Monitoring & Reporting

Climate change bill sets ambitious
targets to tackle climate change

Reporting is one of the most powerful means available for companies that are committed to the sustainability agenda to win over sceptical stakeholders. Spelling out to potential investors, lenders, rating agencies and others – in addition to regulators and NGOs – why the agenda is crucial and how it enhances the company’s bottom line is an opportunity not to be lost.

ICL has been at the forefront of efforts to incorporate non-financial information into financial reports and has codified the concept in its ValueReporting™ initiative. It is uniquely well-positioned to add reporting on sustainability activities to the larger framework of reporting as the sustainability agenda has increasingly become a central strategic focus. As a pioneer in consolidated reporting, ICL has a deep understanding of its importance and extensive experience addressing the challenges it presents.

Ideally, reporting on sustainability promotes efficiency in that a company can respond to all inquiries about its performance with a single, comprehensive statement. However, producing such a definitive document is challenging because of the need to reconcile the demands of numerous reporting mandates. For example, a mining company could face the daunting task of producing a sustainability report that meets the requirements of the Global Reporting Initiative, as well as of the International Council on Mining and Metals. Further challenges arise in achieving consistency of monitoring and reporting throughout a widely dispersed global organisation.

While much of the payback from monitoring and reporting stems from stakeholders gaining an appreciation for the value of a company’s sustainability practices, companies also derive considerable benefit in the feedback they receive from stakeholders about their reports. Such follow-up can produce invaluable perspective on how stakeholders see a company and how it might build on its competitive advantages.

ICL provides a full range of services to companies monitoring and reporting their sustainability practices, including:

Advice on the design and implementation of data gathering and reporting systems
Harmonisation of monitoring and reporting practices throughout global organisations
Collection of feedback from stakeholders on sustainability reporting
Assistance in defining clients’ reporting aims, their audiences and what information they need to report
Determination of measures for monitoring sustainability performance
Adherence to standardised reporting practices and reconciliation of multiple standards
Identification of best practices for communicating sustainability efforts
Establishment of greenhouse gas inventories
Quantification of carbon footprint at the product, process or organisational level
Triggers

Customers, institutional investors and NGOs are requesting information about our sustainability activities. How can we respond to all of them and issue other required reports most efficiently?
Our regional offices in Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia and Africa have developed their own systems for reporting energy efficiency. How can we get consistent data across our organisation?
We have adopted fair labor practices throughout our organisation. How do we report that other than in a qualitative way?
Many of our competitors are already reporting about sustainability. How can we most quickly get up to speed and optimise our monitoring and reporting?

The client’s challenge

The leading bank sought guidance in developing a sustainability report that would capture the depth and scope of the organisation’s sustainability initiatives and create a baseline for ongoing improvement.

Our approach

ICL professionals:

Analysed current activities and stakeholder engagement strategies and identified opportunities for enhancements
Produced a comprehensive sustainability report incorporating best global practices
Benefits to the client

ICL’s objective external assessment and reporting expertise helped the bank achieve greater return on its sustainability investment by increasing transparency and credibility.