a leading standard setting body.


Reporting Statistics

Based on the number of reports of which GRI is aware, during the reporting period Spain overtook the USA as top

country for producing reports.

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Spain

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29 52

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DACOECD




NON-OECD/NON-DAC

Publication Year

2002 2005 2008

10 10 9

24

817

42

57

107


0

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120

Num

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200220052008

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Nearly half the reports produced come from Europe.

GRI asked users of the G3 Guidelines around the world for feedback about their experiences, and impact, of using the GRI Guidelines. The feedback received was among the following:

• Reporting will help create a sustainable future and sup-

ports our competitive market position.

• Sustainability reporting shows our commitment, account-ability, and focus on the betterment of our societies, economies and environment. To uphold them we con-tinuously and transparently measure and report on our performance against global benchmarks and the internal targets we have set for ourselves.

Key Achievements in the reporting period:

• Sharp increase in the number of companies and other organizations publicly disclosing their use of GRI’s G3 Guidelines

• Engaged with other corporate social responsibility (CSR) standards to ensure technical compatibility with the GRI standards, with a focus on ISO, the UN Global Compact, and the OECD MNE Guidelines.

• Collaborated with the assurance community to promote GRI’s G3 Guidelines as suitable criteria for assurance.

• Launched a new report in its Research and Development series – Reaching investors: Communicating value through ESG disclosure

GRI Reporters

The number of companies and other organizations publicly disclosing their performance against a range of key sustainability indicators rose markedly in 2008, continuing the upward trend. GRI is now aware of over 1000 organizations worldwide who issued sustainability reports based on the GRI G3 Guidelines in 2008 – the highest number ever recorded and an increase of 46 per cent on the 2007 figure.

Reporting Framework Department

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Spain

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NON-OECD/NON-DAC

Publication Year

2002 2005 2008

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817

42

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107


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Engagement with CSR Standards

ISO, the International Organization for Standard-ization, decided to develop an International Stan-dard providing guidelines for social responsibility (ISO260005). GRI participated actively in the process and contributed input at each stage of the discus-sion. GRI also prepared a draft document demonstrat-ing the complementary nature of the GRI and ISO standards. GRI was happy to share its experience in multi-stakeholder processes, sustainability issues and reporting.

GRI continued to maintain a close relationship with the UN Global Compact by collaborating on ad hoc events and also through partnership on the Human Rights Reporting project. In addition, GRI worked with the CEO Water Mandate initiative of UN Global Compact to seek harmonization of the various water measurement and disclosure efforts in the field.

Engagement with assurance community

GRI staff served on the Technical Committee of AA10006 and participated in the revision of their assurance standard. GRI also maintained regular contacts and collaboration with the accounting community regarding issues in assurance and their experiences using the G3 Guidelines.

Engagement with investor community

In March 2009, GRI launched a new report in its Research and Development series – Reaching Investors: Communicating value through ESG disclosure – which followed extensive consultation with the finance industry. It was launched at an event hosted by Bloomberg LP in New York City, NY, USA.

In addition, GRI continued to work closely with the Emerging Markets Disclosure Project, which is an alliance of investors under the umbrella of the Principles for Responsible Investment seeking to improve sustainability reporting in several key markets. The project has organized investors to engage companies to ask for GRI-based reports.

5 The guidance standard will be published in 2010 and be voluntary. It will not include requirements and will thus not be a certification standard.

6 Accountability 1000 (AA1000) is the work of ISEA - the Institute for Social and Ethical Accountability. AA1000 is promoted as a standard for the measuring and reporting of ethical behavior in business. It provides a framework that organizations can use to become aware of and improve their ethical performance, and by which their claims to be ethical can be judged.

Sustainability reporting in emerging market and developing countries

Reporting by organizations in emerging market and developing countries is still limited, but growing. In 2008, the percentage of DAC country reporters was less than a quarter, namely 22%, of all officially registered reports. But the increase in DAC countries has been steeper than in OECD countries. As shown in the diagram below, reporting by organizations from developing countries has grown sharply in the period 2002-2008. In 2008 reports were issued by organizations in 30 DAC countries2 as well as in six non-OECD/non-DAC countries3.

The large majority and the fastest growth of reports can be found in South Africa, India, Brazil, China and Chile. For example, 86 percent of companies in South Africa include some level of sustainability reporting in their annual reports, or issue a stand-alone report. Countries where sustainability reporting is growing are Indonesia, Taiwan, Peru and Colombia. Argentina, Malaysia and the Philippines.

With the exception of South Africa, and to a lesser extent Nigeria and Kenya, Africa stands out as a region with a still very limited number of reporters. Information on environmental and social footprints in Africa can be read from reports of multinationals with operations on that continent. But that is not enough: the large majority of African businesses do not report on their sustainability performance yet.

There are signs that companies in the Middle East are becoming engaged. During the 2008 GRI global conference, a Middle East CSR network was launched with members from Jordan, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, and other similar CSR networks have been formed as well4.

2 Argentina, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Cambodia, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestinian Administered Areas, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Seychelles, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Venezuela.

3 Andorra, Israel, Russian Federation, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirate.4 E.g. the OECD–MENA CSR network, under the auspices of the Egyptian Center for CSR.

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given, or articles focusing on GRI appeared in India, the UK, the US, The Netherlands, Germany, Spain, France, Germany, New Zealand and South Africa.

Key events during 1 July 2008 to 30 June 2009

• Yakutsk Economic Forum “Megaprojects of Russian Federation” in Yakutsk, Russian Federation

• EBBF/IEF Annual Conference – “Growth “or” Sustainability?” - in The Netherlands

• World Forum “Feed and protect the Earth: the economic players’ responsibility…” in Lille, France

• Annual CPA Congresses in Sydney and Brisbane, Australia

• CSR Asia Summit in Bangkok, Thailand

• BSR Conference in New York, USA

• 25th anniversary session of ISAR in Geneva, Switzerland

• U conference, chaired by President Barosso, “Beyond GDP”

• 9th International Conference on “Governing for Sustainability - Lessons from Triple Bottom-line Companies” in Mumbai, India

• CEO Forum V in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

• VI Inter-American Conference on CSR “La Inclusión en Los Negocios” in Cartagena, Colombia

• International Seminar on Business and Human Rights in Paris, France

• 3rd Sustainability Summit: Asia 2008 “Competitiveness Redefined” in New Delhi, India

• IV Italian Banking Forum on CSR in Rome, Italy

• European Multistakeholder Forum on Corporate Social Responsibility in Brussels, Belgium

• International Conference on Sustainable Production, Trade, Consumption and Lifestyle in Nuremberg, Germany

• High Level ASEM – CSR Conference 2009 “Shaping CSR – Opportunities for the Wellbeing of the ASEM Workforce”, Potsdam, Germany

• CEO Water Mandate meeting in Istanbul, Turkey

• Annual CERES Conference in San Francisco, USA

• EMAN 2009: Environmental Accounting and Sustainable Development Indicators in Prague, Czech Republic

• 15th Annual International Sustainable Development Research Conference in Utrecht, The Netherlands

Thanks to its constant input into events around the world, organizations, civil societies and governmental entities are adopting GRI’s sustainability reporting guidelines.

Key Activities in the reporting period:

• High-level representation at the most relevant confer-ences and events around the world focused the attention of leaders and practitioners on the importance of sustain-ability reporting and the GRI Framework.

• Promoted GRI’s position in the eyes of policymakers in the public and private spheres, by pro-actively engaging selected press contact.

• Organized regional events to advance knowledge of GRI-based sustainability reporting, building on the content developed for the 2008 GRI conference.

• Strengthened local representation by introducing Focal Points.

Meetings

GRI is continuously strengthening relations with local Organizational Stakeholders around the world. During the year GRI organized local events in Spain, Germany, Brazil, USA, Israel and India.

Events

As one of the key representatives in major global and local events on Sustainability, Corporate and Social Responsibility, Human rights, and Environmental Protection, GRI was actively involved in events all over the world (see overview of key highlights during the reporting period. opposite).

Media

In the reporting period GRI strengthened its relationship with selected press. News releases were issued, in addition to continuous personal contact with journalists. These actions resulted in increased press coverage for GRI globally, as measured by our media monitoring services. Articles written by GRI staff, interviews

Communications & Network Relations Department

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NON-OECD/NON-DAC

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Rajiv Tikoo

THE Global Reporting Initiative(GRI)hasurgedgovernmentstoaskcompanies to reporton their

environmental, social and gover-nance(ESG)performanceorgiverea-sonsfornotdoingso.

HeadquarteredintheNetherlands,GRI is a global multi-stakeholder net-workofbusiness,labourandcivilsoci-ety leaders and its sustainabilityreporting framework is widely usedthe world over. Its G3 Guidelines laydowntheprinciplesandindicatorsforreporting on economic, environmen-talandsocialperformance.

In its Amsterdam Declaration onTransparency and Reporting releasedlastweek,theGRIhasappealedtogov-ernments to put in place policies forcompanies,state-ownedcorporationsand public investment agencies to re-port on ESG indicators. Ernst R Lig-teringen, chief executive, GRI, addsthat companies should either under-take ESG reporting or give reasons fornotdoingso.

Explaining why GRI is pushing forsustainability reporting during adownturn when the going is anywaytough for most companies, Ligterin-gen says, “The downturn is the righttime for companies to report on ESGbecause it establishes a business casefor sustainability in terms of cuttingcosts, improving efficiency, mappingrisks and opportunities and enhanc-ingthequalityofgovernance.”

Sayingthatthelackoftransparency

in corporate reporting is not servingtheinterestsofallstakeholders,thede-claration goes on to add, “The rootcauses of the current economic crisiswouldhavebeenmoderatedbyaglob-al transparency and accountabilitysystem based on the exercise of duediligence and the public reporting of

ESGperformance.”Thedeclarationalsocalls forbuild-

ingsustainability reportinginthenewglobal financial regulatory frame-work, which will be negotiated by theG20 leaders during their April meet-ing. Adds Ligteringen, “The govern-ments are already playing a big role in

stabilising theeconomyandthis is thetime to ensure that it’s done in a sus-tainablemanner.”

