Sustainability Reporting Past, Present And Trends For The Future

Corporations are facing increasing pressures to be accountable and transparent, and to disclose a wide variety of information about activities, including their sustainability. Sustainability is an emotionally-charged topic and its meaning may differ between individuals and corporations. For the purposes of this project, I define sustainability reporting as the communications which corporations make concerning their corporate social-responsibility (CSR) activities, including social and environmental impacts in addition to financial performance.

The International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) has proposed a revolutionary change in the way that corporations report activities to stakeholders, essentially by replacing current financial statements with integrated reports that contain financial information, operational data and sustainability information.

In a philosophical shift in thinking about corporate accountability, integrated reporting not only changes the form of reporting, but also its purpose. The underlying agenda is to make corporations more sustainable. Sustainability proponents argue that, in addition to providing information to a broad range of stakeholders, integrated reporting will change the way that corporations operate, helping them to make more sustainable decisions (IIRC 2011). This is very different from the traditional role of financial reporting, centre on providing financial information to external investors.

How sustainability reporting develops has profound implications for accounting and auditing practice in the future. Even if we do not fully move to integrated reporting, increasing sustainability disclosures pose challenges to the accounting profession in terms of measurement and assurance. The ideas behind sustainability reporting also challenge us to think about the role of accounting in business and society. In this talk, I will trace the history of sustainability reporting and make some comments about issues associated with the development of integrated reporting.

There is a growing movement, worldwide, to not only be a more responsible corporate citizen, but to trade on that fact and Sustainability Reporting is the lynchpin of this undertaking for many organizations. Sustainability Reporting is the practice for commercial, public sector, and non-profit organizations alike of raising awareness and making positive change to how the organization impacts the environment and people. But this research shall focus on Ministry of Environment, Enugu since sustainability reporting is a relatively new discipline, without the global standards and accepted controls of financial accounting; however, this is fast changing. Sustainable Business, Corporate Social Responsibility, Environmental and Social Risk Assessments are other terms heard increasingly in business, investment and governance forums today and this belies the growing significance of this activity. 

Many companies report simply because companies report. That must change. The new purpose of reporting should be conversation. Reporting must give data for debate and provide evidence for engagement. As social media fundamentally resets relationships between institutions and people, the conversation has become the predominate communication in the world. Two-way, flat, authentic and therefore both dangerous and transformational

This digital conversation is powerful, but not always evidence based. As stakeholders, consumers and staff move online, so verified and material proof will be important. Relegate your 'report' into a mere repository of information, and enter a permanent 'reporting' mindset.

Sustainability will be coordinated through billions of people talking to each other, and talking to your brand. Relevance and responsiveness will be crucial. Current reports are rarely either. In this world social media could kill sustainability reporting. Or save it.

So now the world is more complex, reporting becomes even more important as a key tool by which companies understand that complexity and develop a coherent focused strategy to address key issues and deliver long-term value, backed up by metrics that show progress along the way. But it's just a tool. Sustainability can be enhanced if the tool is wielded more effectively by companies and used better by stakeholders, especially investors, but it never has, nor will it ever be, the answer to the sustainability challenge.

This is case in Enugu State ministry of Environment which by a huge amount of report are maintain for ensure smooth running the ministry under this section.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY 

This address this topic. The project is aimed at identifying the following:

1. To identify the extent of sustainable report in corporate organization, past present and future trend.

2. To determine the organisation's competitive positioning in the emerging sustainability space

3.  Detailed overview of organisational initiatives relating to social, human and natural capital.

4. To assess if sustainability reports provide stakeholders with a reflection on past performance and a view to the future in respect of environmental, social and governance initiatives.

5. To make reasonable recommendations on the problem identified.