GRI US Conference Executive Summary - St Louis May 2012

ExEcutivE Summary

This evenT was organized by gri’s Focal PoinT Usa and iTs

sTraTegic ParTners:

st. louis conference 2012

Making sustainability count:Tracking Progress, driving opportunityMay 22–23, 2012 | St. Louis

Making Sustainability Count:Tracking Progress, Driving Opportunity

2

about thE Global rEportinG initiativE (Gri)the Global reporting initiative (Gri) produces a comprehensive Sustainability reporting Framework that is widely used around the world, to enable greater organizational transparency. the Framework, including the reporting Guidelines, sets out the principles and indicators organizations can use to report their economic, environmental, and social performance. Gri is committed to continuously improving and increasing the use of the Guidelines, which are freely available to the public.

Gri, a multi-stakeholder foundation, was set up in the uS in 1997 by cErES and the united nations Environment program (unEp). in 2002, Gri moved its central office to amsterdam, where the Secretariat is currently located. Gri has regional ‘Focal points’ in australia, brazil, china, india and the uSa, and a worldwide network of 30,000 people.

Website: www.globalreporting.org

about Gri’S Focal point uSaGri established its Focal point uSa in 2010. the objective of the Focal point is to improve the uptake, usefulness, consistency and quality of sustainability reporting, while enabling stakeholders in the uS to participate more actively in the development of the global Gri Sustainability reporting Framework.

Since the launch of the Focal point uSa at the new york Stock Exchange in January 2011, reporting in the uS has grown in quantity and quality, as has the participation of uS stakeholders in global developments.

a group of companies leading the growth of reporting in their respective industries support Focal point uSa: the Sector leaders. For more information about the program, please contact the Focal point team at [email protected].

rcGathe St. louis regional chamber & Growth association (rcGa) connects business and civic communities in the 16-county, bi-state region. Whether supporting public policy and infrastructure initiatives, or attracting new jobs, capital and talent - the rcGa is leading the way to a Greater St. louis.

Saint louiS univErSitythe mission of Saint louis university is the pursuit of truth for thegreater glory of God and for the service of humanity. the universityseeks excellence in the fulfillment of its corporate purposes of teaching, research, health care and service to the community.


3

the St. louis Gri conference – making Sustainability count: tracking

progress, Driving opportunity – was held by Gri’s Focal point uSa on

may 22-23, 2012. more than 200 participants – including delegates from

north america and international guests – represented business, financial

markets, legislative bodies, professional service firms, academia and the

non-profit sector.

the financial markets panel discussion was distributed by 3bl media through reuters on. Further video materials and interviews conducted at this event are available at: http://3blmedia.com/cSr-profiles/Global-reporting-initiative

about thE conFErEncE

1 CONFERENCE > 200+ dELEgatES > 4 COUNtRIES: CaNada, US, MExICO, thE NEthERLaNdS

6 paNELS

gROwth OF USa REpORtINg – EStIMatEd OvER 45% gROwth aNd StILL COUNtINg

hIgh LEvEL bREakFaSt FOR 20 LOCaL bUSINESS LEadERS at thE RCga, wIth gRI’S ChaIRMaN

2 MaStER CLaSSES – OvER 90 attENdEES at EaCh

OvER 30 ExpERt SpEakERS

IN a NUtShELL

increasingly complex and pressing sustainability issues mean there

is a greater need than ever for effective reporting to play its part in

the transition towards a sustainable global economy. corporations,

stock exchanges, governments and other organizations are

recognizing the value of integrating sustainability into core strategy

and business practice, and are adjusting their reporting accordingly.

the St. louis conference aimed to progress north america’s

contribution to a sustainable global economy, where organizations

manage their performance and impacts responsibly, and report

transparently.

the conference was the largest multi-stakeholder conference in

the region to date focusing on sustainability and reporting, lending

broad support for the adoption by business of transparency and

accountability for sustainability issues.

this document provides an account of the conference drawn from

the views of speakers, and discussions with participants.

http://3blmedia.com/CSR-Profiles/Global-Reporting-Initiative%20


4

around the world, sustainability reporting continues to grow. in 2011, an estimated 5000

organizations published a sustainability report. recent research by KpmG* shows that 95%

of the largest 250 companies in the world publish a sustainability report, up from 83% in

2008. of these reports, 80% reference the Gri Sustainability reporting Guidelines.

