This book provides a step-by-step approach for organizations to reap benefits from a more sustainable approach. As organizations tackle global challenges, the faces of our businesses and our economic system are changing to consider the interests of all stakeholders rather than just shareholders. This book provides a step-by-step approach for organizations to reap benefits from a more sustainable approach. It begins with a brief history of the concept of sustainability as it applies to both performance and reporting. Implementing sustainability in an organization begins with the development of policies which are consistent with the expectations of its stakeholders. An organization’s active participation in multi-stakeholder initiatives helps to align the policies with societal trends. Once the policies are developed, a management system is crucial to ensure congruence of policies with actual performance. Then, periodic reporting of performance based on well-recognized standards aids stakeholders in assessing an organization’s performance–reporting also helps stakeholders to determine if performance aligns with their expectations. Both internal and external assurances build stakeholder trust in the organization’s performance and reporting. Finally, the book concludes with a reflection on key messages and potential future actions for continuous improvement.

Invaluable guidance for complete integration of sustainability into reporting and performance management systems Global businesses are under close scrutiny from lawmakers, regulators, and their diverse stakeholders to focus on sustainability and accept responsibility for their multiple bottom line performance. Business Sustainability and Accountability examines business sustainability and accountability reporting and their integration into strategy, governance, risk assessment, performance management and the reporting process. This book also highlights how people, business and resources collaborate in a business sustainability and accountability model. Looks at business sustainability and accountability reporting and assurance and their incorporation into the reporting process Focuses on how the business sustainability and accountability model are impacted by the collaboration of people, business, and resources Presents laws, rules, regulations, standards and best practices relevant to business sustainability performance, reporting and assurance Organizations worldwide recognize the importance of all five EGSEE dimensions of sustainability performance and accountability reporting. However, how to actually assess sustainability risk, implement sustainability reporting, and obtain sustainability assurance remain a major challenge and best practices are evolving. Straightforward and comprehensive Business Sustainability and Accountability hits on all of the hottest topics around sustainability including multiple bottom line (EGSEE) performance and reporting, related financial and non-financial key performance indicators (KPIs), business social responsibility and environmental reporting.

Sustainability reporting provides nonfinancial and financial indicators of an organization's environmental, economic, and social dimensions of its operations. The globalization of corporations and widely publicized corporate misdeeds (e.g., Nike's child labor problems) has increased public scrutiny of corporate behavior. As pressure grows from a variety of stakeholders (e.g., investors, creditors, customers, and NGOs) for corporate transparency, sustainability reports provide vital information to meet the demand for disclosures about environmental, economic, and social impacts. In addition to addressing stakeholders' demands, this reporting enhances internal decision-making. Managers are better able to assess risks, monitor company resources, establish competitive advantage, create employee loyalty, and engage stakeholders. This book is intended for MBA students, executives, and managers who want to learn about the value of sustainability reporting. In this book, they will discover the internal and external benefits of sustainability reporting, the basics of existing reporting frameworks, and the reaction of the investment community. Detailed examples of sustainability metrics from numerous organizations are provided to illustrate the Global Reporting Initiative Sustainability Reporting Guidelines. This book will enable readers to assess how reporting can add value for his or her own organization.

Business sustainability has advanced from greenwashing and branding to being a business imperative. Stakeholders, including shareholders, demand, regulators require, and companies now need to report their sustainability performance. No longer is this a choice for businesses. A decade ago, fewer than 50 companies released sustainability reports, and now more 8,000 global public companies disclose sustainability performance information on some or all five economic, governance, social, ethical, and environmental (EGSEE) dimensions of sustainability performance, and this trend is expected to continue. Indeed, more than 6,000 European public companies would be required to disclose their environmental, social, governance and diversity information for their 2017 reporting year. However, the proper determination of sustainability performance, accurate and reliable reporting and independent assurance of sustainability information remain major challenges for organizations of all types and sizes. Through reading this book, you will: Identify sustainability strategies to create innovation in new products, services, energy-efficiency, environmental facilities and green initiatives. Understand the role and responsibilities of all participants in the corporate reporting process, including directors, officers, internal auditors, external auditors, legal counsel, and investors. See ways to improve public trust, investor confidence, business reputation, employee satisfaction, corporate culture, social responsibility and environmental performance. Learn all five economic, governance, social, ethical and environmental (EGSEE) dimensions of sustainability performance separately and their integrated and interactive effects on achieving the goal of creating sustainable value for all stakeholders, including shareholders. Learn how to adopt best practices in sustainability development and performance, and deliver effective integrated sustainability reporting and assurance.

This is the fourth in a series publishing the best contributions on environmental management accounting (EMA) from around the world. This volume brings together international examples of leading thinking and practice in this rapidly developing area. This is the most comprehensive volume to date covering theory, practice and case studies on sustainability accounting and reporting. It covers tools, frameworks, concepts as well as case studies and empirical analysis.

