Corporate sustainability reports show up in media coverage nearly every day. Two-thirds of the S&P 500 provided at least some carbon emissions information to the Carbon Disclosure Project in 2009.

Last year, nearly 1,400 global companies filed reports with the Global Reporting Initiative, a 29 percent increase over the prior year. As more and more companies produce sustainability reports, why are so many CEOs still reluctant to do so? What’s holding back that last third of the S&P 500?

There are some significant hurdles. CEOs worry about the risk of exposure, fearing that transparency about their impacts will attract censure by activists who may feel the company is falling short. There are costs to gathering information and communicating it effectively.  Reporting isn’t mandated by law (in the U.S.). Standards are still emerging and somewhat loose. How do you get your executive team over these hurdles and help them to see the opportunities in reporting about sustainability? 

We’ve interviewed a number of companies that do report to find out why they do it. The main reasons include:

• Better managing the company’s reputation and brand
• Responding to queries from stakeholders
• Meeting channel requirements
• Staying ahead of future regulations
• Focusing internal execution
• Competing effectively

This last point turns out to be one of the most potent ways to get the attention of the C-Suite:  competition.

Next Page: How to prepare a benchmark report for your chief executive.