In fact, the declaration makes astronger case by saying that “assump-tions about the adequacy of voluntaryreporting must be re-examined.” Ex-plainsJohnElkington,adirectorontheboard of GRI, “It indicates a necessaryshiftinourthinking.Mostleadingcom-panyareundertakingCSRand/orsus-tainability initiatives today, but if allcompaniesdon’tdoit, thenit’sdifficultto bring in systemic changes. So, thegovernment’s role is important.” Thesustainability expert is alsoa foundingpartnerofVolansVentures,asocialandenvironmentalinnovationfirm.

The GRI declaration assumes sig-nificance because some countries arealready moving in this direction. Lastmonth,theDanishgovernmentenact-ed a law requiring 1,100 largest com-panies to report on corporate socialresponsibility in their annual reportsfrom2010onwards.TheUKhasasim-ilar law in existence since 2007.France also requires all listed compa-nies to disclose social and environ-mentalperformance since2001.

The signatories to the declarationincluded GRI directors like MervynKing, chair, GRI; Ernst R Ligteringen,ofGRI,KishorAChaukar,MD,TataIn-dustries; John Elkington, foundingpartner, Volans Ventures; KumiNaidoo, secretary-general, CIVICUS;Denise Esdon, partner, E&Y, and JohnEvans, general secretary,TradeUnionAdvisoryCommitteetotheOECD.

�TheIASTEDInternationalConferenceonSolarEnergy(SOE2009)March16-18Phuket,Thailandhttp://www.iasted.org/conferences

�InaPlanetofOurOwnMarch16-22Mumbai,Indiahttp://www.designinindia.net

�EngineeringUnplugged:GreenBuilding/Manufacturing/ResearchMarch17Norfolk,Virginia,UShttp://www.EngineeringUnplugged.com

�GasPipelinesMarch17-18Munich,Germanyhttp://www.pipelines-events.com

�InternationalEnvironmentalTradeShowandConferenceMarch17-19Montreal,Quebec,Canadahttp://www.americana.org

�SustainableEnergyAlternatives&theirImpactonLow-IncomeCommunityMarch19Greensboro,NorthCarolina,UShttp://cert.ncat.edu

�EnergyandtheEnvironment:EmpoweringConsumersconferenceMarch19-20Hempstead,NewYork,UShttp://law.hofstra.edu/Environment

�3rdNationalConferenceonRecentTrendsinInstrumentationApplicationsMarch19-20Kovilpatti,Tamilnadu,Indiahttp://www.nec.edu.in/retina09.htm

�ENVIROENERGY2009:InternationalConferenceonEnergyandEnvironmentMarch19-21Chandigarh,Indiahttp://www.enviroenergy2009.org

�PalmOil:Sustainable21stCenturyOilMarch23-24London,UnitedKingdomhttp://www.soci.org/SCI/events

GREEN EVENTS

THE FINANCIAL EXPRESS | Monday, March 16, 20095 | X

INSIGHT | BUSINESS TOMORROW

Stuart Elliott

THEsouringeconomyhasshiftedtheadvertising spotlight from higher-end, premium-priced products to

less flashy,mass-marketofferingsthatdonot require buyers to cash in their201(k)’s, as in the retirement accountsformerlyknownas401(k)’s.

Thatisparticularlytrueintheautomo-

tive category, in which brandsknown for sensible pricing—Hyundai,Kia,Subaru—haverecentlybeenoutper-forming more expensive competitors. Sothe timing may be right for a hybrid carwith a suggested retail price starting un-der $20,000—the first in the Americanmarketinthatpricerange.

Thatnewmodelalsocomesascarsalesdeclinealongwithgasolineprices,whichmaydiminishconsumerinterestingreen-er transportation. American Honda Mo-tor is taking a big risk on the potentialappealofamoremainstreamhybrid.Theautomaker plans to introduce the 2010Honda Insight on March 24, with stickerprices of $19,800 to $23,100 (plus desti-nationcharges).

By comparison, the 2010 Ford Fusionhybrid, from Ford Motor, is priced from$27,270,andthe2009ToyotaPrius,fromToyota Motor Sales USA, starts at$22,000. The largest hybrids, like the2009 GMC Yukon from General Motors,cancost$50,000ormore.

A campaign for the Insight, with abudgetestimatedat$50millionto

$75 million, is scheduled tostart today. The cam-

paign is by RPA inSanta Monica,

California. TheadspresenttheInsightasade-mocraticcar—small“d”,

that is, as op-posed to, say,

President BarackObama’s souped-up

Cadillac limousine—because it is pricedtobeaffordable.

“You know who could use a car likethis?” asks the headline of a print adver-tisement. “Everyone.” The headline ofanotherprintadexpressesthatideamoresuccinctly.“Forthemany,”itsays.

An announcer in a commercial de-clares, “The hybrid for everyone is here,”and concludes: “The Insight. Designedandpricedforusall.FromHonda.”

Mostadsendwith thesewords: “FromHonda.Foreveryone.”

TheInsightis,asthecampaignstylesit,the people’s hybrid. Too bad there is al-readyanautomotivebrandknownas thepeople’scar(orVolkswagen,inGerman).

The campaign is, appropriately,broad-based, running on television andradio; in magazines and newspapers; ontheInternet;andinmovietheaters.

In a truly populist touch, there will beInsight ads on banners towed by planesover beaches on the Memorial Day andtheFourthofJulyweekends.

“It’s more of a car for the masses,” saidTomPeyton,seniormanager fornationaladvertising at American Honda Motor inTorrance, California, part of the HondaMotorofJapan.“Youdon’thavetobespecial” to buy it, he added, or“particularly well-off.” And oneInternet banner ad describesthe car as “mass appeal trans-portation,” and another callsit“anti-niche.”

“In some research we’vedone, people said, ‘Conspicu-ous consumption for my au-

tomobile is not where I’m at right now,’”Peyton said, “and they’re starting to lookat cars that are sensible, that are values.”

This is not the first time at the hybridrodeo for American Honda Motor. Adecade ago, the company introduced atwo-door hatchback Insight, which be-cameanalso-rantothebigger,morepop-ularPriusfromToyota.

ThefirstInsightwas“moreofascienceproject,” said Steven Center, vice-presi-dent for advertising and public relationsat American Honda Motor. “This one’s areal car. We’re positioning it to be eitheryour first hybrid or your first new car, orboth,” he added. The new Insight, withfour doors rather than two, arrives as de-mand for cars—hybrid or otherwise—isfalling to the levels of the early 1980s.American Honda Motor is not immune;its sales last month dropped 38% com-paredtoFebruary2008.

“It’snotenoughtosay ‘Itgetsgoodgasmileage’ or ‘It’s a hybrid,’” Peyton said.“Value and lower monthly payments arewhat’s working in this market. Even in adown economy there are people whowant to buy green, if it’s af-fordable.” That con-

sideration is played up in the campaign.For instance, when the prices for the In-sight were announced, the headline of anewpostontheInsightWebsite’sblog(in-sight.honda.com) read, “The Insight istheMostAffordableUSHybrid.”

Inaprintad,a listof featuresontheIn-sight ends this way: “and, most impor-tantly,anaffordablepricetag.”

The subtext is that hybrids are nolongerthepurviewoftheaffluentandtheenvironmentalbenefitswouldincreaseifmorehybridswereontheroad.

“It’saffordablesomorepeoplecandri-ve it, so the impactofhybridscantrulybefelt,” said Joe Baratelli, senior vice-presi-dent and creative director at RPA. At thesametime,thereisnointenttoapply“anyguilt or pressure” to potential buyers, headded.Duringtheinitialplanningforthecampaignlastyear,thefocuswasmoreonhowahybridwouldcombatthehighpriceofgasoline,Baratellisaid.

—NYT

Business leaders rally toreport on sustainabilityLeaders of business, labour and civil society call on governments to ensure thatcompanies report on economic, environmental and social performance

Obama signals flexibility oncap-and-trade permit auctions

PresidentBarackObama,speakingtoCEOs,signalledflexibilityonhisplantohavecompaniestopayforallgovernment-issuedpollutionpermitsunderanemissions-tradingsystemaimedattacklingclimatechange.“We’regoingtohaveastructurethatarrivesatthatrightbalance,”Obamasaidwhilean-sweringquestionsattheBusinessRoundtable,aWashington-basedgroupmadeupofCEOsfromUScompaniesinclud-ingCitigroupandGM.

Obamaunveiledabudgetlastmonththatassumesalmost$650billioninrevenueby2019fromcap-and-tradeprogramme.Hisproposalwouldrequirecompaniestobuygovernment-issuedpermitstoreleasecarbondioxide,agreenhousegasthatcontributestoglobalwarming.

UN may include nuclear, capture inemissions trading

TheUnitedNationsproposestoexpandtheCleanDevelopmentMechanism,theworld’ssecond-biggestgreenhouse-gasmarket,toincludenuclearplantsandprojectsthatcapturecarbondioxideandstoreitunderground.NegotiatorsinUNclimate-pro-tectiontalksthisyearshouldalsoconsiderin-troducing“no-lose”targets,whereindustriesindevelopingnationsreceivecreditsaftercuttingemissionsbelowsetgoals,accordingtoadocumentdatedMarch10ontheWebsiteoftheUNFCCC.

The1997KyotoProtocol’sCDM,assignedemission-reductiontargetstodevelopedcountriesforthefiveyearsthrough2012.Allowingnuclearplants,whichdon’temitpollutingcarbondioxide, intotheCDMmayprovideanincentivetobuildmoreatomicplantsandfewercoal-firedstations.

AT&T to spend $565 million onalternative-fuel cars

AT&Twillspendasmuchas$565milliontoaddmorethan15,000vehiclestoanalterna-tive-fuelfleet,abidtohelptheenvironmentandsavemoneybycuttingdownongasoline.AT&Twill replacepassengercarswithelectrichybridsandotherenergy-efficientmodels,chiefexecutiveofficerRandallStephenson

said.Thecarswillcutgasconsumptionby49milliongallonsover10years,hesaid.

Stephensonsaidthenewvehicles,whichwouldamounttoaboutone-fifthofAT&T’scurrentfleet,alsowillproduce25%fewergreenhouse-gasemissions.ThestrategyfallsinlinewithPresidentBarackObama’sgoalofcappingemissionstofightglobalwarming.

