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Nearly three-quarters of the top 100 U.S. companies by revenue reported sustainability data this year, twice as many as three years ago, KPMG has found. Eighty percent of the world's 250 biggest multinational companies divulge CR information, compared to 64 percent in 2005.
"More U.S. companies are beginning to see the link between profits and principles," Eric Israel, KPMG's advisory practice managing director, said in a statement. "Even in a difficult economy, we expect this trend to continue, as enhanced transparency and disclosure on non-financial matters will likely grow in importance."
The KMPG Internatational Survey on Corporate Responsibility Reporting reviewed the disclosures of more than 2,200 companies, including the Global Fortune 250 and 100 largest companies (N100) by revenue.
Although Israel called sustainability reporting mainstream, there is a gap in companies disclosing climate change risks. For example, 57 percent of the G250 address climate change business risks in reports, but 69 percent of N100 companies do not.
Sixty-four percent of G250 companies and 34 percent of N100 describe how they will mitigate climate change business risks. "With the majority of N100 companies not tracking risks and implementing mitigation programs, a major opportunity for better management of climate risk could be missed," the report said.
Forty-one percent of G250 and 62 percent of N100 companies fail to disclose their carbon footprint. United Kingdom companies lead in carbon footprint disclosure, followed by Japan, Sweden, France and Spain.
Degree of reporting matters...
The report noted the % of companies reporting includes the sum of those doing full on CSR reports and those disclosing much more limited data in CSR reports.
From another media release: "The survey found a substantial increase in the percentage of companies issuing standalone CR reports, from 45 percent (112 companies) in 2002 to 52 percent (129 companies) in 2005 for G250 companies. For N100 companies, 33 percent (525 companies) issued CR reports in 2005, up from 23 percent in 2002. The statistics rise even higher when adding companies that discuss CR in their annual financial reports instead of in a separate CR report, reaching 64 percent (161 companies) of G250 companies and 41 percent (658 companies) of N100 companies in 2005."
There is a big difference between a GRI-compliant, comprehensive CSR report, a short CSR report on a few issues largely tied to cost savings/risk mitigation/defined philanthropy, and a few paragraphs in an AR on a high cost/risk/visible issue. What degree of reporting should be considered "enough" to count as CSR disclosure, given the growing number of companies releasing CSR reports? And what issues should be considered "required" no matter what the length - climate change, etc?
Melissa