Sustainability Reporting

For our purposes, the defining characteristic of environmental and/or sustainability reporting is that it measures the management and operational performance of an organization. Whereas assessment and auditing tools are concerned with the performance of physical structures, products or production systems, reporting is intended to aid self-assessment and operational improvement. Some methods touched on here are corporate environmental reporting (CeR), state of environment (SoE) reporting, and ecologically sustainable development (ESD) reporting. Government and corporate environmental management systems and corporate reporting are increasingly seen as de rigueur. ¹ The focus of this chapter is on public sector reporting. ² Over the last decade, many local councils have developed sustainability reporting processes in order to present ‘report cards’ to their communities. Reporting can be mandated, but it is usually voluntary and thus, some feel, often driven by public relations. Yet reporting can provide guidance on decisions, policies and priorities, as well as grade performance retrospectively, so it is useful even if the individuals responsible have moved on.