Corporate leaders in sustainability reporting were announced today by SustainAbility, Inc., a leading global consulting firm and think tank.
This biannual benchmarking survey, Tomorrow’s Value, marks BT as the global leader and ranks one American company – Nike, Inc. – in the top ten and four other US corporations in the top fifty.
In addition to Nike, Inc. at #10, other US companies that were awarded were: Hewlett-Packard at #14, General Electric and Ford Motor Company tied at #22, and Gap Inc. at #34.
The top ten are:
BT (UK)
Co-operative Financial Services (UK)
BP (UK)
Anglo Platinum (South Africa)
Rabobank (Netherlands)
Unilever (UK/Netherlands)
MTR (Hong Kong)
Vodafone (UK)
Shell Group (UK/Netherlands)
Nike (US)
Novo Nordisk (Denmark)
Tomorrow’s Value, published in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Standard & Poor’s, ranks the world’s leaders in sustainability reporting, transparency and disclosure. Strikingly, half of the Leading 50 companies are newcomers to the list, including five entrants from non-OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries.
“Since we began work in this area in 1992, we have seen dramatic progress,” commented John Elkington, Founder and Chief Entrepreneur at SustainAbility. “Our 2006 benchmark survey spotlights both a continuing improvement in report quality and the entry of new reporters like General Electric, with even non-reporters like Wal-Mart now lining up to report. Some of the most interesting reports now come from non-OECD countries. Their focus is different, concentrating on issues like black economic empowerment and new business approaches like micro-credit.”
Throughout the Leading 50 several recurring themes are evident, including:
– Yesterday’s risks have become tomorrow’s opportunities for value creation.
Leadership companies are shifting the focus of their sustainability strategy away from risk management, towards a more progressive and entrepreneurial approach that seeks to identify the sustainability opportunities for strategic innovation and market building. However the pioneers are still a minority, representing only 28% of the Leading 50.
– Financial markets have begun to influence sustainability disclosure.
Cutting-edge sustainability reports are framed as part of a portfolio of information available to both socially responsible investment (SRI) funds and, increasingly, mainstream investors.
– Sustainability is being integrated into core business processes.
Most sustainability reports are only steps in that direction, but there has been a leap in the proportion of companies reporting the integration of sustainable development factors into core decision-making.
– Disclosure of public policy initiatives and lobbying remain insufficient.
Fewer than half of corporate reporters fail to sufficiently discuss and link their sustainability initiatives and commitments to their lobbying activities and to the wider influence they exercise, either directly or through trade organizations. Only 28% of the Leading 50 reporters covered this area meaningfully.
– International frameworks begin to provide context.
The report spotlights an emerging effort by some businesses to link their individual sustainability targets and activities with broader macro-frameworks, to provide a sense of scale and to help measure individual contributions.
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