Sustainability reporting progress

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) reporting and the Environmental/Sustainability aspect in particular continues to gain momentum and is becoming a common discussion point at the board level of most organisations.

Whilst there is a clear hunger for more information from stakeholders and investors, the lack of a universally agreed standard or methodology continues to hamper widespread commitments to public sustainability reporting.

For now, the driver continues to be mostly progressive organisations or those looking to tap into green investment funds. There is however increasing evidence of a positive link between commitments to sustainability reporting and the ability of organisations to attract high-quality, professional staff. Recent surveys indicate uptake to be very high within publically listed companies. According to a KPMG study, 89% of ASX100 companies are reporting carbon targets and 96% of the Global 250 companies report on sustainability.

Within Australia, there seems to be general consensus that a standardaised and legislated approach is both innevitable and beneficial. Various bodies and groups are working towrds achieving this, it does seem to be only a matter of time until it become reality.