ESG Sustainability Reporting – The First Step to Making the Planet a Better Place for All

How long is one hour? Yes, 60 minutes, and within this short moment, 1,692 acres of productive land becomes desert. Things are getting worse every day – with 55-billion tons of fossil energy, metals, biomass, and minerals extracted from the earth every year, we are exhausting the planet and plunging into danger.

No one wants to get caught up in this turmoil, and one of the best ways of addressing it is by adopting good strategies and corporate sustainability reporting is one of the best. 

What is Sustainability Reporting? 

Before we can look at how sustainability reporting can help slay the monster of environmental degradation, let us start by understanding what it is. 

Sustainability reporting is the disclosure and communication of the efforts that a company has installed towards improving the environment. Indeed, it is all-inclusive, comprising of social, environmental, and governance goals adopted by a company and the strategies it uses to achieve them (check Adrian Cheng). 

Sustainability reporting makes it easy for organizations to rethink their impacts on different aspects of sustainability.

This makes it possible for the company to operate more transparently, highlighting the challenges faced and opportunities therein. Simply put – the world will never know about your efforts to protect the environment unless you tell and show them. This is why you should not be left being in adopting sustainability reporting. 

Why should You Adopt Sustainability Reporting? 

Businesses are indeed facing unprecedented times, especially with the current challenges of COVID-19, but the truth is that our environment will always be here.

Therefore, we have to safeguard it jealously, not just for ourselves but also for future generations. Here are some of the main benefits of sustainability reporting for your organization. 

Increased Awareness of Risks and Opportunities 

Notably, a lot of people know about the dangers that come with environmental degradation; however, the efforts put towards addressing them might not be appreciated until they are put out there.

For example, if you installed a new machine to cut the emissions, capturing the details and telling it all through sustainability reporting allows others to appreciate it.

It also motivates others to adopt the strategy and address the changes related to focus on sustainability. 

Reducing the Risks of Environmental and Governance Failures 

As we highlighted earlier, the reporting also entails demonstrating how sustainability goals are incorporated into your overall company operations.

This also entails adopting good strategies to make the goals for sustainability achievable. Therefore, you will be increasing the chances of reducing environmental and governance failures. 

Benchmarking and Assessing Sustainability Performance 

Although sustainability reporting was recommended way back in 2002, it was probably not given a lot of focus, which made it almost impossible to know how different corporates were progressing in enforcing it. 

Sustainability reporting might have been the missing link in fighting the environmental and social injustices over the years, and now we have the opportunity to correct that. With sustainability reporting, it becomes easy to assess progress and set targets for improvement.

If this year you managed to cut emissions by 50%, the following two years might be directed at promoting green supply chains. 

As you can see, sustainability reporting comes with huge benefits for both your company and the planet. Indeed, the advantages we have highlighted above are only a scratch on the surface; the list can be longer. Other benefits might include improved business planning, enhancing your operating efficiency, and appreciating the link between financial and non-financial performance.