Sweden raises auto-pollution taxesto protect climate

Swedenwill increasetaxesoncarsburningfossil fuelsandexemptelectricvehiclestohelpmeetanationalplantoslashgreenhouse-gasemissionsby40%.Leviesoncarbondioxideexhaustwill rise33%forthehighest-emissionsautomobiles,anddieselfueltaxeswillclimb0.4kronaalitre,thegov-ernmentsaid.Buyersofnew“green”carsin-cludingelectricwillbeexcludedfromtaxesaltogetherforthefirstfiveyears.

Swedenaimstoreplacefossil fuel-burningcarsby2030andwithGermanyispursuingmoreambitiousair-pollutiontargetsthanmostEuropeannations.Bothproposereduc-ingheat-trappinggasesblamedforglobalwarmingby40%inthethreedecadesthrough2020,twicethecutplannedbyEU.

Environmental-friendlyor“green”carsaredefinedinSwedenasthoseusingrenewablefuelsandelectricity,orgas-anddiesel-pow-eredvehiclesthatemit lessthan120gramsofcarbondioxideforakilometredriven.

EU bank clears euro 3 billion in loansto carmakers

TheEuropeanInvestmentBankhasapprovedsomeeuro3billioninloanstocarmanufacturerstohelpthemdevelopmorefu-el-efficientvehicles.

ItsaidtheloanpackagewouldbepaidtoBMWAG,DaimlerAG,FiatSpa,PSAPeugeot-Citroen,RenaultSA,VolvoCars,ScaniaandVolvoTrucksandothers.

Anadditionaleuro2.8billionshouldbedoledoutinAprilandMay,itsaid,whichwouldbringits loanstocarmakerstoeuro6.3billionsinceDecember.

TheEuropeancarindustryassociationACEA,though,saidthepackagewas“insuffi-cienttoconfronttheextraordinaryeconomiccircumstances”itwasfacingassalesslump.

—Agencies

■ IN BRIEF

F

AC

TF

IL

E

RoW*23

China23

US&Canada20

OECDEurope14

Economiesintransition

12

DO YOU KNOW? WhatwasthebreakupoftheICTfootprintbygeographyin2007?

*RoW:Restoftheworld(includesIndia,Brazil,SouthAfrica, IndonesiaandEgypt) Source:Smart2020:TheClimateGroup

‘Reporting establishes abusiness case for

sustainability in termsof cutting costs,

improving efficiency,and mapping risks and

opportunities’ERNST R LIGTERINGEN

Chiefexecutive,GlobalReportingInitiative

‘Most leading companyundertake CSR and/or

sustainability initiativesbut if all companiesdon’t do it, then it’sdifficult to bring insystemic changes’

JOHN ELKINGTONFoundingpartner,VolansVentures

Honda set to rev uphybrid marketwith itseconomymodelThe automaker pricesthe Insight belowFord’s Fusion andToyota’s Prius

(Clockwise from top) Honda Insight, FordFusion Hybrid and Toyota Prius

february 2009 �9

ethicalperformance

Makingsustainability work

Marc J. Epstein. Hardback.288 pages.Greenleaf. £17.50

In his foreword to this book,John Elkington drawsparallels with Robert Pirsig’sZen and the Art of MotorcycleMaintenance. Don’t, however,expect any undue profundity:this is firmly for sustainabilitypractitioners, notphilosophers.

Epstein uses a simpleinput-process-output modelas his framework for thebook (think ISO 14001meets AA 1000). By andlarge, this works well andputs sustainability intoterms that managers will becomfortable with.

Chapters take usthrough discussions onleadership, strategy,organization, costing,capital investments, risk,performance evaluation,measurement, processes,products, reporting,verification and benefits.

One great strength is the extensive use ofexamples, including manybox inserts, tables anddiagrams extracted fromsustainability reports. This,together with lots of bulletsand an easy writing style,makes the whole thinghighly readable. Epsteinalso manages to bringtogether often disparatedisciplines such as strategy,organizational design andenvironmental economics.

What the book gains incomprehensiveness,however, it loses in depth,with many critical areas,such as the debate onbottom of the pyramideconomics, limited to apage or so. By implication,much of the content is aboutwhat companies have doneor should do, rather than thedifficulties and dilemmasfaced by managers inpractice.

Nevertheless, Makingsustainability work is acomprehensive, up-to-datebook that will prove to be ahelpful resource.

Wayne Visser

review

How might the global recessionaffect sustainability reporting?

Given that the flames of thefinancial crisis were fanned by alack of transparency from ourfinancial institutions, scaling backon public disclosure would be likepouring petrol on the fire.However, I guess there’s a dangerthat some companies might riskself-immolation by scaling backtheir reporting. This would bemyopic and unfortunate, to saythe least. Now more than evercompanies need the element oftrust. It’s also important toremember that the reportingprocess can help managementbetter understand metrics onenergy and resource efficiency,human resource managementand stakeholder relations. In arecession, this is exactly the sortof data investors and creditors areincreasingly looking for.

What about the potential effect on the GRI’s funding?

In the early days our fundingcame from a mix of sources,including foundations and theWorld Bank, then companiesbegan to provide a larger share,along with the Dutch governmentand the European Commission.We continue to seek a balancedapproach to fundingencompassing governments,foundations and companies. Butwe can’t assume that GRI will beimmune from the effects of aglobal economic downturn,therefore we’ll exercise cautionalong with everyone else.

There have been complaints thatGRI is too dominant in its field.How do you respond?

Too dominant? Really? Well, it’simportant to state that the GRIguidelines are adopted

voluntarily by companies aroundthe world. But I don’t think of GRIas being ‘competitive’ in the wayyou suggest. GRI doesn’t own theguidelines – it just convenes theprocess through which theguidelines are developed and aremade freely available as a globalpublic good.

How have the G3 guidelines been received?

I’d say they have been ourgreatest success. The fact thatthey’re now used by the vastmajority of companies issuing asustainability report is testamentto that. Looking back, the mainchallenge was communicating tothe hundreds of organizationsusing previous guidance thatthere was now a new andimproved framework – one onwhich they had to select the mostmaterial issues to report on,rather than reporting oneverything. Many companieshave said they are uncertain howto use this materiality frameworkin practice, which is why we’reconvening a multi-stakeholderworking group to provide morepractical guidance on definingmaterial issues and indicators.

How are you extending your reachto the developing world, and doyou feel you need to?

Absolutely. The ‘Global’ in GlobalReporting Initiative isn’t there forshow. As the economic centre ofgravity shifts to the south and tothe east, so too do some of thegreatest sustainability impacts.It’s essential that organizations incountries such as China, India,and Brazil are on board. We nowhave several alliances that allowus to reach new audiences,including with the GlobalCompact, the InternationalFinance Corporation and the

United Nations Conference onTrade and Development.

Were the GRI Readers Choiceawards – which allowed reportreaders, rather than experts, tovote on the best sustainabilityreports – really a good way tojudge quality?

It’s important to give the actualreaders of reports a voice, ratherthan just hearing from often self-appointed ‘experts’. Last timemore than 1700 people scored atleast two reports, and at the sametime they completed a surveyabout how and why they readsustainability reports – whichproved to be an invaluable pieceof research on readerpreferences. We’ll repeat thewhole exercise at the next GRIGlobal Conference in May 2010.

The Swedish government hasdecreed that all state-ownedcompanies should filesustainability reports inaccordance with GRI guidelines.Should other governments follow?

What the Swedish governmentdid was to set a great example toother companies. And similarmoves are afoot in other countriestoo. Whether or not reporting ismade mandatory, governmentsaround the world – and otherorganizations including the G8 –are sending strong signals tocompanies that they should taketheir sustainability performanceseriously and report on it.

Which sectors need to mostimprove their game when itcomes to reporting?

I think there’s ample room forimprovement everywhere! Andthis must be in both thequantitative and qualitativedisclosures companies make.

‘now, more than ever, firms need to report’

interview

EPtalks to Global Reporting Initiative chief executive Ernst Ligteringen aboutsustainability reporting in an economic downturn – and other pressing matters

Volume 2 Issue 2 March - April 2009

CSR Al Youm

Spotlight on Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Enrique talks to the CRB about Reporting, the GRI and Dubai

Enrique currently works for Global Re-porting Initiative (GRI) as the Training Development Man-ager responsible for implementing and leading the GRI cer-tified training pro-grams and GRI or-ganized workshops. Enrique has worked in training and man-agement positions for private, govern-mental and non-governmental or-ganizations over the last 15 years in a

variety of cultural contexts. In his previous positions, Enrique special-ized in issues around organizational re-structuring and project management. Enrique speaks English, Spanish, Portu-guese and Dutch.Enrique has a Degree in Economics from Monash University (Melbourne, Australia) and Masters in Education from the University of Mel-bourne, Australia.

