Annual research from Radley Yeldar finds positive and negative trends in sustainability reporting
Looking for a model to base your sustainability reporting on? One place to look is the annual ranking of sustainability reporters produced by Radley Yeldar, the UK-based corporate reporting agency.
The firm took 35 companies from the FTSE Eurotop 100 index already marked out as top sustainability performers and scrutinized their output over the last year. Anglo American came out on top, followed by Centrica, HSBC Holdings, Diageo and Siemens.
‘Over the past couple of years, we’ve seen a growing focus on the quality of reporting on sustainability issues,’ comments Rosie Acfield, corporate reporting consultant at Radley Yeldar.
‘What we’ve seen from the best reporters is that they show the connections between the group’s business model and strategy, and its approach to sustainability – so they’re showing how success in non-financial areas underpins wider business success.’
Companies have boosted their sustainability reporting by including more ‘visual hierarchies to show how sustainability is managed throughout the business,’ notes Acfield. ‘This year’s highest scoring sustainability reporter, Anglo American, is a good example of this.’
But the survey sample didn’t just receive praise. Radley Yeldar also reports that ‘crucial narratives are being obscured by box ticking and standard disclosures’ at some companies.
The findings will be included in Radley Yeldar’s annual study of corporate reporting How does it stack up?, due for release later this year.