Business Sustainability Factors of Performance, Risk, and Disclosure examines sustainability factors of performance, risk and disclosure. The five dimensions of sustainability performance are economic, governance, social, ethical, and environmental (EGSEE). Business sustainability is advancing from the greenwashing and branding to, very recently, business imperative as shareholders demand, regulators require, and companies report their sustainability performance. Sustainability has become economic and strategic imperative with potential to create opportunities and risks for businesses. Business Sustainability Factors of Performance, Risk, and Disclosure examines sustainability factors of performance, risk and disclosure. The five dimensions of sustainability performance are economic, governance, social, ethical, and environmental (EGSEE). Sustainability risks are reputational, strategic, operational, compliance, and financial (RSOCF). Sustainability disclosures are relevant to financial economic sustainability performance (ESP) and non-financial environmental, social, and governance (ESG) sustainability performance with ethics are integrated into all other components of sustainability performance. This book offers guidance for proper measurement, recognition, and reporting of all five EGSEE dimensions of sustainability performance. It also highlights how people, business, and resources collaborate in a business sustainability and accountability model in creating shared value for all stakeholders. The three sustainability factors of performance, risk and disclosure are driven from the stakeholder primacy concept with the mission of profit-with-purpose. Anyone who is involved with business sustainability and corporate governance, the financial reporting process, investment decisions, legal and financial advising, and audit functions will benefit from this book.

This highly practical and concise book shows you how to undertake a reporting process and produce a sustainability report in line with the new standards and frameworks presented by the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). Fully updated to ensure compliance with the new standards, this second edition shows how to actually produce a sustainability report as well as the key processes in the planning: how to produce a business case; the development of actions plans; process and team leadership; and generating cross-functional buy in. Templates are provided for certain steps in order to simplify the tasks involved at each point in the process. Anyone involved in delivering or developing a process to embed sustainability reporting for an organization will find this book invaluable, for example Chief Sustainability Officers, Chief Financial Officers and Company Secretaries. It will also be of interest to students in the field of sustainability.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 9th IFIP WG 5.11 International Symposium on Environmental Software Systems, ISESS 2011, held in Brno, Czech Republic, in June 2011. The 68 revised full papers presented together with four invited talks were carefully reviewed and selected from numerous submissions. The papers are organized in the following topical sections: eEnvironment and cross-border services in digital agenda for Europe; environmental information systems and services - infrastructures and platforms; semantics and environment; information tools for global environmental assessment; climate services and environmental tools for urban planning and climate change - applications and services.

Get familiar with business sustainability in Asia Business Sustainability in Asia offers 12 chapters that cover different aspects of business sustainability with a keen focus on its implications in Asia. Anyone who is involved with business sustainability and corporate governance, the financial reporting process, investment decisions, legal and financial advising, assurance functions, and corporate governance education will be interested in this book. It examines business sustainability performance, reporting and assurance and their integration into strategy, governance, risk assessment, performance management, and the reporting process of disclosing governance, ethics, social, environmental, and economic sustainable performance. The book also highlights how people, businesses, and resources collaborate in a business sustainability and accountability model. • Develop an awareness and understanding of the main themes, perspectives, frameworks, and issues pertaining to corporate governance and business sustainability in Asia • Covers a variety of issues relevant to business sustainability in Asia • Authored by an expert who has written extensively on the subject • Understand why organizations worldwide recognize the importance of sustainability performance If you’re a business leader, executive, auditor, or student looking to familiarize yourself with this emerging subject, Business Sustainability in Asia has you covered.

Environmental and social performance measurement and reporting by business has become a high-profile issue during the 1990s. It is increasingly being requested by stakeholders and required by governments. Companies too are finding that they need better environmental and social performance data for effective internal management. And there are a growing number of standardisation initiatives – such as the ISO 14031 guidelines on environmental performance evaluation or the CERES Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) template for sustainability reporting – that are aimed at making it easier for more companies to take action, and for stakeholders to compare their progress.Sustainable Measures collects together most of the key work and individuals concerned with the topic from around the world. Contributions include: environmental and social reporting by John Elkington and colleagues at SustainAbility; the GRI discussion draft; Roger Adams and Martin Houldin on the FEE study of environmental reporting; Janet Ranganathan of the World Resources Institute on sustainability measures; and Martin Bennett and Peter James on ISO 14031 and the future of environmental performance evaluation. There are also chapters examining current practice in Austria, Denmark, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Netherlands and South Africa, developments in electronic reporting, as well as case studies of Baxter, Kunert, Niagara Mohawk, Unox, The Body Shop and the UK water industry, and an analysis of leading social reports.The book is essential reading for all academics, campaigners, policy-makers and practitioners with an interest in issues such as:The standardization and comparability of environmental and social performance measuresMeasuring and reporting on sustainable businessEco-points and other means of evaluating product impactsThe implementation of measurement and reportingBest practice in corporate environmental and social reportingNew means of communicating environmental dataEnvironmental performance evaluation in developing countries