CRB: What factors do you think have con-tributed to the global success of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)? Enrique: There are in my opinion two main factors for GRI‘s success; the unique product it offers and its network charac-teristics. The GRI Product: Central to the success of any organization is that they are providing a product or service that properly meets the needs of their target group. We have seen an increasing need over the last years for organizations of all types to communicate clearly and openly about their sustainability impacts. To do this, a globally shared framework of con-cepts, consistent language and metrics are required. GRI attempts to fulfill this need by providing a trusted and credible framework for sustainability reporting that can be used by organizations of any size, sector and from any geographic region. The GRI G3 Guidelines provide principles and guidance as well as standard disclo-sures on an organization‘s economic, so-cial and environmental impacts. By doing so the guidelines address both what to report on and how to do so. This results in a disclosure framework that organiza-tions can voluntarily, flexibly and incre-mentally adopt to meet their needs. Over

and above that, GRI has developed learn-ing material and services to support the guidelines which are available through our website or by contacting us directly. As a result of being so universally applicable and so easily accessible, the GRI G3 Guidelines are the world‘s most widely-used framework for sustainability report-ing. GRI as a network organization: A second important factor to GRI‘s suc-cess is its unique reputation as a multi-stakeholder organization. GRI is made up of a global network of people working together to advance sustainability through transparency. This network, made up of business leaders together with represen-tatives from NGOs, civil society, trade unions and other labor organizations and academic institutions have been involved with GRI in developing a new language for sustainability reporting. Having input from such a wide range of stakeholders brings credibility to GRI‘s processes and to the Sustainability Reporting Framework itself. (Continued on page 2)

The CSR

Journey

Promoting Social Responsibility in the Workplace

Social Accountability International

With CSR moving from the periphery into mainstream business practices, human capital within organisations has become a key point of focus. Companies are recog-nizing the importance of a strongly moti-vated and skilled workforce to create competitive advantages. The globalisation of the workforce has lead to many com-panies developing policies and practices that are global yet locally adaptable. Social Accountability International (SAI) is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving workplaces by developing and implementing an auditing standard which is firmly grounded in International Labour Organisation (ILO) and United Nations (UN) conventions. The SA8000 Standard is the most widely recognised auditable independently certified standard. Pub-lished in 1997 and revised in 2001, these standards are suitable for organisations of all sizes and serve as a tool to apply responsible workplace practices in a prac-

tical and constructive manner, thus dem-onstrating commitment to employees and other stakeholders. These standards can also be used to assess and improve man-agement and performance within supply chains leading to compliance with global standards, transparency and accountabil-

ity. The SA 8000 has nine key elements: health & safety, child labour, forced la-bour, freedom of association, discrimina-tion, disciplinary action, working hours, compensation and management systems. For certification the companies commit to an independent audit against the stan-dards. If the standards are met they are awarded a certificate attesting compli-ance to the SA8000 policies, standards and operations. The SA8000 certification process is conducted by organizations accredited and overseen by Social Ac-countability Accreditation Services (SAAS). Please visit www.sa-intl.org for more information

Enrique taking in the view at the Dubai

Chamber

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‘Sustainability reporting’ is becoming the business norm Published: December 15 2008 02:00 | Last updated: December 15 2008 02:00

From Mr Ernst Ligteringen.

Sir, David Phillips is quite correct to highlight the limitations of financial reporting in providing a full picture on the state of a company (“Time to rethink our model for corporate reporting”, December 11).

Recent financial events have served to highlight the need for more information on how companies are integrating so-called “externalities” into their decision-making processes; how they are planning for the future.

Financial reporting is, by its nature, backward-looking and will not provide us with information on a company’s product responsibility, the security of its energy supplies and its water use, to name just three factors that affect a business’ relationship with the wider world.

Reporting on such factors can tell us not just the impact a company has on the environment and society but about how those come back to affect the company. It is about joining up the dots to complete the circle.

Unless we find a way of framing forward-looking sustainability data, we cannot expect to guide the business strategies that will lead to a prosperous and sustainable future. Thankfully a new model is emerging – “sustainability reporting” – through which companies disclose their economic, environmental and social performance. It is increasingly becoming the norm for many businesses and other organisations globally.

Of course, determining the boundaries of what to report on is one the most fundamental decisions to be made in issuing such a report. However, while we certainly “should not be adding more pages to already voluminous reports” without reason let’s not have brevity for brevity’s sake. It is surely the value of the information, not the volume, that is key.

Thinking through what information should be reported on can provide the basis for ensuring that sustainability reporting does not become a box-ticking exercise, but crucially, nor does it become an exercise in leaving out crucial information in order to fit into a short template.

Ernst Ligteringen, Chief Executive, Global Reporting Initiative, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008

Financial LETTERSCOMMENT & ANALYSIS

Page 1 of 1FT.com print article

12/15/2008http://www.ft.com/cms/s/23f02e08-ca48-11dd-93e5-000077b07658,dwp_uuid=dafed...


Mid Term Review Report In 2008, the Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister commissioned an external review of GRI activities in developing countries. The assessor who assessed the impact issue in Brazil observed that he: “(…) gathered ample evidence that these (reporting) processes had a positive impact on wider sustainable development and even poverty alleviation, both in the economic, environmental and social arenas”7.

Other highlights from this important report were:

• Presence on the ground by GRI-related actors in developing countries is perceived as important by local actors in Brazil, India and China. One key recommendation of the external review is that GRI should replicate their experience of local on-the-ground presence in Brazil to other key countries like China, India, South Africa and Indonesia. The Brazil model of a GRI focal person/team based within a local partner orga-nization is very successful and the demand from the other countries is high. GRI does not have the resources to do so.

• Too few companies and civil society in sub-Saharan Africa use the GRI Reporting Framework, with the exception of South Africa. There is still a lack of understanding in Africa as to how sustainability reporting can contribute to sustainable development, and there is an urgent need for capacity build-ing on the ground in that region.

So on the one hand, GRI has achieved a lot in developing countries, thanks to their existing programs, and has succeeded in reaching many companies. It has also mobilized some civil society organizations, but the ownership of this stakeholder group has to be enhanced. In addition, the presence in LDC’s and sub-Saharan Africa needs to be strengthened substantially. GRI is seeking strategic partnerships with relevant and competent organizations to further develop its profile along this track.

One way to be able to engage actively with non-OECD and developing countries are the Focal Points.

7 Review of GRI activities in developing countries, commissioned by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, September 2008.

GRI and Development Cooperation

Promoting sustainability reporting according to the GRI Guidelines provides an important direct and indirect contribution to poverty alleviation and sustainable economic development, from an economic, social and environmental point of view. That is why the Johannesburg Action Plan on Sustainable development endorses GRI as a global public good, aimed at enhancing insights into the effects of a company’s or government’s operations, products and services that cannot be found in conventional annual reports and other sources.

Through reporting, companies as well as their stakeholders can assess both the adverse and the positive impacts of their operations on local environmental and social conditions, and consequently take measures to change their actions, thus embedding a sustainable development approach into their operating model. As such, sustainability reporting can contribute to poverty alleviation.

The GRI Guidelines are recognized to contribute to Millennium Development Goals 1 (poverty), 3 (gender), 6 (HIV), 7 (environment) and 8 (partnerships, trade).


Brazilian Focal Point Project

Through this project GRI raised local awareness of sustainability reporting and GRI’s potential role in further developments, through:• Articles in local media;• GRI events throughout the

continent; • Training of trainers to roll

out the certified training program for the region; and

• Translation of GRI publications into (Brazilian) Portuguese and Spanish.

The results from this project are promising: • A strong boost of

sustainability reporting in Brazil and the wider region (Spanish-speaking Latin America);

• An increase in the use of the GRI Guidelines by Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Latin America; and

• An increase in the number of Organizational Stakeholders in Latin America.

Australian Focal Point Project

In October 2008 GRI signed an agreement with the St James Ethics Centre (the Centre) to establish an Australian base for GRI.

Australia is already a regional leader – it is currently in the top five countries globally in terms of the number of sustainability reports produced by organizations based there.

“In the broader context of market meltdown and climate change concerns

the importance of trusted, responsible, sustainable and

transparent business practice has never been greater”

says Dr Simon Longstaff, Executive Director, St James

Ethics Centre.

“With this collaboration with the SJEC, we hope to strengthen and broaden the active and dynamic community in Australia

that create, read and use sustainability reports,”

said Leontien Plugge, Network Relations Manager at GRI.

Focal Points

Since its establishment, the GRI network of stakeholders around the world has grown immensely and the GRI Secretariat has been looking at ways to more effectively meet the needs of stakeholders in different regions, to increase both the use of and the participation in the development of the GRI Sustainability Reporting Framework, and to generally strengthen and expand the GRI network. Over the past two years, GRI has addressed these needs in the form of regional GRI representation, or ‘Focal Points’, set up through collaboration between GRI, national host organizations and other national institutions.

Following the successful pilot project in Brazil in 2007, in collaboration with the Ethos Institute in São Paulo, the initiative was extended to Australia in 2008. GRI is collaborating with the St. James Ethics Centre in Sydney, who are sponsoring the Focal Point for two years with funding from the Treasury.

ChinaStrong interest has emerged since 2005 in sustainability/CSR reporting in China. Visits to China by GRI staff clearly indicated that there is strong demand for guidance in CSR, and in particular as to the role GRI could play in further developments. It is recognized that in a global economy facing global environmental and social challenges, a minimum level of harmonization is needed at the international level in measuring and reporting corporate sustainability performance to enable coordinated approaches to sustainability challenges.

Therefore, GRI considers it strategically important that Chinese practice is informed by international frameworks and experience, and that Chinese organizations become engaged in international standards-setting processes on sustainability reporting. With support from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs GRI has been enabled to start the set up of a focal point in China in 2009.

India India is amongst the largest emerging economies in the world. Increasingly, businesses in India are challenged by deteriorating environmental quality, depleting natural resources and changing societal expectations. Recent visits by GRI staff to the Indian Confederation of Industries, to all kinds of NGO’s and ministries, clearly indicated the same need for guidance and information as was found to be present in China. With support from the German Gesellschaft für technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), GRI has begun the process of setting up a focal point in India in 2009.


Training Statistics

• Two “calls for training partners” issued through the monthly electronic GRI Newsletter and the GRI website: Australia/New Zealand, Chinese-speaking countries and Japan (Oct 08-Jan 09) and Austria, Germany, Nordic countries and Switzerland (Apr 09-June 09).

• Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) signed with 16 training organizations in 11 different countries to become GRI Certified Training Partners.

• By 30 June 2009, a total of 21 organizations had finished the certification process, to offer training in Portuguese, English, French, Korean, Spanish and Catalan.

• 49 GRI certified training courses were given during the last Financial Year in 11 countries to 747 participants.

Key Achievements in the reporting period:

• Set agreements with 16 training partners in 11 countries to implement the GRI certified training program

• Held Introductory Workshops in 15 different countries, of which 12 were developing countries (DAC countries). The total number of participants in the Introductory Workshops was 340

GRI Certified Training Program

One of the main program areas of the GRI Learning Services is the GRI Certified Training Program. The aim of the Certified Training Program is to disseminate knowledge on sustainability reporting around the world. It has been developed especially to help report makers (e.g., consultants, or managers of businesses, SMEs and NGOs) and users (e.g., NGOs, financial analysts, government officials, company Boards and media) to use the GRI Framework and GRI reports more effectively.