SuStainability rEportinG trEnDS

reporting is also growing in the uS. the same KpmG survey shows that 83% of the largest 100 uS companies reported in 2011, up from 74% in 2008. this puts the uS in ninth place out of 34 countries surveyed, behind the uK, Japan, and brazil, and ahead of china, india and russia.

Gri’s Sustainability Disclosure Database tracks all reports Gri is aware of, including – as of 2011 - non-Gri reports. to populate the database, Gri receives information from 25 local Data partners. For the uSa, the Data partner is Governance & accountability institute, inc. (G&a). analysis of uS reports in Gri’s database shows tremendous momentum for sustainability reporting.

a few trends are clear: increasingly, sustainability reports are externally assured, and there is also growth in the number of companies striving to create what they consider to be an integrated report. analysis of the Gri-based reports in the Sustainability Disclosure Database shows that, globally, 45% of reports are

externally assured, and that 19% of reporting organizations call their report integrated. interestingly, the uS percentages are much lower, at 28% and 8% respectively.

Furthermore, sustainability reporting is increasingly incorporating the performance of companies’ supply chains, making transparency part of the supplier-customer dialogue. a much-highlighted uS example of this is microsoft’s recent announcement that all of its core suppliers must produce a Gri-based sustainability report.

also, the General Services administration (which oversees the majority of the uS government’s procurement activities) announced that it received Gri certified training to enable operations and procurement staff to understand therelevance of sustainability performance for its own activities, as well as those of its suppliers.

*KPMG International Survey of Corporate Responsibility Reporting 2011

“reporting is a good way of looking in the mirror.”

David Dowell, Sr. Director Internal Audit & Quality Assurance and Chief Sustainability Officer, Novus (GRI Organizational Stakeholder)

“i believe that sustainability reporting can indicate thought leadership and facilitate trust between companies and stakeholders. market developed frameworks such as Gri are helpful to investors because they provide for comparability and standardization, which are critical components to meaningful analysis.”

Chad Spitler, Global Chief Operating Officer – Corporate Governance and Responsible Investment, BlackRock


5

“reporting drives profitability as it helps to identify areas for operational improvement within a company.”

LaRee DeFreece, Commissioner, Missouri Environmental Improvement & Energy Resources Authority

Delegates and speakers said:

• Transparency drives better performance

• Reporting drives profitability

• What matters is the sustainability strategy;

reporting is secondary

• Sustainability is part of core values

• The market rewards pro-active sustainability

management

hoW DoES rEportinG aDD valuE?

missouri is known as the ‘show me’ state, and it was clear that the speakers and the audience at the St. louis conference were willing to show, share and learn more about the business case for sustainability reporting.

leaders from business, local government and the investor community highlighted the benefits of both sustainability and reporting. companies with experience in Gri reporting, like novus, ab inbev, Johnson controls, microsoft and Doe run, shared how the reporting process has helped them improve performance, creating value for the company, the shareholders and other

stakeholders. competitive advantage and supply chain requirements are key business reasons to report.

the Gri reporting process enables companies to focus their sustainability strategy and set goals. tracking and analyzing performance helps to identify opportunities and manage risks. the report comes at the end of this cycle, enabling companies to share the sustainability strategy and goals; to make the data tell a story. the financial markets panel highlighted that sustainability reporting was a way to get investors positively engaged, and that the market rewards pro-active sustainability management.


6


• Your brand is really controlled by others

• Effective reporting starts or drives a focused strategy

• Materiality depends on the sector

• Materiality also differs per investment class, depending on its time horizon

• Different advocacy groups have different definitions of what is material to a company

matEriality anD StaKEholDEr EnGaGEmEnt

MatERIaLItY aNd StakEhOLdER ENgagEMENt

SuStainability lEaDErS

masterclasses on these crucial reporting topics were led by Gri certified training partners.

to assess what the focus of a company’s sustainability strategy should be, organizations need to define what is relevant – or material – to their operations. it is vital to engage stakeholders

in this development process, and different stakeholders can have different ideas about what is material. to a large extent, corporate reputation depends on the ability to engage multiple stakeholders.

