All businesses based in the UK and Ireland are invited to submit their sustainability reports for 2012 to the Governance & Accountability (G & A) Institute by 15 March at the latest, if they want to see their reports included in the official GRI Global Reporting database for last year, the G & A Institute has said in a statement.
The institute is the exclusive data partner for the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) in the UK, Ireland and the US. It searches for and collects all sustainability reports released by companies headquartered in these countries and analyses them according to a set of about 50 criteria. Later this information is transferred to the GRI in Amsterdam, where reports from all over the world are gathered and included in the Global Sustainability Database.
According to the G & A Institute, sustainability reporting is becoming an increasingly important aspect for businesses in their interaction with stakeholders and the public. It is a signal that a company is socially responsible, environmentally conscious and provides value to customers. Last year the institute´s analysis revealed that for the first time a majority, or 53%, of companies in the S&P 500 had sustainability reports prepared. By comparison, in 2011 only 20% of the S&P 500 reported on their sustainability practices. These figures are in line with the Fortune 500 findings, which showed 20% in 2011 and as many as 57% of companies reporting in 2012.
Louis D. Coppola, executive vice president of the G & A Institute, said that the GRI Global Database often serves as a reference to investors and other stakeholders, so having a company included in the index is a great business opportunity.