The training program is implemented by selected local training organizations in different countries that have been certified by GRI. During the reporting period GRI started to develop special training programs for SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises), which will be implemented as of the coming Financial Year, starting 1 July 2009.

Learning Services Department


List of Certified Training Partners & Training Locations

Name of Training PartnerCountry/ region where certified

Countries where trainings took place

Language used in

trainings

Number of training

participants

Aberje Brazil Brazil Portuguese 106

Uniethos Brazil Brazil Portuguese 195

Coppetec Brazil Brazil Portuguese 33

Insight Associates India India English 0

CII-ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development. India India English 28

Partners in Change India India English 0

Asian Centre for Corporate Governance India India English 0

Brownflynn USA USA English 0

LEAD - Canada USA & Canada USA & Canada English, French 88

Korean Standards Association Korea Korea Korean 48

Korea Productivity Center Korea Korea Korean 0

KPMG Asesores S.L. Spain Spain Spanish 22

Lavola Spain Spain Spanish, Catalan

16

V&H Grup Spain Spain Spanish, Catalan

0

PWC - Chile Hispanic Americas Mexico Spanish 46

IDE Business School Hispanic Americas Ecuador Spanish 21

KPMG Cárdenas Dosal, S.C. Hispanic Americas Mexico Spanish 0

BSD Group - Colombia Hispanic Americas & Spain

Ecuador, Colombia, Mexico

Spanish 114

Neuvaction Canada Canada French 0

Environmental & Sustainability Solutions South Africa South Africa English 7

South African Institute of Chartered Accountants South Africa South Africa English 23

To help trainers manage and monitor their training courses, GRI has developed and implemented a web portal tool to facilitate the Quality Control of its Certified Training Program.

Quality Control

1. GRI organizes “Training of Trainers” for nominated trainers on a regular basis. Participation of trainers from DAC countries is sponsored by GRI.

2. Nominated trainers have access to a dedicated website for exchange of content and quick support from the GRI team.

3. Training participants complete a questionnaire before receiving their certificates. A report on their answers and feedback is offered, anonymously, to the training partners and nominated trainers.

4. Local consultants are trained to visit training sessions, evaluate them and send a report to GRI’s training development manager, with precise suggestions for improvement. An activities plan is developed based on this feedback and discussed with training partners.


Introductory Workshops

In addition to the Certified Training Program, the GRI Learning Services also offer Introductory Workshops. These workshops provide participants with a general introduction to GRI and the services it provides and aims to raise awareness of sustainability issues and the GRI Guidelines. It is aimed at participants who have little or no knowledge or experience of GRI and the GRI Guidelines.

In the reporting period GRI held Introductory Workshops in 15 different countries of which 12 were developing countries (DAC countries). The total number of participants in the Introductory Workshops was 476, as follows:

Country DateNumber of

participants

Armenia 26 June 2008 9

Azerbaijan 23 June 2009 24

Brazil 2 July 2008 23

11 September 2008 60





22 October 2008 15

29 October 2008 29

31 October 2008 23

Ecuador 8 December 2008 25

Georgia 25 June 2009 30

Hong Kong 17 October 2008 45

Mozambique 14 October 2008 50

United Arab Emirates 27 January 2009 11

Ukraine 8 June 2009 18

TOTALS 476

Training of Trainers

In March 2009, nominated GRI trainers from all over the world came to Amsterdam for the annual 3-day “Training of Trainers” course. The objectives of this training are:

• Identify the core content messages in the Certified Train-ing Program material.

• Clarify major questions and issues with the Certified Train-ing Program material.

• Identify the principles of effective training and apply these so as to effectively address the learning objectives of the Certified Training Program.

• Identify how to maximize the potential of the Certified Training Partners network.

Additionally, the trainers are able to catch up on the latest trends in GRI reporting meet their peers and share their experiences and learn from one another. GRI sponsors the participation of trainers from developing countries.

WorkshopinAbuDhabi, WorkshopinMozambique, June2009 Sept2008

“This was a hands on and very practical workshop. A perfect way to get started on the path towards our first sustainability

report.” (Abu Dhabi workshop: Participant’s feedback)


The Amsterdam Declaration on Transparency and Reporting

We, the Board of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), believe that the lack of transparency in the existing system for corporate reporting has failed its stakeholders. While we recognize that certain governments have shown leadership on corporate sustainability disclosure, we call on all governments to extend and strengthen the global regime of sustainability reporting. In particular, assumptions about the adequacy of voluntary reporting must be reexamined.

We, the Board of GRI, conclude that:

• The root causes of the current economic crisis would have been moderated by a global transparency and accountabil-ity system based on the exercise of due diligence and the public reporting of environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance.

• The profound loss of trust in key institutions is best ad-dressed by the adoption of a global reporting framework that enhances transparency and is informed by the legiti-mate interest of all key sectors of society.

A revitalized and resilient economic system will only be sustained if it accounts for the full costs and value of ESG activity.

Therefore, the Board of GRI calls on governments to take leadership by:

1. Introducing policy requiring companies to report on ESG factors or publicly explain why they have not done so.

2. Requiring ESG reporting by their public bodies – in particu-lar, state-owned companies, government pension funds and public investment agencies.

3. Integrating sustainability reporting within the emerging global financial regulatory framework being developed by leaders of the G20.

Beyond this we emphasize that the focus on the current financial crisis threatens to mask the century’s defining sustainability crisis which itself poses an even greater risk to our economies and societies.

Key Achievements in reporting period:

• Recruited and promoted political and financial support

• Promoted governmental use of GRI-based sustainability reporting, especially through the Amsterdam Declaration

• Set up the Governments’ Advisory Group

• Attended the FEE/Eurosif Roundtable on Sustainability Disclosures

Reporting by governments

On 11-12 June 2009 the Secretariat hosted a meeting of the managers for sustainable operational management representing a number of Dutch Ministries, Sustainable United Nations (SUN), Enact Sustainable Strategies and Secretariat staff to review public agency sustainability management and reporting. The participants discussed possible updates to the GRI Public Agency Sector Supplement.

GRI and Government Policies

In March 2009 the GRI Board of Directors issued the Amsterdam Declaration on Transparency and Reporting. The Declaration received coverage in the SRI and CSR press, as well as several emerging economy mainstream media.

Chief Executive’s Office

Meeting Goverment Advisory Group, 3-4 March 2009Angela Cropper, Richard Howitt, Michèle Pappalardo, Gil Ramos Masjuan, Margareta Kristianson, Gerry Antioch, Jenny Didong, Carsten Ingerslev, Sabine Baun, Ricardo Henriques, Erik Just Olsen


Swedish & Norwegian governments join the Netherlands in supporting GRI

GRI welcomed the recently pledged support from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Sweden and Norway. These ministries are highlighting that concern for transparency through sustainability reporting reaches much further than the corporate world. Both Sweden and Norway also have representatives in the GRI Government Advisory Group.

GRI Deputy Chief Executive, Teresa Fogelberg, welcomed the contributions from both governments:

“This financial support is key to GRI; not only because of its concrete support to the programs and operation of GRI, but

even more so for strategic reasons.GRI is strengthening its relations with governments because

they play a key role in stewardship of the public good generated by the multi-stakeholder network of GRI. In the past, GRI had a resource base that was almost completely

provided by the corporate sector. Today, thanks to the support from an increasing number of governments, the

financial basis is more balanced and therefore more robust.”

Deputy Director, Margareta Kristianson of the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said:

“We are happy to have engaged with GRI, both because of our domestic CSR practice, where Swedish state-owned

companies issue GRI-based reports, and also because of our international CSR policy. For example, we have a MOU

with China in this field, and see that Chinese officials visiting Sweden want to learn about the GRI Guidelines.”

Extract from the Norwegian Government’s White Paper on CSR:

“The Norwegian government considers GRI a suitable tool for reporting on economic, social and environmental

business impact, and will contribute with relevant information and guidance. Norway will support the GRI financially, focusing on increasing the relevance of GRI

for developing countries, as well as on the GRI’s work on adapting the tool to fit the needs of small and medium-sized

enterprises.”

Government Advisory Group

On 17 September 2008, the inaugural meeting of the newly created GRI Governmental Advisory Group took place in Oegstgeest in the Netherlands. Governmental bodies from Argentina, Denmark, European Parliament, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Norway were represented.

During its inaugural meeting the group discussed key developments in each of their policy environments regarding sustainability reporting. Furthermore, the group discussed GRI as part of the global sustainability agenda, against the background of the Mid-term review of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs Co-financing scheme (MFS) grant to GRI.

A second meeting, held in Amsterdam on 3 and 4 March 2009, explored the consequences of the economic crisis for sustainable development and sustainability reporting in particular.

Global Standards

GRI attended the FEE/Eurosif8 Roundtable on Sustainability Disclosures in April 2008. This led to an invitation to participate in upcoming European Commission Workshops on ESG Disclosure to be held 2009-2010 with a view towards formulating a recommendation on sustainability disclosures for the incoming European Commission.

8 FEE (Federation of European Accountants) and Eurosif (European Sustainable Investment Forum).

Sustainability reporting by state owned companies in Sweden increases dramatically

In 2007 the Sweden’s Ministry of Enterprise, Energy and Communications announced that it was to require all state-owned companies to issue sustainability reports. The requirement for sustainability reports based on the guidance from the Global Reporting Initiative from state-owned companies took effect early in 2008. This action has resulted in a significant increase in sustainability reporting from Sweden’s state-owned companies.

The requirement was for the companies to report or explain why they could not, and so far more than 89% of the companies have issued GRI reports. This has also led to a knock-on effect on non state-owned listed companies – of the 100 largest listed Swedish companies, the number issuing GRI reports has increased to 25 (from 15 the previous year).


Objective 2

19

Increase the value of GRI-based sustainability reporting for businesses and other organizationsEach year, more and more organizations of different sizes, constituencies and parts of the world start using the sustainability reporting guidelines developed by GRI. To assist organizations in this process, GRI develops tools and specific guidance for organizations, both for beginners and experienced reporters, to assist them on their journey.


