Leading business organisations are putting pressure on
governments to commit to sustainability reporting, calling on
global leaders to take concrete action at the Rio +20 Conference in
Brazil.
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the World Business Council
for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and the Brazilian Business
Council for Sustainable Development (CEBDS) also called on UN
Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to develop a process and a timeframe
to establish a global policy framework and make sustainability
reporting standard practice.
“At the 2002 Johannesburg conference, this
practice was commended; the opportunity in Rio is to adopt policy
to make this standard practice,” GRI chief executive Ernst
Ligteringen said.
WBCSD president Peter Bakker said
sustainability reporting is a strategic tool for companies big and
small, as “what gets measured gets managed”.
CEBDS president Marina Grossi said mandatory
reporting will trigger a strong multiplying process.
“Also, ‘Report or Explain’ presents an extra
layer of accountability to those stakeholders and easiness to
companies to adapt to this new scenario,” Grossi concluded.
GRI produces a comprehensive sustainability
reporting framework that is widely used around the world. WBCSD is
the leading organisation on sustainable development in business,
and CEBDS is the Brazilian branch of the WBCSD network.
