Gold Standard Sustainability Reporting (2^nd Ed.)
A Step by Step Guide to Producing Sustainability Reports

This highly practical and concise book shows you how to undertake a reporting process and produce a sustainability report in line with the new standards and frameworks presented by the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). Fully updated to ensure compliance with the new standards, this second edition shows how to actually produce a sustainability report as well as the key processes in the planning: how to produce a business case; the development of actions plans; process and team leadership; and generating cross-functional buy-in. Templates are provided for certain steps in order to simplify the tasks involved at each point in the process. Anyone involved in delivering or developing a process to embed sustainability reporting for an organisation will find this book invaluable, for example, chief sustainability officers, chief financial officers and company secretaries. It will also be of interest to students in the field of sustainability.

Introduction to Sustainability Reporting

1 Sustainability Context

The Journey

Sustainable Development Goals

Preliminaries

Sustainability Leader and Coordinator

Prepare the business case – Board Approval

Setting out

2 Prepare

Assembling the team

Understanding the GRI Standards and choosing the ’In Accordance’ Option

Development Plan

Kick Off Meeting

Engage Internal Stakeholders (GRI Topic Table)

3 Connect (wide range of stakeholders)

Identify Stakeholders

Prioritise Stakeholders

Stakeholder engagement

Build Stakeholder Relationships

4 Define

Determine Material Topics

Produce Materiality Matrix and determine 'Thresholds'

Validate Material Topics

5 Monitor

Monitor Topics and set policies and procedures to measure as necessary

Set SMART Goals and Targets

6 Report (with Content page template)

Develop Narrative for the most senior person's statement

Company Accreditation

The Decalaration

Draft Sustainability/Integrated Report

Content Index

Omissions

GRI Report Checking Services

Finalise Report and send for publication

Launch Report

Feedback

7 Software

8 Assurance

9 Additional Insights for Reporters and Non reporters

10 Q&A for Reporters and Non reporters

Integrated reporting

11 Sustainability Report Evaluation

Kye Gbangbola is the founder of Total Eco Management (TEM), a sustainability consultancy providing a variety of sustainability strategy, management and reporting tools and services.

Nicole Lawler is Global Director of Sustainability at Total Eco Management (TEM).