Human Rights Reporting Project

To mark the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in December 2008, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the UN Global Compact and Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative, collaborated on a project – Human Rights: A Call to Action - to improve understanding of how and why to publicly disclose policies and practice relating to human rights.

The project, built around a multi-stakeholder Expert Working Group supplemented by three regional workshops, produced the following, which will be publicly available in October 2009:

1. Working Group Recommendations for the GRI Governance Bodies on how to further improve the human rights contents of the G3 Sustainability Reporting Guidelines. The recommendations of the Working Group will be translated in edits to the G3 Guidelines.

2. Human Rights Reporting Resource Document which will help companies begin a process of identifying human rights relevant issues in their operations and translate them into meaningful and effective reporting.

3. Reports Analysis: A review of current corporate sustainability reports in order to highlight both innovative and interesting examples as well as gaps and continuing challenges in human rights reporting.

Key Achievements in reporting period

• Implemented G3 work plan as defined by Board & TAC in February 2008 meeting: finalized recommendations on Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions and community indicators and launched new projects on materiality and human rights indicators

• Implemented existing sector supplement portfolio (NGO, Electric Utilities, Mining & Metals, and Food Processing)

• Implemented industry partnerships to develop sector supplements and support their uptake

• Developed National Annex Project in Brazil

• Implemented activities with the UN Global Compact related to promoting reporting

• Prepared gender resource document

Research Projects

Report Content and Materiality Project

Choosing the issues and indicators to report on, and determining the boundaries of responsibility of whom to report on, are the most fundamental decisions in the preparation of any report. Getting these areas right is arguably the key to making sustainability reporting a valuable exercise for report preparers and users, and to ensuring the right balance on the amount of detail and breadth of content in a report. Many companies have indicated that they are uncertain how to use it in practice and how it can help change their resulting reporting. To answer this need, GRI set up a project to create a protocol defining how to use the existing guidance for defining report content to select the material issues and indicators for a report.

During the reporting period GRI convened a Working Group to review existing practices in defining report content and setting report boundaries, in order to develop guidance on defining material issues and relevant indicators.

The outputs from this Working Group will include:• Protocol for Defining Content and Materiality• Determining whether updates to the Boundary Protocol

are needed• Recommendations for edits to the G3 Guidelines

(if needed)



Sector Supplement Electric Utilities (EUSS)

The Electric Utilities Sector Supplement will enable companies in the energy utilities sector engaged in the generation and distribution of energy to better report on their sustainability performance using the GRI reporting framework.

The reporting period saw the completion of the final version of the Electric Utility Sector Supplement and accompanying indicator protocols, which were formally launched on 15 April 2009 at the Ceres Conference in San Francisco, USA. The launch took place at a special breakfast briefing session on the first day of the conference. Electric Utilities company representatives and their stakeholders discussed the trends, best practice and challenges of reporting in the sector.

EPSU (the European Federation of Public Services Trade Unions) and Eurelectric for the companies/employers (including ENEL, Vattenfall, Gdf-Suez, Eon, RWE and Iberdrola) signed an agreement on CSR, underlining the importance of reporting according to the GRI standards and strongly endorses the GRI Electricity Supplement.

In 2008 159 companies from the energy utilities sector produced sustainability reports, making it the second largest sustainability reporting sector for GRI.

Veena Ramani, Manager, Corporate Programs at Ceres, said: “The GRI Guidelines and the Sector Supplement are integral

to material, standard and comparable extra-financial reporting in the industry. This helps key constituencies,

including investors and NGOs, assess a company’s plans and performance on sustainability issues”

GRI Sector Supplements

Some sectors face unique needs that require specialized guidance in addition to the universally applicable core Guidelines. Sector Supplements respond to these needs and constitute a key part of the Reporting Framework by: • Increasing the practice of sustainability reporting in a specific

sector; and • Enhancing the comparability of sustainability reports by the

organizations in this sector.

Supplement development continued during the reporting period with four supplement projects, based on a 15–20 person multi-stakeholder Working Group with 50% industry and 50% non-industry participants. A minimum of 30% DAC country participants was part of each Working Group.

Sector Supplement Airports

As air traffic increases each year, getting people to and from their respective destinations while keeping sustainability impacts low presents a major challenge for airports around the globe but one that is foremost on their list of priorities. Sustainability reports based on the GRI sector specific reporting guidelines will be a time- and cost-effective tool for airports to keep ahead of increasing demands of stakeholders for transparency and accountability.

During the reporting period two working group meetings were held and the Sector Supplement produced in draft form.


Sector Supplement Food Processing

The global trend in environmental awareness, paired with heightened consumer consciousness, sees food companies increasingly facing new expectations. Many are now seeking to proactively communicate the economic, environmental and social performance of their businesses.

Food processing companies use the GRI Guidelines as a framework for disclosing their impacts in their sustainability reports. These impacts are many and varied, and due to the very nature of food production are likely to affect the community. This means that food processing companies face unique needs that require specialized reporting guidance, in addition to the universally applicable core GRI Guidelines.

Following a three-month survey on the draft indicators, there were three meetings of the working group during the reporting period.

Sector Supplement Non-Profit/NGO

The rise of the ‘third sector’ has led to an increasing demand for greater accountability from non-profit organizations. Organized civil society has begun to carry out some of the functions traditionally carried out by state; non-profits significantly influence public policy development on an international, national as well as on a local level. Questions on transparency within these entities have been raised and the Non-Profit Sector Supplement project was initiated as a response, to further enhance sustainability reporting practice in the non-profit sector.

The reporting period saw three working group meetings, which resulted in the production of the final draft for public comment,

approved by the TAC.

Sector Supplement Mining & Metals

In February 2005, GRI published the Mining and Metals Sector Supplement Pilot Version 1.0, which was developed through a GRI-led collaborative process between the GRI and ICMM (International Council on Mining & Metals).

In light of changes in the reporting landscape (particularly the migration to the GRI G3 Guidelines, which includes indicator protocols) and to incorporate practical lessons of reporting experience, GRI and ICMM decided to collaborate to progress the Mining & Metals Sector Supplement Pilot version to a Final version.

Following a meeting of the working group in October 2008, a final draft for public comment was approved by the TAC in February 2009.


Reporting in Brazil: Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD)

Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD) (Brazil) is the world’s second largest mining company. The introduction of sustainability reporting marked a major change in the company, which was very familiar with production indicators but not with sustainability indicators.

The G3 Guidelines helped CVRD to involve external stakeholders and to address its supply chain. One consequence of sustainability reporting was a decision by CVRD to impose a temporary moratorium on supplying iron ore to a pig iron producer that used charcoal from unmanaged forests in the Amazon and used child labor. Only when the iron mill company could prove that it obtained its charcoal from legitimate sources was the ban removed.

The GRI Guidelines also helped give a consolidated view of the company’s operations. Sustainability reporting has been increasingly integrated into CVRD’s mainstream activities. The whole management team is involved in supplying information and report to the top executives of CVRD. Sustainability is also now integrated into the company’s procurement procedures. Up until now sustainability reporting has been considered a risk management issue, but increasingly the view is being adopted that sustainability reporting and improved performance also represent “added value” for CVRD.

CVRD previously received the lowest “Environment, Social and Governance” rating by the global investment bank Goldman Sachs. Goldman Sachs recently contacted CVRD to communicate that CVRD will appear high in the new list due to their Sustainability Report. Additionally, a merger with INCO, a large Canadian Nickel mine that CVRD purchased in 2006 and that also has a plant in China, was eased by the fact that both parties used GRI Guidelines for sustainability reporting.

National Annexes

With GRI-based reports coming from over 60 countries around the world and a global network focused on the vision of creating a set of Guidelines that will work for any organization, anywhere in the world, there is increasing recognition that sustainability is very much about a time and a place and a community. This has led to practical questions about how to make reporting both global and local at the same time.

To help address some of these questions, GRI initiated the concept of National Annexes as a way to create a “local” space within the GRI portfolio.

GRI decided to focus its initial efforts on creating a National Annex in Brazil. Working with the Technical Advisory Committee, GRI developed a template for the project and the content and appointed co-chairs to lead a Steering Committee in Brazil.

Pilot Project National Annexes: Brazil

Brazil is one of the more significant countries of GRI reporters and one which faces complex sustainability challenges. Developing an effective model for an Annex will provide a format that can be replicated around the world and can provide a means to ensure both international comparability of reporting and local specificity.

In developing the concept for National Annexes, GRI conducted consultations and surveys through its broader network to solicit views. It also organized a workshop in Brazil to develop a model for an Annex and its development process.

Co-Chairs have been selected and they have now nominated the remaining members for a Steering Committee who will guide the process.


Gender Project

The importance of gender equality has been acknowledged as a key social and development issue, yet research has indicated that companies rarely report much gender disaggregated data in their sustainability reports.

With the support of the governments of Iceland, Germany and Switzerland, a range of stakeholders were consulted through a series of international consultation workshops in the USA, India, UK, Brazil and South Africa with business, civil society, investors and labor representatives.

The Gender Resource Document, entitled Embedding Gender in Sustainability Reporting: A Practitioners’ Guide, intended to help organizations understand gender issues and look at their relationship to the GRI Sustainability Reporting Framework, will be formally launched in October 2009.

The conclusions drawn from this work have led to the proposal that the GRI Governance bodies should consider gender alongside other topics for inclusion in next year’s G3 update work plan.

Work with UN Global Compact to promote reporting

There are important similarities between UN Global Compact and the GRI. At their core both employ a multi-stakeholder approach with respect to overall strategy, governance, and framework development. In addition, each initiative is aspirational and voluntary in nature – designed to complement regulatory schemes, not replace them. Both find their roots in the major international environmental and social conventions. The GRI and UNGC encourage companies to expand their commitments, activities, and reporting at their own pace.

Gender & Reporting

In the twelve months to September 2008, GRI collaborated with the International Finance Corporation IFC to produce an educational resource publication to help organizations using the GRI Sustainability Reporting Framework better integrate gender information into sustainability reports.


languages is continually increasing. All new language versions are announced on the GRI website and in the monthly electronic GRI Newsletter.