For investors, materiality is influenced by sector and invest-

ment class. the consensus in the financial markets panel was a call for better sector guidance in the Gri Framework, with relevant in-dicators per industry. Gri is now working on a project to update sector guidance, and aims to publish a proposed list of mate-rial topics for different sectors in may 2013.

“as a privately held company we do not have to report much publicly, but our customers are increasingly demanding disclosure on sustainability topics. proactively providing this type of information provides us an opportunity to differentiate ourselves.”

Lee Broughton, Head of Corporate Sustainability, Enterprise Holdings (GRI Organizational Stakeholder)


7

“We created our first report last year and issued it internally to engage one of most important stakeholder groups – our people. We will build on this learning process as we continue on our sustainability journey.”

Kristine MacPhee, Canadian Sustainability Practice Lead, Environmental Resources Management (ERM)(GRI Organizational Stakeholder and US Training Partner)


• Business respects what it inspects

• Reporting becomes easier over time

• You have to keep telling the story of progress, it’s a continuous investment of time

and resources

• Innovative ideas and technology help drive employee engagement and data collection

• The ingredients of a good report: Multi-disciplinary team, time, focused strategy, and

critical assessment

thE JournEy oF continuouS improvEmEnt

Sustainability and reporting have moved from defense to offense: sustainability can drive innovation and help companies seize business opportunities, rather than just mitigate risk.

in his opening plenary, herman mulder, chairman of the board of Directors of Gri, highlighted the reporting process as a key driver for change in organizations. Sustainability reporting is a journey of continuous improvement.

Employee engagement is a key element of a company’s sustainability strategy, and employees are a key audience for sustainability reporting. to continue to drive change and improve performance, the sustainability strategy and performance need to be shared regularly; the sustainability report and the reporting process can help with this. Some speakers commented that going through the reporting process improved employee satisfaction and morale within the company.

US Sector Leaders with Eric Schneider (RCGA), Herman Mulder (Chairman of the GRI Board of Directors) and Mike Wallace (Director, GRI Focal Point USA)


8

“in the last 6 months of 2011, over 30 million Environmental, Social and Governance datapoints were downloaded from the bloomberg database. the environmental indicators and the disclosure score are the datapoints most frequently looked at.”

Rina Levy, SG Analyst, Bloomberg

“those of us working on corporate citizenship and sustainability issues in companies are a horizontal function in a vertical world.”

Steve Lippman, Director Corporate Citizenship, Microsoft (GRI Organizational Stakeholder)

Where individual companies are concerned, relatively

little is known about the readership of full sustainability

reports. but it is clear that the data and stories captured

in sustainability reports are used time and again in

other ways.

Who rEaDS thESE rEportS?

investment support provider mSci tracks information about more than 2000 listed companies; their strongest focus is on risk management. The issue of which companies are reporting and which are not is also very visible on over 300,000 bloomberg data terminals.

the sustainability team at the new york Stock Exchange not only looks after the exchange’s own sustainability strategy and reporting but also engages listed com-panies on the topic. but disclosure is not just relevant for listed companies.

the use of performance data and stories captured through the reporting process can be used beyond the report. they can be used to engage multiple audiences, through multiple channels. For example, social media provide an excellent oppor-tunity to draw attention to the sustainability performance of an organization, and to engage stakeholders and gather their feedback.


9

in the uS, sustainability reporting is voluntary. in several other countries, large companies do have a reporting obligation. in Sweden and china, all state-owned companies have to report. in Denmark, the largest companies have to report their sustainability performance, or explain why if they do not. and increasingly, stock exchanges are integrating sustainability or Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) disclosure into their listing requirements – examples include the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in South africa, bm&F bovespa in brazil, and SGx in Singapore.

While the percentage of self-declared

integrated reports is relatively low in the uS, this

did not make for less discussion on the topic.

Speakers and conference participants alike agreed that integrated reporting will become popular, but there is still hesitation to blend financial and non-financial performance data. Some believe this hesitation will diminish the visibility of non-financial performance information, and so make reports less engaging for stakeholders. others are concerned about the potential costs of assuring an integrated report, but at the same time it is expected that integrated reporting will lead to higher levels of assurance in the uSa.

