Sustainability Reporting by Major Organizations Increases Dramatically

A major new study by KPMG, which provides financial and environmental insights for major organizations around the globe, examined the sustainability reporting of 5800 organizations worldwide. *

 Among their recent findings were the following:

• Sustainability Reporting is Now Standard Practice: Nearly all the world’s top 250 companies, and the majority of the top 100 companies in each country or region, now regularly publish sustainability reports.

• A Dramatic Increase: In 1999, only 35% of the world’s largest companies reported on their sustainability effort.

• Defines a Sustainability Report: A sustainability report discloses a company’s nonfinancial performance, including progress on carbon reduction targets and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) metrics.

• Who Benefits from Sustainability Reporting? Key stakeholders such as investors, employees, customers, and the general public rely on this information to make informed decisions.

Additionally, the study revealed the following:

·       Ninety-five percent of the world’s top 250 companies publish a carbon target/reduction report.

·       Fifty-six percent have at least one person leading their sustainability efforts.

·       Forty-one percent consider sustainability accomplishments when determining leadership pay. This makes meeting an organization’s sustainability goals as important as meeting their financial goals.

“It’s interesting to note that it’s not just major corporations that are publishing sustainability reports,” says Steve Ashkin, CEO of Green2Sustainable, a sustainability measuring and monitoring service. “In varying degrees, so are all the 5,800 organizations included in the study.”

The study also reports that these organizations do so voluntarily.

“That may be true,” adds Ashkin. “But the reality is that their customers, key stakeholders, and major investors are now asking for this information before doing business with or investing in a company.”

One of the key reasons for this boils down to one word: risk.

One of the benefits of a sustainability-focused organization is that it helps them mitigate risks such as those caused by climate and environment changes, resource scarcity, and new government regulations.

“What companies now realize is that mitigating risk is far easier and less costly than dealing with damages after a serious event,” adds Ashkin.

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*Source: KPMG: Publication name: The Move to Mandatory Reporting | Publication number: 139548G | Publication date: November 2024

About Green2Sustainable

Green2Sustainable provides a set of online tools to assist organizations of all sizes gather and analyze sustainability-related data. Collecting this information can be difficult, but ensuring it is accurate can prove to be an even bigger obstacle for both suppliers and organizations. Our goal is to transform this data into meaningful information that can help organizations make informed decisions, report on finite results and create a culture of sustainability.

For more information, visit Green2Sustainable.