The first two Starting Points publications were published in English, as well as translated into Portuguese and Spanish, during the reporting period. GRI sustainability reporting: A common language for a common future is aimed at those who want to know more about how the GRI Guidelines offer a common language for understanding and talking about the current sustainability challenges. It also explains how the GRI reporting process can help organizations to address requests for transparency and accountability. If an organization wants to gain respect and enhance credibility, it is essential that it can show that it understands the connections between its activities and their impacts, and take them into account in everyday decisions.

There are many different reasons why organizations decide to implement a GRI reporting process, but the idea of finding value in the reporting process is rarely there from the outset. GRI sustainability reporting: How valuable is the journey? was developed to explore the benefits and challenges of the sustainability reporting process, using input and testimonials from GRI Organizational Stakeholders. This input on the experiences – benefits and challenges – of the GRI reporting process for use in this publication can be found – unabridged –on the GRI website http://www.globalreporting.org/LearningAndSupport/GRIPublications/LearningPublications/LearningPublications.htm.

The Learning Services Department also set up a database where reporters can upload examples from their own reports or examples from other reports they find interesting and would like to share with others. Participation is free of charge and the database is accessible from the GRI website http://www.globalreporting.org/LearningAndSupport/ToolsAndResources/ReportingExamples/CaseStudies.htm.

Key Achievements in the reporting period

• Prepared and published the second Pathways publication, Let´s Report! Step-by-step guidance to prepare a basic GRI sustainability report

• Translated the core LS publications into four languages.

• Worked on the development of specific guidance for SMEs and supply chain, through the ‘Transparency in the Supply Chain’ project.

• Improved the website, newsletter, OS newsletter, GRI external presentations, and communication plan

Learning Publications

Another main program of the GRI Learning Services is the GRI Learning Publications Series. These publications are divided into three different categories: Starting Points, Pathways, and Explorations. The LS publications are available at a discount price for not-for-profit and/or small organizations from developing (DAC) countries.

The reporting period saw the translation into Chinese, Japanese and Korean of the first Pathways publication The GRI sustainability reporting cycle: A handbook for small and not-so-small organizations (bringing the total number of available languages to nine).

The year also saw the launch in English of the second Pathways publication, Let´s Report! Step-by-step guidance to prepare a basic GRI sustainability report. It was also translated into Portuguese and Spanish. This publication was initiated through the ‘Transparency in the Supply Chain’ pilot program and will be used as course material for the upcoming GRI Certified SME Training Program which will be implemented in the next Financial Year.

In connection with the preparation of the Let’s Report! publication, a template for a basic GRI Level C report was prepared. The template is available for free as an interactive file on the GRI website where it can be downloaded, filled in, saved and sent directly to GRI. The template is available in 13 language versions. GRI aims to provide this template in all the languages in which a G3 translation exits so the number of

Learning Services Department


The outcomes of the project were:• Sustainability reports

from eleven out of twelve suppliers

• A resource document on the lessons learned by all the project partners on sus-tainability reporting by suppliers

The project allowed the suppliers to:• Learn about sustainability

concepts • Start measuring sustainabil-

ity performance • Use reporting as a catalyst

for change within their organizations

• Report on their sustainabil-ity performance

Due to the success of this program, GRI decided to establish a follow-up program to scale up the success from the pilot project. In October 2008 GRI launched the Global Action Network for Transparency in the Supply Chain (GANTSCh). During the months following the launch, GRI worked towards recruiting buyer companies to participate in the new program; and towards the end of the Financial Year the first certified training programs for the suppliers (SMEs) were being scheduled. The training is free for the participating SMEs.

List of the Global Action Network for Transparency in the Supply Chain partners

Project Funders

Global Sponsor GTZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit)

Regional Sponsor Austrian Development Agency

Buyer Company Participants

Country of supplier participants

PUMA Bangladesh

China

India

Pakistan

Portugal

Turkey

Energias de Portugal (EDP)

Portugal

SME & Supply Chain Program

The third main program of the Learning Services Department is the SME and Supply Chain program.

Between 2006 and 2008 GRI collaborated with GTZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit, on behalf of the government of the Federal Republic of Germany) on the ‘Transparency in the Supply Chain’ pilot program. This program partnered four multinational enterprise (MNE) buyers with twelve small and medium enterprise (SME) suppliers. The buyers and SME suppliers worked together with international and regional experts to learn how sustainability reporting can improve and promote sustainability and transparency within the supply chain.

List of participants in GRI/GTZ Transparency in the Supply Chain pilot program – Buyers and SME suppliers

Buyers SME Suppliers Country

Daimler Varroc Engineering India

Victor Gaskets India

Otto Group Art on Stitch Thailand

Shunde Hengfa Knitting Garment

China

Topkapi Iplik Turkey

PUMA Impahla Clothing South Africa

Suzi Products South Africa

Vimal Clothing Soth Africa

Telefonica Interplus Chile

NewPost Chile

Sinstel Chile

ConferenceinThailand Mid-termconferenceinGermany

WorkshopinIndia


Case Study: Puma’s experiences with supply chain reporting in South Africa

Puma has been reporting according to the GRI Guidelines since 2005. So far, this excluded the performance of the 400+ suppliers of Puma worldwide. Three of Puma’s suppliers in South-Africa are involved in the pilot project “Transparency in the supply chain”. One of these suppliers has recently won an Achievement Award from ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants). The pilot project in South-Africa is a first step towards inclusion of the supply chain in Puma’s sustainability report. We see a very positive development from a top-down, brand-driven approach towards a sustainable, bottom-up, supply chain approach.

One of the South African SME’s involved in the project explains the value of sustainability reporting for their organization: “GRI reporting offers an insight to a company’s contribution to the people that sustain it. Compiling this report also makes you see the Pro’s and Con’s of a company’s activities. This report also made us more environmentally aware, as we now recycle 90% of our waste. It gave us an understanding of our employees and we have since tried to improve on any negative input we received from them. It’s tough to see the fabric for all the threads.” (Khemie Prithipal, Human Resources Vimal Clothing Enterprise, South Africa)

Case Study: Art on Stitch and GRI reporting in Thailand

Sustainability reporting is not common in Thailand. In fact, there were only two (very large) companies in Thailand that had even published GRI reports when Art on Stitch Co. Ltd., a medium-sized family-owned knitwear supplier, accepted Otto Group‘s invitation to participate in the GRI/GTZ Transparency in the Supply Chain project. Otto Group, a global retail and service company based in Germany, had long been committed to promoting socially and environmentally responsible business practices for itself and its suppliers. The GRI/GTZ project offered its suppliers the tools and training to allow them to measure, monitor and improve their own sustainability performance.

Art on Stitch indicated at the beginning of the project that even though they were participating because of the invitation from Otto Group, it had a deep commitment to improving its sustainability perofrmance and recognized the importance of sustainability reporting. The company learned about the importance of stakeholder engagement and reached out to its employees, customers, and local community to understand the sustainability issues that were most material to its business. It identified water pollution and climate change as the key challenges and its work with its own suppliers to improve their understanding of environmental and social issues as its main contribution to sustainable development.

Art on Stitch saw sustainability reporting as a tool that could benefit all of Thailand and actively sought to push for others to embrace GRI reporting. Seantad Chareyalerpongs, Executive Director of Art on Stitch, initiated and organized a meeting with the Thai Business Association of Garment Exporters to open a dialogue on how sustainability reporting could improve their performance and the competitive advantage of the Thai garment market as a whole. Art on Stitch‘s experience with GRI reporting not only demonstrated the benefits that a single company could gain from embracing sustainability reporting, but also offered insights on how it could benefit a whole industry.


Operations Department

Key Activities in the reporting period

• Monitored and reported on GRI’s own sustainability impact

• Implemented procedures and trained staff to ensure ongoing focus and embed processes into the daily activities

Reporting on own performance

GRI itself - a small enterprise and a large global network – places sustainable development at the core of its operations and has been reporting its own performance since 2003.

The reporting process has made GRI aware of possible shortcomings of its own operations and each year GRI tries to improve its performance and in this

way its impact in a number of fields.

The GRI sustainability report covering the reporting period was prepared according to the GRI G3 Guidelines, Application Level A. This report had important internal and external effects.

More information about the report can be found at: http://www.globalreporting.org/AboutGRI/WhatIsGRI/GRIsOwnReports/OurReports.htm

The GRI sustainability report was placed on the GRI website and promoted in the newsletter.

Most importantly, for external stakeholders it has shown that it is possible to create an A-level report even as a small organization, with limited means and resources. The report has helped GRI shape its internal management and external footprint. GRI hopes this inspires other organizations to follow its example.


Objective 3

29

Increase the value of reporting for stakeholders, readers, and users of informationThe impact of sustainability reporting lies far beyond the organization that prepares the report. Its true value lies in the important information it contains for stakeholders, readers, and other users of this information, who use it to decide whether or not to work for this organization, invest in them, or buy their products. GRI tries, where possible, to facilitate communication between the report writer and the report user, through a variety of projects and programs.


GRI Reporters List

Until the end of 2008 GRI only collected the reports from users of the GRI Guidelines on an ad hoc basis. At the end of 2008 GRI decided to make an effort to collect as many GRI and non-GRI reports as possible.

In March 2009 GRI set up its online GRI Reporters List, which lists all reports that have used the GRI Guidelines from 1999 until the present (that have come to the attention of GRI). Additionally, GRI is concluding data sharing agreements with online report repositories to extend its ability to monitor the release of reports in locations where it has limited tracking capacity. By 30 June 2009, data sharing agreements were in place with China, Greece, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, Netherlands, Japan and Belgium.

The presence of the GRI reports list on the website has improved the visibility of the GRI reports that are out there, which leads to a higher number of registrations and interest for external parties to become data partners to GRI.

Key Achievements in the reporting period

• Rolled out a 2nd version of GRI’s XBRL Taxonomy

• Developed GRI reporters list

eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL)

XBRL has been developed as a tool for digitally marking and transmitting financial information. XBRL is related to computer languages that are commonly used in the development of web pages and essentially offers a way to “tag” numbers or other information so that other computers can automatically recognize and sort the information.

GRI released a first version of the taxonomy in 2006. During the reporting period GRI began to gather feedback and requirements for the 2nd version of the XBRL taxonomy. Report preparers, investor community and software developers are involved in the project.



