For executives and sustainability managers adopting sustainability reporting, deciding on the standards and ratings that are most closely aligned with their organisation’s strategic requirements and stakeholders continue to pose a challenge.

This article covers an example from a Harvard Business Review (HBR) case introducing the 2 step sustainability reporting matrix that was developed to categorise reporting standards and ratings by categorising all available reporting and rating options in terms of the scope of topics they cover and their target audience. This enables the executives at Sustainable City Dubai to define a sustainability reporting approach that fits the needs of the company and its stakeholders. It is designed for sustainability practitioners to navigate across various sustainability reporting standards and ratings that are relevant for corporates.

Reporting Standards

The sustainability reporting matrix covers the following reporting standards:

1. CDP – Carbon Disclosure Project
2. CDSB – Climate Disclosure Standards Board
3. GRI – Global Reporting Initiative
4. IIRC – International Integrated Reporting Council
5. SASB – Sustainability Accounting Standards Board
6. TCFD – Taskforce on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures
7. WEF IBC – World Economic Forum International Business Council

The matrix caters to a wide range of audiences from a narrow set of stakeholders (investors) to broader groups that may include customers, employees, and society at large. The differences between topics and audiences are sorted in a matrix that facilitates the analysis of major sustainability reporting standards, according to the relevant quadrants on the matrix.

Sustainability Ratings

The second matrix charts sustainability ratings and help facilitate decision making on which ratings may be relevant. Companies first need to choose whether they require a rating that is focused on environmental aspects only or a broader set of topics, such as ESG considerations. In parallel, companies need to decide if they want a rating that is aimed at investors only or a wider set of stakeholders.

Choosing the right approach to sustainability reporting is critical as companies navigate growing demands for non-financial reporting and the lowering of carbon footprints in businesses. The sustainability reporting and rating matrices can be useful tools to think through a company’s choices and responsiveness to stakeholder needs which ultimately can lead to superior sustainability and corporate performance.

For the full case study please visit the Harvard Business Review.

This article contains references to work by the Harvard Business Review and/or contributors to its website. All proprietary rights relating to any links, content or resources published on this Article remain with the original source or the author(s) of that material.

For further information on this article, please contact Eleen Ooi at [email protected] or Support at [email protected].