Sustainability Reporting: Evaluation Standards

Our planet is increasingly facing environmental and social challenges. It is therefore essential that companies are responsible for their actions. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) refers to the voluntary initiatives and practices of companies aimed at having a positive impact on society and the environment. Traditional approaches to sustainability reporting have long focused only on financial results, neglecting the ecological impact of corporate activities. However, this one-dimensional approach is not exhaustive for reporting on the sustainability of a company, hence the move to a holistic approach to sustainability. Several reporting standards have emerged that provide guidelines on the structure, preparation and communication of sustainability information. These ensure consistency and comparability between reports, allowing stakeholders to assess the sustainability performance of different companies.

The SASB Standards, developed in 2018, report financially relevant sustainability information for 77 sectors: this allows companies to communicate their sustainability performance in their specific sector. They are widely used, with 66% of IT professionals choosing them as their framework. The SASB Standards were consolidated into the Value Reporting Foundation, which later merged with the IFRS Foundation. The GRI Standards, established in 2000, enable organisations to report their impacts in a comparable and credible way. The modular framework comprises universal, sectoral and thematic sustainability reporting standards. The EFRAG developed the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) to improve corporate responsibility and reporting quality. The ESRS are aligned with new legislation, the CSRD, and cover 13 topics in cross-cutting environmental, social and governance categories.

In November 2022, the UNRISD published a study entitled 'Authentic Sustainability Assessment. A User Manual for the Sustainable Development Performance Indicators'. This study introduced a comprehensive set of indicators for assessing corporate performance based on universal sustainability thresholds and the transformations needed to achieve the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. This study is considered a milestone in sustainability research, with strong potential for development. The new UN indicators address the shortcomings of traditional reporting by considering a wide range of environmental variables and with the aim of assessing the impact of companies and non-profit organisations on the well-being of all stakeholders, including nature. Furthermore, these indicators focus on vital resources such as water and biodiversity.

In contrast to traditional reporting methods, which rely on continuous improvement and comparisons with competitors, the indicators of the United Nations adopt a revolutionary approach: they go beyond incremental measurement and recognise the limited nature of our planet's resources. For example, when measuring water consumption, indicators consider the availability of water resources in relation to ecosystem capacity and the actual water needs of living species. This approach ensures a more accurate assessment of a company's sustainability. To facilitate the uptake of these indicators, the UNRISD will launch the SDPI (Sustainable Development Performance Indicators) online platform, which will enable companies to assess their sustainability progress by generating comprehensive reports that analyse trends and assess impacts against sustainability thresholds.

Achieving compliance to standards is crucial for companies today. In this context, 3Bee is an ideal partner. The Nature Tech leader in protecting biodiversity through technology, uses the bee as a key bio-indicator by collecting and interpreting data through innovative proprietary systems to monitor the health of bees, pollinators and their connection to ecosystems. The innovative technologies of 3Bee enable precise and measurable data that companies can include in the sustainability report. By doing so, it is possible to show and communicate how the company has contributed to the achievement of the SDSGs targets such as the 8 (Decent work and economic growth), the 9 (Industry, innovation and infrastructure), 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), 13 (Climate action), 15 (Life on Earth) and 17 (Partnership for the Goals).