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More About This Title Corporate Sustainability: Integrating Performanceand Reporting
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Global businesses are under close scrutiny from lawmakers, regulators, and their diverse stakeholders to focus on sustainability and accept responsibility for their multiple bottom line performance. Business Sustainability and Accountability examines business sustainability and accountability reporting and their integration into strategy, governance, risk assessment, performance management and the reporting process. This book also highlights how people, business and resources collaborate in a business sustainability and accountability model.
- Looks at business sustainability and accountability reporting and assurance and their incorporation into the reporting process
- Focuses on how the business sustainability and accountability model are impacted by the collaboration of people, business, and resources
- Presents laws, rules, regulations, standards and best practices relevant to business sustainability performance, reporting and assurance
Organizations worldwide recognize the importance of all five EGSEE dimensions of sustainability performance and accountability reporting. However, how to actually assess sustainability risk, implement sustainability reporting, and obtain sustainability assurance remain a major challenge and best practices are evolving. Straightforward and comprehensive Business Sustainability and Accountability hits on all of the hottest topics around sustainability including multiple bottom line (EGSEE) performance and reporting, related financial and non-financial key performance indicators (KPIs), business social responsibility and environmental reporting.
English
ANN BROCKETT is the Americas Assurance Leader for Climate Chang and Sustainability Services at Ernst & Young. Ms. Brockett serves a broad range of clients to identify and develop alternatives that address emerging risk areas and in providing financial and non-financial assurance services.
ZABIHOLLAH REZAEE is the Thompson-Hill Chair of Excellence and Professor of Accountancy at the University of Memphis. He served a two-year term on the Standing Advisory Group (SAG) of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB).
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Preface xiii
Acknowledgments xix
PART I: AN INTRODUCTION TO SUSTAINABILITY PERFORMANCE, REPORTING, AND ASSURANCE 1
Chapter 1: Introduction to Business Sustainability and Accountability Reporting 3
Executive Summary 3
Introduction 4
The Case for Sustainability 5
Current Status of Sustainability and Accountability 6
Drivers of Sustainability Initiatives and Practices 7
Best Practices of Sustainability Programs 10
Principles of Business Sustainability 14
Business Sustainability and Corporate Accountability Framework 14
Key Performance Indicators 16
Emerging Issues in Sustainability Reporting 17
Promotion of Sustainability Development, Performance, and Disclosures 21
Conclusion 22
Action Items 22
Notes 23
Chapter 2: Brief History of Sustainability Reporting 27
Executive Summary 27
Historical Perspectives 27
Recent Developments and Initiatives 29
Status of Business Sustainability and Sustainability Reporting and Assurance 31
Going Forward 32
Conclusion 33
Action Items 33
Notes 34
Chapter 3: Business Sustainability and Accountability Initiatives, Reporting, and Assurance 37
Executive Summary 37
Multiple Bottom-Line Dimensions of Business Sustainability 37
Usefulness of Sustainability Information 39
The Sustainability Reporting Process 41
Sustainability Reporting in Action 46
Promotion of Sustainability Reporting 47
Future of Sustainability Reporting 48
Mandatory versus Voluntary Sustainability Reports 51
Sustainability Assurance 53
Continuum of Assurance on Sustainability Information 57
Internal Controls Relevant to Sustainability Performance 58
Sustainability Risk Management 58
Conclusion 61
Action Items 62
Notes 62
PART II: DIMENSIONS OF SUSTAINABILITY PERFORMANCE 67
Chapter 4: Sustainability, Corporations, Capital Markets, and the Global Economy 69
Executive Summary 69
Global Economy and Financial Crisis 69
Capital Markets 71
Role of Corporations in Society 72
Sustainability Information Needs of Investors 74
Corporate Reporting 77
Recent Initiatives in Corporate Reporting 79
Web-Based Corporate Reporting 83
Predictive Business Analytics 84
Narrative Reporting 85
Governance, Risk Management, and Compliance (GRC) Reporting 86
Sustainability Reporting 87
Conclusions 88
Action Items 88
Notes 89
Chapter 5: Economic Vitality as a Component of Sustainability 91
Executive Summary 91
Introduction 91
Economic KPIs 92
Public Trust and Investor Confidence in Financial Information 92
Internal Control Reporting 98
Internal Control Reporting Requirements 101
Integrated Financial and Internal Control Reporting 105
Conclusion 109
Action Items 110
Notes 110
Chapter 6: The Corporate Governance Dimension of Sustainability 113
Executive Summary 113
Corporate Governance Definition 114
Drivers of Corporate Governance 114
Global Convergence in Corporate Governance 116
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 117
Dodd-Frank Act 121
The United Kingdom’s Financial Regulatory Framework 122
Listing Standards Related to Corporate Governance 123
Corporate Governance in the Post-Crisis Era 123
Corporate Governance Functions 128
Board Committees 131
Proxy Voting for Sustainability 134
Emerging Corporate Governance Issues and Challenges 138
Corporate Governance Reporting and Assurance 139
Conclusion 142
Action Items 143
Notes 144
Chapter 7: The Social Dimension of Corporate Sustainability 147
Executive Summary 147
Introduction 147
Social Performance 148
Social KPIs 150
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) 151
CSR and Financial Performance 159
CSR Performance Measurement 160
CSR Programs 161
Components of CSR 163
CSR Reporting 164
Conclusion 167
Action Items 168
Notes 168
Chapter 8: The Ethical Dimension of Sustainability 171
Executive Summary 171
Business Ethics 172
Ethics and Law 172
Ethics KPIs 176
Workplace Ethics 177
Training and Ethics Education 182
Corporate Culture 183
Corporate Codes of Ethics: Rules and Best Practices 185
Financial Reporting Integrity 185
Ethics Reporting 187
Conclusion 190
Action Items 191
Notes 191
Chapter 9: The Environmental Dimension of Sustainability Performance: Government Policy, Societal Forces, and Environmental Management 193
Executive Summary 193
Introduction 194
Emerging Environmental Issues 194
Environmental KPIs 196
Environmental Regulations in the United States 198
Global Environmental Initiatives and Regulations 203
European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) 208
Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) 209
California Assembly Bill 32 209
Global Progress 209
Societal Actors Influencing Corporate
Environmental Behavior 215
International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 220
Environmental Management Systems (EMS) 222
Environmental Reporting 226
Environmental Assurance and Auditing 229
Conclusion 230
Action Items 231
Notes 232
PART III: EMERGING ISSUES IN SUSTAINABILITY PERFORMANCE, REPORTING, AND ASSURANCE 237
Chapter 10: Business Sustainability in Action: Global Initiatives and Emerging Issues 239
Executive Summary 239
Introduction 240
Global Initiatives on Business Sustainability 240
Social Accountability International (SAI) 244
Macro Sustainability Issues 248
Climate Change 250
Sustainability KPIs 254
Business Sustainability in Action 259
Lessons Learned from Sustainability 260
Emerging Issues in Sustainability 263
Conclusion 266
Action Items 267
Notes 267
Chapter 11: The Future of Business Sustainability: Sustainability Reporting and Assurance 271
Executive Summary 271
Introduction 271
The Emergence of Business Sustainability 272
Sustainability Reporting 274
Sustainability Assurance 287
Sustainability Assurance and Internal Control 297
Emerging Trends in Sustainability Reporting 297
Sustainability Assurance in Action 298
Sustainability Database 299
Sustainability Education 300
Conclusion 300
Action Items 301
Notes 302
About the Authors 305
Index 307
