Research also shows that when company boards approve non-financial reporting, it influences the way boards think about risk and opportunity and how they incorporate it into company strategies. When reporting becomes mandatory Boards do get involved and organisations access new information leading to better decision making. However, companies tend to ignore mandatory requirements if these are not enforced.

A more substantial EU NFR Directive (or Regulation) will help companies put a higher priority on social and environmental risks and opportunities that influence their ability to create value.

The NFR Directive must also take the opportunity to increase incorporation of the best of the most used frameworks and standards. These are the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards, the integrated reporting framework and the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosure Recommendations.

Why enforceable requirements are needed to make sure companies focus on environmental and social impacts

Last week there has been an insightful contribution to the debate about sustainability disclosure in the EU by Carol Adams, Professor of Accounting at Durham University Business School.

Writing for EURACTIV on 13 May (Europe needs mandatory non-financial reporting to underpin COVID recovery), Professor Adams sets out why, as part of the review of the EU’s Non-Financial Reporting (NFR) Directive, enforceable requirements are needed to ensure companies prioritise environmental and social impacts  Tweet This!.

As an academic in this field and a former chair of GRI’s Stakeholder Council, Carol Adams is well informed about corporate transparency and sustainability reporting. The key points she raises in her article:

• Transparent disclosure will not occur unless EU reporting requirements are mandatory and enforced by a pro-active regulatory body with powers to require changes.
• Endorsing the GRI Standards, developed through rigorous and independent processes mirroring those of accounting standards, in an updated NFR Directive would mean it stays up to date – so no need to keep revising legislation.
• The NFR Directive must incorporate the best of the most used frameworks and standards – which are the GRI Standards, the Integrated Reporting framework and TCFD. The alternatives ‘don’t ask the right questions’, have little traction with EU companies and are insufficient to alert corporate stakeholders on the impacts that matter.
• If companies do not disclose their material negative impacts it can lead to unsustainable activities – that’s bad for the European economy and bad for the environment and society.
• A more substantial NFR Directive can help companies help themselves – by making them put a higher priority on social and environmental risks and opportunities.

Mandating for comprehensive disclosure that is built on robust and multi-stakeholder standards, such as these provided by GRI, can be a catalyst for meaningful change, for a fairer and more sustainable post-COVID Europe.

78% of the world’s 250 largest companies report in accordance with the GRI Standards

SustainCase was primarily created to demonstrate, through case studies, the importance of dealing with a company’s most important impacts in a structured way, with use of the GRI Standards. To show how today’s best-run companies are achieving economic, social and environmental success – and how you can too.

Research by well-recognised institutions is clearly proving that responsible companies can look to the future with optimism.

FBRH GRI Standards Certified & ISEP recognised Sustainability Course | Venue: London LSE

By registering for the next 2-day FBRH GRI Standards Certified & ISEP recognised course you will be taking the first step in gaining the many benefits of sustainability reporting.

Most importantly, you will gain the knowledge to use the GRI Standards, project manage your own first-class sustainability report and:

• Identify your most important impacts on the Environment, Economy and Society
• Begin taking solid, focused, all-round sustainability action ASAP

References:

This article is based on published information by EURACTIV and GRI. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the publication’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original please revert to the following links:

https://www.euractiv.com/

https://www.globalreporting.org/Pages/default.aspx

The post Call for mandatory non-financial reporting in EU to underpin COVID recovery appeared first on SustainCase - Sustainability Magazine.

The ‘bold leadership’ shown by the EU in re-committing to the European Green Deal, even as the coronavirus pandemic is being tackled, has been recognised by GRI chief executive Tim Mohin.

GRI has previously highlighted the significance of the European Commission’s plans to strengthen the Non-Financial Reporting Directive in the sustainable finance workstream of the Green Deal. This acknowledges the clear link between disclosing corporate impacts and encouraging sustainable business practices.

Writing on Wednesday in EURACTIV (COVID crisis reinforces need for governments to go green), Mr. Mohin highlighted three recent signs that the Green Deal, inclusive of a €1 trillion sustainable investment plan, remains on track:

• A letter signed by 13 EU environment ministers has called for the Green Deal to be the framework to boost recovery after the pandemic
• A European Council statement that a green transition is required to support sustainable growth following the crisis
• Confirmation from the European Commission that their work towards EU carbon neutrality targets remains on track

Tim Mohin said:

“It is reassuring that, even as we battle coronavirus, the European Commission has the foresight to press ahead with the Green Deal, which is being positioned as the framework to rebuild the economy after the pandemic.

With the international community coming together to address COVID-19, joint working between the public and private sectors has never been more important. And when the world emerges from this crisis, we need to continue this collaboration to advance sustainable and inclusive development.

Europe’s leaders are to be commended for committing to a green transition. Now, more than ever before, this is the kind of bold leadership the world needs.”

