Sustainability concerns

Thursday, 16 December 2010 00:26 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Study shows that bulk of Lankan corporates not committed to transparency of GRI reporting

A STUDY conducted by Sting Consultants shows that local corporates are still largely disinterested and not committed to transparency of their sustainability performances.

Releasing a statement, the organisation which is Sri Lanka’s annual benchmark study of strategic corporate accountability implementation within companies through Sting Consultants Corporate Accountability Index (now in its third year) noted: “An extensive study, which assessed the reporting capabilities of the largest publicly listed companies, State-owned enterprises, and a handful of privately held companies, found that just 20 companies out of the 66 sampled now produce structured sustainability reports based on the GRI Guidelines, at varying degrees of sophistication.

“Since the survey was conducted amongst the largest companies operating in the country, we can assume that this is indeed the status in corporate Sri Lanka.”

The GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) Guidelines is the world’s most widely used sustainability reporting framework, which provides companies regardless of size or sector, with a structured format for monitoring, measuring and reporting their sustainability performance across the economic, environmental and social spectrums.

The fundamental basis on which this operates is that if a company measures its impacts then management would focus on how to address the issues, leading to monitoring and improving its performance over time.

The statement points out that this number is an improvement from 2009, where 15 companies published structured sustainability reports within that year. “It is clear therefore that local companies are increasingly recognising the importance of measuring their sustainability impacts, and disclosing these to their stakeholders.”

Out of the 20 reporting companies, 15 companies have met the requirement of GRI to declare their reported levels. Ten of these 15 companies have self-declared their levels, with no third party confirmation that these levels are accurate, Sting Consultants pointed out.

“Nine of the reporting companies have included external assurance statements within their reports to confirm that the information included accurately reflects the companies’ performance. However, only four of these statements provide solid confirmation that reports accurately represent the companies’ internal sustainability performance. These are the assurance statements included in the reports of CTC, Dialog Axiata, DIMO, and John Keells Holdings.”

The overall conclusion that Sting Consultants has arrived at is that Sri Lankan companies in general can take greater steps to enhance their transparency, and to incorporate sustainability into their normal business functions.

“They must do so now if they are to keep up with the rapid changes and advancements in the global sustainability reporting agenda, which is moving towards a single integrated report that incorporates both financial aspects and sustainability related information.”