During the reporting period, every milestone of the Readers’ Choice Awards 2008 was featured in a press release and a GRI Newsletter article. Additionally, the RCA partners and the network partners gave promotional support in their respective regions and constituencies. The data generated from the RCA online survey and scoring platform was analyzed and documented in the RCA Survey Report, presented at the GRI Conference.

The 2008 Readers’ Choice Awards functioned as a platform for interacting and engaging different stakeholder groups. The results of the RCA Survey Report were discussed in a special session during the second Amsterdam Conference on Sustainability and Transparency held 7-9 May 2009 and the winners were honoured in the evening Awards ceremony. The RCA Survey Report was accompanied by an executive summary and a brochure announcing the nominees for the Awards. Additionally, GRI organized regional events to promote readers’ participation in the Awards.

Key Activities during the reporting period:

• Disseminated findings and learning from the RCA through press coverage and presentations to key audiences

• Mobilized readership in the information marketplace via the Readers’ Choice Awards, and disseminated findings through the 2008 GRI conference, publications, and regional events

Readers’ Choice Awards

The number of organizations reporting on their economic, environmental and social performance reached a record high in the reporting period – thousands of sustainability reports are now issued each year. The number of people using these reports to gain data on organizations is growing too, but what do the readers think of the reports that are out there? The Readers’ Choice Awards and Survey, which took place in early 2008, captured the opinions of readers of GRI sustainability reports.

Communications & Network Relations Department


Financial Performance

32


this year. Ongoing prudent management in the coming year should lead to the maintenance of a positive net asset position.

The main financial management challenge for GRI is to effectively implement its mission while the underlying business model must allow for independency, financial stability and adequate reserve building to safeguard long term existence and risk protection. These requirements are captured in the objectives to ensure the revenue streams are diverse and from balanced resources and building up a cumulative reserve at a level to cover 6 months of Operating Expenses.

The Board and management will continue to monitor GRI’s financial position closely and consult on a regular basis to achieve an optimal balance between program goals and the need to further strengthen the organization’s financial position.

Financial Performance

The financial year 2008/09 was dominated by the financial crisis and a rapid deterioration in the global economy. Despite these less than favorable circumstances a positive result was recorded for the fifth consecutive year, with an operating surplus of € 110K achieved on total income of € 4,122K. This year’s surplus has increased the cumulative surplus of €176K brought forward at the start of the year to € 286K by the end of the year.

Through a prudent cost management approach, the ongoing monitoring of potential risks as a result of the economic turmoil and undertaking corrective actions when and where required to mitigate these risks have proven to be effective in managing the financial position of the organization.

The liquidity position improved further from a net current liquidity of € 168K over the previous financial year to € 313K by the end of


INCOME AND EXPENDITURE

2008-09 2007-08

€ €

Income

OS income 1,081,504 26.2% 926,014 17.1%

Conference 0 0.0% 1,774,686 32.8%

Readers’ Choice Award 0 0.0% 735,170 13.6%

Program income 748,908 18.2% 447,271 8.3%

Project income 875,267 21.2% 802,651 14.9%

Unrestricted donations 428,571 10.4% 40,000 0.7%

Other 987,796 24.0% 681,662 12.6%

Income 4,122,046 100.0% 5,407,454 100.0%

Operating expenses

Personnel costs 1,915,142 46.5% 1,853,256 34.3%

Social security 157,237 3.8% 180,973 3.3%

Depreciations 203,601 4.9% 182,072 3.4%

Office expenses 266,026 6.4% 259,293 4.8%

Operational expenses 152,339 3.7% 296,558 5.5%

Programmatic costs 1,063,927 25.8% 2,321,978 42.9%

General expenses 233,140 5.7% 215,713 4.0%

Total operating expenses 3,991,412 96.8% 5,309,843 98.2%

Operating surplus/(deficit) 130,634 3.2% 97,611 1.8%

Income from interest 739 0.0% 6,468 0.1%

Exchange rate gains / (losses) 13,340 0.3% (3,713) -0.1%

Other financial income / (cost) (10,150) -0.2% (6,337) -0.1%

Other exceptional income / ( cost) (24,500) -0.6% 0 0.0%

Ordinary surplus/(deficit) before taxes 110,063 2.7% 94,029 1.7%

Taxation 0 0.0% 0 0.0%

Ordinary surplus/(deficit) after taxes 110,063 2.7% 94,029 1.7%

Surplus/(deficit) for the year 110,063 2.7% 94,029 1.7%


INCOME BY CATEGORY

2008-09

€

Organizational Stakeholders 1,081,504

Restricted Program Income Recognized

Beyond the 3rd Generation of GRI Guidelines 52,904

Sustainability Reporting in Emerging Markets 265,170

Ownership Global South 103,740

G3 Global South 32,521

Learning Capacity 212,480

SME 82,093

Total Restricted Program Income 748,908

Restricted Project Income Recognized

SS Airport 43,468

SS Apparel 3,317

SS Construction and Real Estate 7,072

SS Energy & Pilot E & U 70,107

SS Financial Services 2,019

SS Food Processing 67,204

SS Mining & Metals 23,461

SS NGO 87,160

SS Oil and Gas 9,597

G3 Edu Consortium 8,744

G3 Taxonomy (XBRL 500

G3.1 Indicator Development 11,255

SME GTZ 139,663

Gender Project 54,957

Human Rights Project 140,515

Materiality Work Group 62,046

China project 40,755

National Annexes 1,000

Investor Consultation Group 4,427

SC Brazil 91,480

Learning Publications Development 6,520

Total Restricted Project Income 875,267

Unrestricted Donations

Charles Stewart Mott Foundation 20,225

Norway Ministry of Foreign Affairs 166,598

Sweden Ministry of Foreign Affairs 241,748

Total Unrestricted Donations 428,571

Transport 3,134,250


Transport 3,134,250

Other Income

Brochures 5,092

Learning Publication 107,832

Report Registration and Application Level Check 314,380

Training Partners Certification 290,160

HP Servers, Microsoft Software and Dell 155,270

Reimbursements, Honorarium and Miscellaneous 115,062

Total Other Income 987,796

Total Income 4,122,046


Copel, Confederacio de Cooperativa de Catalunya, Confederacion de Cooperativas de Euskadi, Confederacion Empresarial Espanola, Consumers International, Co-operative Financial Services, Cordaid, Daimler, Danisco, Denver International Airport, DONG Energy, Enel, Energias do Brasil, Energias de Portugal, E.on, EPA Victoria, European Commission, Flughafen Frankfurt, Flughafen Zurich, FUINSA, Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Greenpeace International, Intel, International Council on Mining and Metals, Kellogg Company, Korea East West Power Co., Landcom, Lend Lease Co., MISTRA, National Australia Bank, Nestle, Netherlands Airport Consultants, Netherlands Ministry of Environment, Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Newmont Mining Co., Nexen, Novo Nordisk, Novozymes, Otto, Oxfarm International, Oxfarm/Novib, Petrobras, Plan Nederland, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso, Portland International Airport, Puma, Quality Net Foundation, Repsol YPF, Rio Tinto, Smitfield Foods, State Street, Suncor Energy, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Switzerland Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Talisman Energy, Tapiola Group, Telefonica, Terre des Hommes International, Toronto International Airport, Tyson Foods, Umicore, UNEP Financial Initiative, Unibanco, Vancity and Citizens Bank of Canada, Westpac Banking, Weyerhauser, Wilmar International, Worley Parsons, Young Seafoods, Zuricher Kantonalbank

Sponsors and Donors

OrganizationalStakeholders:Please refer to our website (www.globalreporting.org) for a listing of the organizations supporting GRI.

InstitutionalDonors:Norway Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sweden Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Programs:Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Finance Corporation (IFC), Netherlands Ministry of Environment

Projects:ABN Amro, ActionAid International, Aeropuertos del Sureste (ASUR), Allianz Global Investors France, American Electric Power, Amnesty International, Archer Daniels Midlands Co., Arthur D. Little, Athens International Airport, Bank of Montreal, BC Hydro & Power Authority, BCSC, Bunge Alimentos, Bunge Fertilizantes International, CECA, CEMEX Mexico, CEMIG, Chilestra, China Resource Power Holding, Comphanhia de Paranaense de Energia


BALANCE SHEET

June 30th 2009 June 30th 2008

€ % € %

Fixed assets

Furniture and IT costs 144,967 6.37% 259,795 14.2%

Current assets

Receivables 1,061,215 46.60% 1,391,415 76.4%

Cash 1,071,215 47.04% 170,906 9.4%

Total 2,277,397 100.0% 1,822,116 100.0%

Reserve Account 286,066 12.56% 176,003 9.7%

Long-term liabilities 171,619 7.54% 252,038 13.8%

Short-term liabilities 1,819,712 79.90% 1,394,075 76.5%

Total 2,277,397 100.0% 1,822,116 100.0%


BALANCE SHEET (DETAILED)


ASSETS

Fixed Assets

Furniture and Fixtures 74,810 29,088

Hardware and Software 70,157 230,707

144,967 259,795

Current Assets

Receivables

Debtors 958,867 1,248,581

Tax and social security (31,729) 21,905

Other receivables 43,645 45,345

Other prepayments 90,432 75,584

1,061,215 1,391,415

Cash and bank balances 1,071,215 170,906

1,071,215 170,906

2,277,397 1,822,116



CAPITAL AND LIABILITIES

Reserve Account

Result prior year(s) brought forward 176,003 81,974

Surplus for the year 110,063 94,029

Result carried forward 286,066 176,003

Long-term liabilities

Loans 171,619 252,038

171,619 252,038

Short-term liabilities

Loans payable within one year 71,619 0

Financial Lease 0 0

Revenues received in advance 1,454,027 896,138

Creditors 135,494 122,553

Taxes and social security 61,729 55,887

Pensions 0 0

Accrued expenses 96,843 319,497

1,819,712 1,394,075

2,277,397 1,822,116


Global Reporting InitiativePO Box 10039

1001 EA AmsterdamThe Netherlands

Tel: +31 (0) 20 531 00 00Fax: +31 (0) 20 531 00 31

www.globalreporting.org

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