'Investment managers look beyond the financial balance sheet now'

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: making reporting more universal?

The concept of sustainability reports is a relatively new one and much has been achieved in a short space of time. GRI itself is only ten years old and during that time GRI has pioneered the development of the world’s most widely used sustainability reporting framework by bringing business, NGOs, labour organisations and others together. The resulting framework that sets out the principles and indicators that organisations can use to measure and report their economic, environmental, and social performance is a testament to the success of this multi-stakeholder approach.

GRI is committed to the continuous improvement of the guidelines and their application worldwide through supplements for different industry sectors and countries, thus ensuring their universal applicability.

Voluntary sustainability reporting seems like a procedural formality. Does it in any way influence action in the first place?

In order for a reporting organisation to understand its impacts on people, planet and profit, it must first analyse and report on these impacts. Thus, sustainability reporting following the tried and tested GRI Guidelines really does drive action. Once a reporting organisation’s sustainability performance is made transparent, it can be compared in a like-for-like way with its peers. Pressure for improvement can be made from within and from outside the organisation.

Wouldn’t the guidelines always have a limited role because they are more about social and environmental issues than economic issues ?

It is impossible to separate a company’s sustainability performance from its financial performance. While a traditional and narrow financial report can tell you how profitable a company is, a sustainability report enables you to look at the value of the company in economic as well as environmental and social terms. A sustainability report helps one understand the true value of a company over the longer term. This information is crucial to investors and other stakeholders.

Why should sustainability reporting interest investors?

Increasingly, investment managers are looking at issues beyond the financial balance sheet, which is prompting more and more companies to issue sustainability reports. The investor community represents one of the key stakeholder groups for sustainability reporting. GRI has an essential role in ensuring that there is consistent and reliable information on sustainability performance available to financial markets. Without standardised information, investors and the financial markets will be unable to integrate environmental and social factors into decision-making.

Does following GRI guidelines yield any dividends?