Sustainability Reporting Trends in North America Most Active Sectors and Widely Used Guidelines

Introduction The goals of the research were to:  Examine which sectors are more active in sustainability

reporting and identify future trends  Examine the characteristics of the companies that publish sustainability reports.  Examine the extent of the use of standards and guidelines for publishing sustainability reports such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), CDP.  Examine the practices for seeking external assurance for the sustainability report.

Executive Summary and Major Trends (1) The research analyzed 415 unique sustainability reports for the 2014 reporting period, published by companies in North America A number of characteristics were examined regarding the profile of the reporting company/organization (sector, size, ownership status) and their reporting practices (standards and guidelines used, extent of use of most common reporting guidelines, external assurance practices) The business sectors that stand out for their sustainability reporting presence and activity in North America are the Financial , Energy & Energy Utilities, Mining and the Food & Beverage Sectors In the US the most active sector is the Financial Services sector while in Canada the Mining sector. There is a clearly visible trend of public companies to publish sustainability reports in order to disclose information and be transparent about their impacts and performance. More than 1000 Sustainability Reports are expected to be published in the next 2 years in North America.

Executive Summary and Major Trends (2)  In both countries most of the companies that publish sustainability reports are

Large and Multinational Enterprises.  There is a growing trend for Small-Medium Enterprises to publish sustainability reports in order to increase their transparency, attract customers and grow their business.  The reporting guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative remain the most

widely used reporting guidelines for conducting sustainability reports.  GRI reporting guidelines add value and enhance some of the benefits of conducting a sustainability report.  Surprisingly, there are still large brands which do not use GRI or other guidelines for Reporting

Executive Summary and Major Trends (3)  The percentage of companies and organizations that seek external assurance

for their sustainability reports remains well below the global average  There are a number of ways a company or organization can choose to report on its sustainability performance. Sustainability reports vary in sizes (ranging from 60 to 80 pages)  Reports which have been conducted according to the reporting guidelines of the GRI

are considerable larger  This variation depends mostly on the intended audience of the report and the use of alternative reporting means  There is a growing trend of using online means of communicating sustainability reports, and there is a considerable percentage of companies and organizations which provide reports only online

Sectors & Sustainability Reports

Sector

Energy and Energy Utilities Financial Services Food and Beverage Healthcare Products and Services

% of Companies which Publish Sustainability Reports 9.8% 8.3% 8.3% 7.0%

Equipment Chemicals Real Estate Automotive Computers Mining

5.4% 4.1% 3.8% 2.5% 2.5% 2.5%

Technology Hardware

2.5%

Sector

% of Companies which Publish Sustainability Reports 23.0%

Mining Financial Services

20.0%

Energy and Utilities

13.0%

Energy

Real Estate

6.0%

Telecommunications

5.0%

Forest and Products

4.0%

Paper

Equipment

3.0%

Retailers

3.0%

Agriculture

2.0%

Food and Beverage

2.0%

Media

2.0%

Profile of Participating Companies 76% of companies are from the U.S. 50% (47% in the U.S. and 60% in Canada) of companies are “Large Companies” 82% are Public (Listed) Companies

SME (8%) MNE (45%)

Large (47%)

SME (4%) MNE (36%)

Large (60%)

Size of the Sustainability Reports and Terminology Used The most common term used for the reports is “Sustainability Report” (36.1%) followed by “Corporate (Social) Responsibility Report (32.8%) GRI and GRI referenced reports are considerably larger than non-GRI Reports

80

70 60 50 40 30

20 10 0

18

GRI and GRI Referenced Reports (page number)

16 14

12 10 8 6 4 2 0 GRI and GRI Referenced Online Reports (%)

Non-GRI Online Reports (%)

Total Online Reports (%)

Non-GRI Reports (page number)

Total Report Size (page number)

Reporting Standards and Guidelines Used  77% of companies use (or refer to) the GRI Reporting Guidelines

 66% of companies conduct their sustainability reports according

to the GRI’s Reporting Guidelines  40% of the GRI Reports were conducted using the latest version

of the guidelines (G4)

Standards/Guidelines Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises International Financial Corporation (IFC) ISO26000

% of total reports 77.0% 32.8% 12.3% 3.6% 3.1% 2.2%

About CSE About CSE Services (www.cse-net.org) 

CSE is a leading boutique firm specialized in global sustainability (CSR) consulting, coaching and training. Since 2004, early entry into the international sustainability (CSR) services market, CSE has been assisting clients to achieve higher performance, build brand loyalty and innovate through the continuous integration of sustainability principles into their culture, products and/or services.

Integrated Consulting Services from A to Z 

Our services and web tools are designed to assist businesses and organizational leaders to understand and meet the evolving international standards and frameworks, such as the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), Green House Gas Protocol, the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI), ISO 26000 guidelines and other local and international guidelines.

Consulting Services        

Sustainability and Materiality Assessment Sustainability Strategies Sustainability and Integrated Reporting External Verification and Assurance SROI and Stakeholder Engagement Programs Carbon Reduction and Product Life Cycle Analysis Supply Chain Sustainability Green Buildings and Events

About CSE Pioneering in Sustainability Education for the last 10 years (www.sustainability-academy.org)  CSE is accredited by IEMA to provide global training to Sustainability Professionals and is also a GRI organizational stakeholder. We

have trained over 5,000 Sustainability Professionals from five continents through on-site, online and group training .Those are the following :Certified Sustainability Practitioner Program (Advanced Version) , Online Diploma on Corporate Sustainability, Online Certificate for Sustainability Reporting , Online Certificate for Carbon Footprint Reduction, Online Certificate on ESG Performance.  Our clients include Fortune 500 companies and organizations such as WalMart, United, NASA, Walgreens, Lloyds Banking

Group, Coca Cola, Oracle, Shell, Baker Hughes,Whole Foods, North Face, World Bank.  In 2015 CSE launched the Sustainability Academy initiative .Sustainability Academy is a global education initiative for

executives, entrepreneurs, students and other professionals that want to make a difference in our planet.

Read the full Research…… If you want to learn more about the the full research results join our training programs (Sustainability-academy.org) or contacts us at

[email protected]