You can never have an impact on society if you have not changed yourself

Sustainability and Integrated Reporting - What’s What?

A Sustainability Report is the output of the sustainability journey. It serves as a platform to communicate the history, performance and future planned processes/objectives surrounding the ‘triple bottom line’ as embraced by the entity. It involves introspection of policies, procedures and business practices at the highest level and support from the top in entrenching the philosophy of sustainability. No longer is the financial report divorced from the qualitative impacts made by an entity on its surroundings, people and the planet.

The Integrated Report is a holistic and integrated representation of the company’s performance in terms of both finance and sustainability. It is a culmination of a process that begins with corporate values, strategy and decision making philosophy of the company.

Does my company need a Sustainability Report?

King III advocates that all companies produce an ‘Integrated Report’ that reports how the company has impacted on the social and economic life of the community in which it operates. King III is recommended for all types of entities regardless of their juristic nature.
However, as King III now falls within the listing requirements of the JSE, all listed companies will have to produce a sustainability performance report in addition to the annual financial statements or explain why they are not.

 

THE GLOBAL REPORTING INITIATIVE FRAMEWORK

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is a non-governmental organisation based in Amsterdam that facilitates a global multi-stakeholder engagement process via a set of common reporting expectations. Hundreds of organisations worldwide use the GRI as a guideline for their Sustainability Reporting. This guideline enables the stakeholders to benchmark their sustainability performance against a wide array of companies, regardless of their industry sector, size or geographic location.

HOW CAN BDO HELP YOU?

BDO offers the following services to help guide you through the process of producing a Sustainability or Integrated Report:

  • Presentations to board and audit committees on the GRI guidelines and sustainability reports.
  • Provide guidance on risk management relating to sustainability issues.
  • Facilitate workshops to guide companies in preparing Sustainability Reports.
  • Assess availability of existing information to meet performance indicators in terms of GRI guidelines.
  • Assess existing information systems and provide recommendations to collate record data for performance Indicators.
  • Provide independent 3rd party assurance on Sustainability Reports.

Download our Sustainability reporting brochure. Click here.

For more information, please contact:

Ursula van Eck

+27 11 488 1978

uvaneck@bdo.co.za

Bonita de Wet

+27 12 433 0167

bdewet@bdo.co.za

Boryana Mintcheva

+27 21 460 6460

bmintcheva@bdo.co.za

 

 

 

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BDO can assist in preparing your companies sustainability report