Hi Marc, Good question, and there has been research on this. For example, on the effects of the Global Reporting Initiative, seen as the most comprehensive corporate sustainability reporting effort to date. Much to praise about the GRI in one sense, it has amassed a huge number of followers and developed elaborate reporting guidelines in vast multistakeholder consultation processes. But what's become of all that disclosed information? Is any one using it and for what purpose? What it is intended to do, and what does it do?
Important questions, some of which we addressed in looking at the effects of transparency and information disclosure more broadly in global environmental governance for a special issue of GEP (2010), including an article on the GRI by Klaus Dingwerth and Margot Eichinger. One can think of whether corporate sustainability reporting "achieves anything" in terms of environmental improvements, but also in terms of empowering recipients to hold disclosers to account for their (non)-performance. It seems that while some improved sustainability performance may directly flow from disclosure requirements (this is still up for grabs), the empowerment/accountability effects appear to be less apparent. Klaus and Margot show, for example, that if disclosed information is not comparable across companies, its value is reduced, because comparability is key if one wants to know who is doing more or better. Here's the link to the article, which takes quite a novel look at the topic of sustainability reporting: http://www.mitpressjournals.org/toc/glep/10/3 Hope this helps, and good luck with your endeavours on the committee. See you on Facebook :-) Regards Aarti ____________________ Dr. Aarti Gupta Universitair Docent (Assistant Professor, tenured) Environmental Policy Group (175) Wageningen University Hollandseweg 1 6706 KN Wageningen, Netherlands Phone: +31-(0)317-482496 / 484452 Fax: +31(0)317-483990 Mobile: +31-(0)628729382 Email: [email protected] Web: www.enp.wur.nl <http://www.enp.wur.nl/> ________________________________________ From: [email protected] [[email protected]] On Behalf Of Marc Levy [[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, April 05, 2011 11:31 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [gep-ed] Does Corporate Sustainability Reporting achieve anything I've recently joined Columbia's socially responsible investment committee (become a friend on facebook and help us crack the 38-friend barrier!). This is shareholder resolution season. Many resolutions seek mandated sustainability reporting. Columbia in general has voted in favor of these. But I'm curious -- is there any evidence that such reports make any difference? Do they impel firms to reveal secrets they would otherwise have been able to keep hidden? Do they spur innovation that otherwise would have remained dormant? There must be some research on this. Thanks, Marc
