'Investment managers look beyond the financial balance sheet now'

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Indian companies are making a mark in sustainability reporting globally. ITC and ABN Amro India were amongst the winners of the Readers’ Choice Awards for sustainability reporting at the recently concluded Global Conference on Sustainability and Transparency in Amsterdam, which was organised by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). The winners were chosen by about 1,700 readers of sustainability reports in 70 countries. A collaborating centre of the United Nations Environment Programme, GRI has formulated a global sustainability framework comprising principles and disclosure items with performance indicators to enable organisations to measure and report on economic, environmental and social performance. In an email interview with FE’s Rajiv Tikoo, GRI chief executive Ernst Ligteringen talks about the significance of the awards, the GRI Sustainability Reporting Guidelines and the benefits of reporting. Excerpts:

The GRI Readers’ Choice Awards for Sustainability Reporting were dominated by India and Brazil. What’s the inference?

The large number of scores for reports from Latin America and India shows that sustainability reporting is far from the preserve of companies in Europe and North America. Sustainability is a global concern and sustainability reporting is a global phenomenon. Readers in these countries gave higher scores than those in Europe, showing that they want to reward those organisations that are leading with transparency and accountability in their region.

What is the message in the larger context?

The readers viewed adherence to sustainability reporting standards and telling a balanced story—reporting on the good and the not-so-good news - as vital to building trust and credibility. This is vital if sustainability reports are to be credible.

Openness in disclosing economic, environmental and social impacts can give companies a competitive edge, but people aren’t fools. They read reports with a purpose and they want the truth and the whole truth—not just selective reporting where their performance is good.

There are other reporting tools, too. How are GRI Sustainability Reporting Guidelines different?

There are useful tools out there for reporting on different elements in the sustainability mix, however only G3 Guidelines (third version of the GRI Sustainability Reporting Guidelines), cover a wide range of indicators. They have been developed in conjunction with business, civil society and others, thus creating a globally applicable standard. There are no other sustainability reporting guidelines that have the breadth of input that G3 has, nor are there any guidelines as widely used and recognised as G3.