78% of the world’s 250 largest companies report in accordance with the GRI Standards

SustainCase was primarily created to demonstrate, through case studies, the importance of dealing with a company’s most important impacts in a structured way, with use of the GRI Standards. To show how today’s best-run companies are achieving economic, social and environmental success – and how you can too.

Research by well-recognised institutions is clearly proving that responsible companies can look to the future with optimism.

FBRH GRI Standards Certified & ISEP recognised Sustainability Course | Venue: London LSE

By registering for the next 2-day FBRH GRI Standards Certified & ISEP recognised course you will be taking the first step in gaining the many benefits of sustainability reporting.

References:

This article is based on published information by GRI. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the publication’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original please revert to the following link:

https://www.globalreporting.org/information/news-and-press-center/Pages/We-need-a-green-transition-after-COVID-19.aspx

The post We need a green transition after COVID-19 appeared first on SustainCase - Sustainability Magazine.

COVID-19 is a pressing global issue that is starting to strain health systems, cut down economic output and undermine efforts to address poverty and inequality. These are challenges that, in the coming months, will need concerted and collaborative effort between and within nations to overcome.

What does this mean for one of the most enduring and universal challenges we face – that of climate change? The delay of COP26 until 2021 does not mean that efforts by countries to meet their climate change commitments have to be on hold. Far from it.  Tweet This!

As with coronavirus, climate change is a significant cause of reduced outcomes for health and wealth around the world. We know that the consequences of climate change continue to escalate, disproportionately impacting communities that have contributed the least to the problem of carbon emissions, with devastating effects on the environment and global biodiversity.

So, while the COP26 global gathering of opinion formers and climate change experts won’t take place this autumn in Scotland, there can be no delay or dialling back of ambition when it comes to climate action. Indeed, if countries are to fulfill the promises made in the Paris Agreement we need levels of ambition to grow.

Even as countries strive to contain and mitigate the COVID-19 crisis, we cannot lose sight of this. That’s why climate action needs to be kept in the mainstream of political discussions – and even consider how the recovery phase of the pandemic, when it comes, can be implemented in a way that supports a green transition.

The European Commission has been forthright already, with Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans stating on 1 April that, when it comes to addressing climate change, “we will not slow down our work domestically or internationally”. That position is welcome – and one we need the world’s other major economies to echo.

Efforts by governments to tackle climate change need to include greater engagement of the private sector. Businesses have a huge role in helping reduce carbon emissions and contributing towards solutions. That’s why sustainable business practices need to be front and center of corporate efforts to realign the way they operate, both now and in the aftermath of the pandemic.

Indeed, contributing to climate change mitigation makes sense to companies from both environmental and economic standpoints. So-called sustainable investing has been on the rise for some time – and the current crisis is demonstrating why ESG (environmental, social and governance) factors are increasingly important to major investors. Business resilience, continuity planning, community engagement and employee rights – these are all ESG risks to be managed. Responsible companies, that are transparent about their practices and take obligations to people and the planet seriously, stand to benefit.

GRI is the independent and multi-stakeholder organisation that provides the most widely used sustainability reporting framework, the GRI Standards. And during this testing period, GRI is continuing to help companies to disclose their impacts and support governments to collaborate with the private sector in fulfilling national climate change commitments.

This includes engaging business in the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), which articulate the efforts by individual countries to cut emissions and adapt to climate change. The NDCs are central to the implementation of the Paris Agreement, with all new or updated NDCs requiring to be submitted this year. While acknowledging the huge challenges many governments face as a result of coronavirus, we cannot let this timetable slip.

In a very short space of time, the impact of COVID-19 has sent shock waves around the world. When it comes to climate change, the risks are longer-term, more diffused and harder to quantify. Yet they remain real and more volatile than ever. Future generations will look back on 2020 as a year when the global community either stepped up or fell short. Let’s ensure this year of crisis brings out the best in us and we do not let them down.

78% of the world’s 250 largest companies report in accordance with the GRI Standards

SustainCase was primarily created to demonstrate, through case studies, the importance of dealing with a company’s most important impacts in a structured way, with use of the GRI Standards. To show how today’s best-run companies are achieving economic, social and environmental success – and how you can too.

Research by well-recognised institutions is clearly proving that responsible companies can look to the future with optimism.

FBRH GRI Standards Certified & ISEP recognised Sustainability Course | Venue: London LSE

By registering for the next 2-day FBRH GRI Standards Certified & ISEP recognised course you will be taking the first step in gaining the many benefits of sustainability reporting.

References:

This article is based on published information by GRI. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the publication’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original please revert to the following link:

https://www.globalreporting.org/Pages/default.aspx

The post The pandemic must not stall climate action appeared first on SustainCase - Sustainability Magazine.