Dear Yudhish,

I'll post some references that address your question from different perspectives:

Gray, R. Social, environmental and sustainability reporting and organisational value creation?: Whose value? Whose creation? (2006) Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, 19 (6), pp. 793-­819.  

Here the focus in on value creation: this is an essay examining the extent to which social, environmental and sustainability accounting and reporting (SEA) can or should contribute to shareholder value.

Kolk, A. A decade of sustainability reporting: Developments and significance

(2004) International Journal of Environment and Sustainable Development, 3(1), pp. 51-­64. 

(quite old but valuable). The article gives an overview of worldwide trends in the frequencies of reporting in the past decade and analyses the latest developments with regard to the contents of these sustainability reports, focusing on economic aspects and business drivers, stakeholder dialogue and feedback, and benchmarking of performance. 

Burritt, R.L., Schaltegger, S. Sustainability accounting and reporting: Fad or trend?(2010) Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, 23 (7), pp. 829-­846.

The paper offers a review of recent research developments in sustainability accounting.

Del Mar Alonso ­Almeida, M., Llach, J., Marimon, F. A closer look at the 'Global Reporting Initiative' sustainability reporting as a tool to implement environmental and social policies: A worldwide sector analysis. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 21 (6), pp. 318-­335

If you want to dig into GRI specifically. 

Hope this may help you out.

Best regards

Ilaria

This question Yudhish boils down to the more general question of what the use of reporting is, after all. For me it is clear that sustainability is a theme which is of uttermost importance for Humanity. So why report and especially how?

If we want to have an idea on how much progress or impact a certain policy (like Sustainability) has on socieity, we will have to measure it! Some issues are harder tomeasure than others. The beginning however, whether quantified or not is that reporting is started, when a new activity or policy is kcicked off.

Typically  if scientists don't publish çon their results, they don't offer their peer sthe opportunity to scrutinize their work. scientists whic don't publish,... perish. That's well known. It can be interpreted that this type of scientists does not want their work to be criticized!

The same is true for reporting. If an organisation reports on its activities it pus is efforts and ventures open to the public. Why would one do that you say? Well at least to get responses like a scientist would get responses from his/her peers. No reports no debate and hence a sterile set of activities of which society does not have a clue whether they are usefull or not and hence if they should be finannced or not.

When you sollicit for project fnding, you will not get a dime, even we the project is warded, when you don't report or puyblish on its results and findings.

So what can we espect? Even more of the same! More and especially more thorough  reporting, open to peer review preferably in open fora, and as freely  accessible papers, reports, memo's etcetera. Evidenlty in the commercial world reporting will be deifferent and mostly in-house, since money is involved on a  comemrcial basis. But when public issues are at hand, the peers are the public and they are entitled to have access to all reports on projects and ventures which have been funded by tax payers money!

Claro No? More open reporting is at hand and MUST be at hand.

Frank

Sustainability reports and measures are still areas of construction in the world academy. However, sustainability indexes have contributed to introduce other variables such as social and environmental issues into the company reports that use to be only driven by economics / profitability.  

Dear Yudhish,

I'll post some references that address your question from different perspectives:

Gray, R. Social, environmental and sustainability reporting and organisational value creation?: Whose value? Whose creation? (2006) Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, 19 (6), pp. 793-­819.  

Here the focus in on value creation: this is an essay examining the extent to which social, environmental and sustainability accounting and reporting (SEA) can or should contribute to shareholder value.

Kolk, A. A decade of sustainability reporting: Developments and significance

(2004) International Journal of Environment and Sustainable Development, 3(1), pp. 51-­64. 

(quite old but valuable). The article gives an overview of worldwide trends in the frequencies of reporting in the past decade and analyses the latest developments with regard to the contents of these sustainability reports, focusing on economic aspects and business drivers, stakeholder dialogue and feedback, and benchmarking of performance. 

Burritt, R.L., Schaltegger, S. Sustainability accounting and reporting: Fad or trend?(2010) Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, 23 (7), pp. 829-­846.

The paper offers a review of recent research developments in sustainability accounting.

Del Mar Alonso ­Almeida, M., Llach, J., Marimon, F. A closer look at the 'Global Reporting Initiative' sustainability reporting as a tool to implement environmental and social policies: A worldwide sector analysis. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 21 (6), pp. 318-­335

If you want to dig into GRI specifically. 

Hope this may help you out.

Best regards

Ilaria

Dear Yudhish,

I don't know about what kind of reporting are you interested. I'm familiar with corporate sustainability reports, which I will speak a little bit. We may continue this conversation, if you like.

I see corporate sustainability reporting in an interesting moment. GRI standard dominated the scene for almost a decade. It was very important to establish what composes corporate sustainability and to present some possible ways to measure and monitor performance indicators. 

However, GRI reports were not integrated to business management, and attracted little interest form stakeholders, and so not failing to fulfill its goals.

Today a new standard emerges: the Integrated Reporting (coordinated by the IIRC). This standard focuses stakeholders of the financial sector, trying to make sustainability reports look more like financial reports. 

I find the IR framework very interesting, because it challenges organizations to think sustainability as a tool to generate value to business; questioning present business models, and value chains. Also observing what social, environmental and governance issues could harm business in the long run.

I recommend: http://www.theiirc.org/international-ir-framework/

Best regards,

Rafael

Dear Yudhish,

In urban studies, sustainability reporting (SR) is important for the following main reasons :

- For citizens, SR provides integrated information and knowledge on the environmental, social and economic performance of their city and gives an overview of how well the taxes they are paying are used to address both anthropic and environmental issues.

- For policymakers, SR allows for a more holistic approach to planning and policy design based on the monitoring of triple bottom line of sustainability.

- For scientists, SR allows for assessing how urban development theories and hypotheses have changed over the years. 

Best regards,

Juste

Dear Yudhish,

Since you already got quite interesting insights from other Colleagues, I will focus on another view of the subject.

Making a quick summary of literature review + practitioners anecdotal experience: 

- Medium to big companies often use GRI (Global Reporting Initiative).

- Big ones go for DJSI or other Sustainability Indexes.

- Some are trying to experience ISO 26000 or UN Global Compact.

- Others use  ISO 9001/ISO 14001/OHSAS 18001/SA 8000, and so on.

You might be interested to study ISO 26000: Guidance on Social Responsibility International Standard (ISO, 2010). Tables A1 and A2 (pp. 87-89) have a detailed list of sustainability reporting and cross sectoral and sectoral initiatives.

When reporting to  its stakeholders, an organization should include information about its objectives and performance on the core subjects and relevant issues of sustainability, providing a  fair and complete picture of its sustainability performance e.g., achievements and shortfalls and the ways in which the shortfalls will be addressed.

However, I have supervised a M Sc Thesis (excuse me it written is in Portuguese) about Sustainability Reporting and the main conclusion was the companies on the population study where not really addressing the key sustainability issues, it was more a communication approach, which was somewhat of a disappointing (while by no means definitive) conclusion.

Best Regards

Luis

thanks a lot everyone, this was very helpful.

HI Yudhish, 

                    Even I am very keen to know about sustainability reporting and its importnace. As much i know, i realized that its having significant importance in various ways:

1. It force firms to think twice about their activities (procument to distribution) . 

2. This allows brain stroming for sustainabilty approach toward such areas. 

3. Each report gives stakeholders a chance to review the futurre inclination of firm toward SD. 

Moreover, it also work as carrot and stick approach.