Speakers and conference participants look to both Gri and the international integrated reporting council (iirc) for guidance on integrated reporting. both clorox and prudential are keen to be pioneers in the integrated reporting field, and have joined the iirc’s pilot program, where organizations are trialing integrated reporting.

chanGES in thE rEportinG EnvironmEnt

intEGratED rEportinG

the Gri Guidelines, and its wider Framework,

provide guidance for organizations that want

to report their sustainability performance.

comparability, consistency and the reporting

process are repeatedly cited by organizations

as valuable features of Gri reporting.

continuouS DEvElopmEnt oF thE Gri SuStainability rEportinG FramEWorK

as corporate reporting evolves and the context continues to change, Gri is committed to the continuous development of its Sustainability reporting Framework. Gri is currently working on the next generation of the Sustainability reporting Guidelines –G4 – which will be launched at Gri’s upcoming Global conference on Sustainability and reporting in amsterdam in may 2013. to find out more about G4 and the development process, visit the G4 pages on Gri’s website.


10

to make sustainability reporting standard practice, Gri is:• Creating capacity through training and outreach• Innovating and continuously improving its guidance• Promoting a report or explain approach to sustainability

reporting policy• Supporting the development of integrated reporting

Growth and prosperity depend on our ability

to meet today’s most pressing sustainability

challenges.

climate change, resource scarcity, financial corruption, human rights abuses: these interlinked challenges need joined-up, col-laborative solutions. creating these solutions gives us an opportu-nity - to build a sustainable global economy founded on long-term profitability, social justice and environmental care.

leading organizations are showing the way with greater transparency and more responsible practices. Sustainability reporting adds value. around the world, thousands of organizations

Gri’S GoalS

Join Gri’S Global conFErEncE on SuStainability anD rEportinG

to achieve these goals, Gri works with strategic partners including the organisation for Economic cooperation and Development (oEcD), the united nations Environment programme (unEp), the united nations Global compact (unGc) and the international organization for Standardization (iSo).

Gri’s global network includes hundreds of organizational Stakeholders – organizations that support Gri’s mission – and some 30,000 professionals from different sectors and constituencies.

now report their economic, environmental, social and governance performance.

more than ever, we need a robust reporting framework that enables companies to account for their impacts; communi-cate how they will create value; and give investors, govern-ments and consumers the information they need to make better decisions.

it’s time to make sustainability reporting standard practice.

Join gRI and 1500 sustainability leaders at the global Conference on Sustainability and Reporting in May 2013. visit www.griconference.org for more information.

Join The Focal PoinT Usa aT The gri canada conFerence, 16 and 17 ocTober 2012, ToronTo.

vISIt [email protected] FOR MORE INFORMatION


11

Gri Focal point uSa iS GratEFul For thE onGoinG Support oF:

FOUNdINg SpONSORS Deloitte, Ernst & young llp, KpmG and pwc u.S. – for providing founding donations

US SECtOR LEadERS bloomberg, clorox, Dell and the mosaic company – for committing to showing leadership in their sector when it comes to sustainability reporting and working closely with Gri to turn that leadership into action

bOaRd OF dIRECtORS Mark Cohen, Vanderbilt University; Julie Gorte, PAX World; Sean Harrigan (Chairman), Past Executive Director, States Council, Region 8; Peter Westra, Stichting Global Reporting Initiative; heather White, new Standards

advISORY gROUp Mark Cohen, Vanderbilt University; Eric Hespenheide, Deloitte LLP; John Hickox, KPMG LLP; Kathy Nieland, PwC US; Steve Starbuck, Ernst & Young LLP; David Vidal, The Conference board

Gri’s uS organizational Stakeholders, the uS certified training partners, the Gri Secretariat and Gri’s global governance bodies.

CONFERENCE ORgaNIzINg COMMIttEEmarjella alma, Diana carlin, nitish Singh, Eric Schneider and mike Wallace.


12

thiS conFErEncE WaS maDE poSSiblE bypLatINUM SpONSOR

gOLd SpONSORS

SustainEdge

gRI FOCaL pOINt USa529 5th avenuenew york, ny 10017uSa

[email protected]

www.globalreporting.org

gRI gLObaL SECREtaRIatWeesperstraat 951018vn amsterdam the netherlands

[email protected]

http://www.globalreporting.org

GRI US Conference Executive Summary - St Louis May 2012

Business

Transcript of GRI US Conference Executive Summary - St Louis May 2012