Environmental reporting
- Why report?
- Narrative reporting requirements
- Amendment to Pensions Act (2001)
- Sustainability indices
- Global reporting Initiative
In January 2006, Defra produced a set of environmental reporting guidelines to help companies to identify and address their most significant environmental impacts.
(347 KB)The guidelines outline how companies might begin to set targets/KPIs to measure environmental performance against. Companies can make use of standard business data already collected, for example, from Environmental Management Systems and utilities bills. The environmental guidelines provide guidance on how data could be reported.
Why report?
Companies that measure, manage and communicate their environmental performance are inherently well placed. They understand how to:
- improve their processes,
- reduce their costs,
- comply with regulatory requirements and stakeholder expectations,
- and take advantages of new market opportunities.
Failure to plan for a future in which environmental factors are likely to be increasingly significant may risk the long-term future of a business.
Good environmental performance makes good business sense. Environmental risks and uncertainties impact to some extent on all companies, and affect investment decisions, consumer behavior and Government policy.
Companies that currently report on their environmental performance can be found listed on the CorporateRegister.com.
Narrative reporting requirements
The Companies Act (2006), recently made changes to the narrative reporting requirements for UK companies. All companies, other than small, are already required to produce a business review. In the case of quoted companies, the directors will be required – to the extent necessary for an understanding of the business – to report on environmental matters, employees and social/community issues. More information can be found at:
Amendment to Pensions Act (2001)
In 2001, a new mandatory requirement was introduced for UK Pension fund trustees to disclose how they have considered social, economic and environmental matters. Those companies that disclose this information for example, in environmental reports are in a better position to be considered in investment decisions by trustees.
Sustainability indices
The emergence of ethical indices such as the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and the FTSE4Good index have also helped drive environmental reporting, as companies reporting on their environmental performance are in a better position to be considered for inclusion in the index.
Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)
In 2000, the GRI produced broader sustainability reporting guidelines for organisations to report on the economic, social and environmental dimensions of their activities products and services and also provides stakeholders with a universally-applicable, comparable framework in which to understand disclosed information.
Page last modified 21 June 2007