What is a sustainability report?
A sustainability report enables companies to demonstrate to all stakeholders how they manage their social impacts. According to the GRI guidelines, a sustainability report involves a materiality analysis, the preparation of the report, and finally a performance review.
Consequently, the aim of a sustainability report is to reflect the organisation’s economic, social and environmental performance, its past results and future objectives, and the strategies to be followed to achieve the latter.
The steps to follow to prepare a sustainability report in accordance with GRI standards include a materiality analysis, the preparation of the report and, finally, an improvement analysis.
Benefits of a GRI sustainability report
The benefits of a Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) sustainability report based on GRI requirements include:
- They help to communicate performance in relation to laws, regulations, codes, performance standards and voluntary initiatives.
- They enhance reputation by demonstrating the organisation’s commitment to sustainable development and allow for comparison of the organisation’s performance over time.
- A report that is easy to compare, as it uses the standardised approach most commonly adopted by organisations.
- The GRI reporting requirements can be easily integrated into your ISO 9001 quality certification.
Social Responsibility Consultancy Services
At EmasConsultors, we can assist you with the following social responsibility consultancy services:
- Social Responsibility Certification, in accordance with the ‘IQNet SR10’ or Foretica standard. We know how to integrate social responsibility into your Integrated Management System.
- Social Responsibility Report, in accordance with GRI requirements. We help you draft it and arrange for it to be verified by an accredited certification body.
- Social Responsibility Audit. We can assist you with SMETA, Ecovadis, B-Corp audits, or internal audits and audits of suppliers within your social responsibility management system.
Requirements for the GRI Sustainability Report
The definition of the content of the sustainability report and its subsequent communication must involve the identified stakeholders, describing in the report how their expectations and reasonable interests have been addressed. Stakeholders include employees, shareholders, suppliers, vulnerable groups within social communities, Civil Society, etc.
The sustainability report must be based on the following principles: Balanced, comparable, accurate, periodic, clear and reliable.
We highlight the following content that the GRI sustainability report must include:
- Scope and coverage of the sustainability report.
- Organisation profile. Must include the governance structure, commitments to external initiatives, strategy and analyses (in accordance with the strategic plan) and a description of the main impacts, risks and opportunities (for example, in accordance with ISO 31000) most significant to the organisation arising from sustainability trends.
- Engagement of stakeholders in the commitment and communication processes during the period covered by the report. This information is not limited to the inclusion of stakeholders for the preparation of the sustainability report.
- Impact of sustainability trends, risks and opportunities, including the prioritisation of the main sustainability aspects, such as risks and opportunities according to their importance for the organisation’s strategy. They must include the objectives and a description of the governance mechanisms implemented to manage the risks and opportunities linked to the identified risks and opportunities.
- Results and analysis of management, using organisational performance indicators in the economic, environmental and social spheres (including labour, human rights, societal and product responsibility aspects).