There’s a predicament that many chief sustainability officers face in their organizations. Like the chief strategist, they have a position with no P&L responsibility and few tools allowing them to quantify their results.
In the wake of financial scandals and now, environmental catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico—especially after learning today that BP executives took risky shortcuts while producing a media spin plan that was much longer than any scenario plan designed to cope with such a disaster—we should welcome the movement towards integrated reporting. But there are some caveats that organizations like the Global Reporting Initiative must carefully consider.
The Global Reporting Initiative is pushing for integrated reporting, or as Michael Krzus, a partner at Grant Thornton, has coined, “one report.” The idea behind integrated reporting is that financial and non-financial disclosures will be intertwined into one report that can stakeholders, shareholders, and potential investors can read and vet.
To Americans who trend left, Europe is a civilized utopia full of sophisticates and intellectuals where all is well with health care, environment, and society. To the right, Europe is a socialist purgatory where folks suffer from over-regulation and marginal opportunities. Neither assumption is correctly accurate.
Before the GRI Conference began on Wednesday, the City of Amsterdam invited us to spend the morning on a canal tour of the city. The Netherlands is quite vested in reversing the role that climate is having on our planet–most of the country lies below sea level.
Who said reporting and disclosure conferences must be dull? Last night the GRI hosted an awards ceremony for companies who proved that they have successfully engaged their shareholders in ESG (environmental, social, and governance) reporting.
The GRI Amsterdam started today with a compelling session focused on the future of sustainability (in Europe, ESG: environmental, social, and governance) reporting.
With the SEC’s February interpretive release suggesting that companies discuss risks related to climate change if they are material to a company’s operations, there should be much buzz about the future of sustainability reporting.
I got the call Monday morning, and the announcement was made early today, so finally, I am getting around to thanking everyone for their help in sending me to Amsterdam to cover the Global Reporting Initiative Conference in Amsterdam, May 26-28. Your support and encouragement meant a lot, and I am confident this will open a lot of doors for GGP and me.
Leon Kaye has entered a competition which, if successful, could have him work in Amsterdam for a few days at the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Conference in Amsterdam May 26-28. The URL is http://www.justmeans.com/contestidea?ideaid=NDQ2