2. Why report on Sustainability?
Increasing pressure on Corporates for
Greater responsibility towards the society and the environment
Greater transparency in reporting financials and non-financials
Sustainable performance in economical, social, environmental
and governance aspects
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3. Why report on Sustainability?
Establishing a sustainability reporting process would
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Improve Economic, Social and Governance Performance
Develop a sustainable global economy
Communicate the positive impact made by organization
Manage change
Measure performance
Help in setting goals
4. Guidelines on reporting sustainability
The guidelines for reporting sustainability are set by Global
Reporting Initiative (GRI)
Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is a non-profit organization
that promotes economic, environmental and
social sustainability
The Guidelines are updated regularly by GRI
The current guideline is G3.1 – a third generation of GRI’s
sustainability guidelines
G4 - the fourth generation of guidelines is under development
and to be released in May, 2013
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5. Guidelines on reporting sustainability
G3 sustainable Performance Indicators are organized as
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Economic Environmental Social
6. Global Reporting Initiative
GRI is a multi-stakeholder, network-based organization
Strategic partnerships with
United Nations Environment Programme
the UN Global Compact
the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
International Organization for Standardization
The development of guideline follows GRI’s due process
Setting priorities for revision of the Guidelines
Developing proposals for revision
Public comment period
Approval by the governance bodies
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7. Principle for Responsible Investment
The Principles of Responsible Investment (PRI) is a reporting
framework for investment managers
It takes environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG)
issues into account within the investment process
The framework has three goals
to improve the accountability of the PRI
enable investors to report their approach to responsible
investment in a transparent and globally-comparable way and
to assess the progress of signatories towards implementing the
Principles of PRI
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8. Sustainability reporting in India
On July 2011, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs launched
National Voluntary Guidelines
SEBI has mandated from Nov 2011 that the 100 top listed
entities must submit Business Responsibility Reports
As per SEBI’s requirement under clause 49 of the listing
agreement all public equities are required to comply with
disclosure norms related to corporate governance
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9. Principles of NVG
The national voluntary guidelines consist of 9 core principles, namely:
Principle 1: Businesses should conduct and govern themselves with
Ethics, Transparency and Accountability
Principle 2: Businesses should provide goods and services that are safe and contribute
to sustainability throughout their life cycle
Principle 3: Businesses should promote the well-being of all employees
Principle 4: Businesses should respect the interests of, and be responsive towards all
stakeholders, especially those who are disadvantaged, vulnerable and marginalized
Principle 5: Businesses should respect and promote human rights
Principle 6: Business should respect, protect, and make efforts to restore the
environment
Principle 7: Businesses, when engaged in influencing public and regulatory
policy, should do so in a responsible manner
Principle 8: Businesses should support inclusive growth and equitable development
Principle 9: Businesses should engage with and provide value to their customers and
consumers in a responsible manner
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10. Problems in reporting Sustainability
Limited tools to report on Sustainability parameters
Challenge in finding the right data and assess its credibility
Tough for companies to prioritize environment management
over business objectives
Would you rather preserve the rainforest or maximize growth
and profitability?
Stockholders or Stakeholders?
Easy to take decisions towards sustainability but practical
application of those decisions is way difficult
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11. Fairness in implementation
Developed nations vs. Developing Nations
Developed Nations
Enjoyed a prolonged period of growth at the expense of
environment
Can afford a slow growth for increasing environment protection
Have the capital, funds and technology to invest in sustainable
development
Developing Nations
Have potential for growth and must grow to feed a larger population
Face a political pressure from the population to maintain economic
growth in-spite of exploitation of resources
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