RAAS Consulting Ltd

The following list is the ten reporting standards that we map to their primary and secondary audiences. Each has a particular focus, some distinct and others overlapping. I am not confident that any single standard exists to cover the needs of the range of users of such reports. This in part stems from the processes used to develop the standards, participants in the standards development process, and the particular focus of the each standard.
The reporting standards discussed in the follows sections include:

• Global Compact (UNGC)
• CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project)
• CERES
• Facility Reporting Project
• GBS Codex
• GRI (Global Reporting Initiative)
• The GHG Protocol for Project Accounting
• BBA's Forge
• ISO 14000
• SA 8000
• ISO 26000
  
• WICI (World Intellectual Capital Initiative)
• DVFA's ESG/KPI indicators
  

As a rule for our discussions here, a CSR/Sustainability report aimed at wide consumption can provide information that is additional to existing regulatory and annual report content.  Take care however to ensure that any information provided in a CSR/Sustainability report does not contradict or vary significantly from information provided in reports to regulators or investors. However, do provide information that supports investment decision-making and regulatory oversight when issues of CSR and Sustainability are being considered.

We also include the Mellenium Development Goals (MDG), not as a reporting standard, but as a set of underlying objectives that many standards encourage.

Standard	Description
Global Compact (UNGC)	The UN Global Compact is a US sponsored organization that provides a framework for CSR reporting.  There are currently approximately 4000 organizational members of the Global Compact. The Global Compact has ten principles on which companies provide a "Report on Progress". While not a formal Triple Bottom Line type report, the ten areas for reporting can be split out to the three areas or Triple Bottom Line.
CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project)	The Carbon Disclosure Project was launched in 2000 at No 10 Downing Street, London. The CDP approaches large organizations and invites them to provide a report on their carbon impact and plans to reduce carbon production. Organizations that decline to participate are listed as declining to participate, making the CDP a 'name and shame' type of environment. Interestingly, the CDP is the only standard that we consider to be primarily focused on the Analyst / Investor community.
CERES	The Boston, Massachusetts-based CERES (Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies) has developed a set of reporting requirements for Environmental Reporting. This reporting framework provides a high-level framework only, and is more closely aligned to environmental reporting than the GRI's framework that includes Social and Economic as well as environmental reporting.
Facility Reporting Project	Where GRI is used and viewed as a corporate level reporting standard, FRP takes such reporting to the facility level. The FRP is a CERES project with the objective of improving sustainability reporting at individual facilities. This is a US based initiative, and funding was received in 2006 from the EPA (US Environmental Protection Agency) to attract participation by companies involved in the EPA's Performance Track program. According to CERES, Timberland ($1.5 billion revenues) had agreed to participant in the program.
GBS Codex	The Global Business Standards Codex (GBS Codex) is a framework resulting from the analysis of a number of standards to arrive at a suggested standard that brings together the common aspects of all, and providing an interesting overlap between the standards. The GSB Codex started from the premise that there is a growing consensus that all Codes of Conduct form a foundation for the performance of all businesses. The GBS Codex resulted from a study conducted by three professors and a research assistant at Harvard, and published in the Harvard Business Review in December 2005.
GRI (Global Reporting Initiative)	The GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) is one of the leading CSR/Sustainability reporting standards in use today, with more than 1000 companies and entities creating GRI reports. In October 2006, the GRI released its third iteration of the standard, the G3 standard. The GRI G3 provides a library of elements that can and should be reported. The G3 also expects reporting entities to identify performance objectives, and to report on achievement (or otherwise) of those objectives. A key strength of the GRI standard is that it provides a set of reporting indicators, but does not mandate how an organization reports.  To be GRI compliant a reporting organization need only index their reports to the GRI set of indicators.
The GHG Protocol for Project Accounting	In December 2005 the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council on Sustainable Development (WBCSD) released their Green House Gas Protocol for Project Accounting.
BBA's Forge	Developed by the BBA (British Banking Association) and the ABI (Association of British Insurers), the Forge standard provides guidance on the creation and provision of CSR and Sustainability reporting the financial services industry.  Uptake has not been extensive, although some organizations such as Alliance Leicester have used the BBA Forge.
ISO 1400	As with other ISO standard, 14000 is primarily operationally focused, as opposed to the external marketing of some other reporting standards. ISO 14000 covers environmental management systems.
SA 8000	This standard focuses on employee rights and fair working environment. Compliance demonstrates the employers commitment to ethical employment principles.

 
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

While not a “Standard” per se, the Millennium Development Goals find their way into and influence a number of standards, and are included in a number of companies’ CSR report.
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were developed in cooperation between the World Bank, IMF, OECD, and units of the United Nations, and were approved by the United Nations General Assembly in 2000. The MDGs are a set of measurable goals with a target of accomplishment by 2015. Progress is being measured and reported. From a CSR/Sustainability perspective, while companies are not the primary focus for delivery and achievement of the MDGs, companies across the developed and developing world play a major part in creating and supporting the economic environment that supports achievement of the goals.

From the Millennium Project homepage, “The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are the world's time-bound and quantified targets for addressing extreme poverty in its many dimensions-income poverty, hunger, disease, lack of adequate shelter, and exclusion-while promoting gender equality, education, and environmental sustainability. They are also basic human rights-the rights of each person on the planet to health, education, shelter, and security.”

The eight goals are:

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
2. Achieve universal primary education
3. Promote gender equality and empower women
4. Reduce child mortality
5. Improve maternal health
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
8. Develop a global partnership for development

Within each of the goals there are is a set of targets. These have specific indicators against them, and reporting is provided on progress against each target.