The Evolving Role of Sustainability Reporting
The primary purpose of sustainability reporting is to demonstrate the sustainability of business operations. Reporting does not compete with communications; rather, it complements them. For business developers, it is an invaluable tool.
For a long time, sustainability communication and reporting were viewed as separate functions. Reporting was seen as a “necessary evil” that tied up resources in corporate communications departments; it was not thought to interest anyone, but it had to be done in order to be considered a responsible corporate citizen. Efforts were made to make the reports more engaging for stakeholders by including stories, which—now that online reports have become more common—are linked to websites as separate articles.
For a long time, companies were hesitant to communicate about their sustainability efforts for fear of being accused of greenwashing.
The role of both reporting and communication is changing as sustainability becomes central to business operations.
In our experience, a publication intended to be an organization’s first sustainability report often ends up never being published, or it is distributed without much fanfare only to the closest stakeholders
The reporting process is, in fact, an excellent litmus test: it reveals to the organization itself the gaps in its data collection and makes it painfully clear if the organization is unable to report on the matters it would like to—or at least not with the depth that would be desirable.
This is often because the metrics currently in use do not actually measure the organization’s sustainable actions. Or there are no metrics at all.
From the perspective of developing sustainable business practices, it is essential to define metrics that bridge the gap between business operations and sustainable development. Once the right metrics have been defined, there is no need for storytelling. Using these metrics and results, a company can, for example, communicate how much the new products launched during the year have reduced greenhouse gas emissions and promoted climate-resilient farming practices.
Stories play a key role in bringing to life what climate resilience means in people’s daily lives. They also help us visualize and imagine a possible, attractive future world.
When sustainability is at the core of business operations, an organization does not need to give special consideration to the target audiences for its sustainability communications or worry about accusations of greenwashing. Communication tells stakeholders about the organization’s operations and results in a way that interests them, through channels relevant to them—just as good communication has always done.
Sari Kuvaja
Head of Sustainability Services, T-Media
040 528 2820
sari.kuvaja@reptrust-staging.fi-p.seravo.com
