G&A's Sustainability Update Article

ISSUE 6 | ARTICLE 1 | JANUARY 2012

Update on Corporate Sustainability & Responsibility Reporting
For December 2011

At year-end the G&A team monitored seven (7) corporate S&R reports published by US companies in December.  Five followed the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Framework. The December reports were:

GRI G3 Framework Followed – Self Declared Levels

B Level Corporate Reports

Avon Products, Inc. – B Application Level. Marketers of beauty, fashion, home products in 100 countries. (NYSE:AVP) Corporate Responsibility Report  Hasbro, Inc. – B Application Level. Branded company, toys, games, TV programming, movies, licensing. (NASDAQ:HAS)  Corporate Sustainability Report – HTML – through company's Web site the user can assemble a customized report.  Hasbro is a signatory of the UN Global Compact.

C Level Corporate Reports

North Face - C Application Level Retailers of outdoor apparel, equipment and footwear; "outfitters to explorers." North Face® is a brand of parent company VF Corporation; VF has organized an Outdoor and Action Sports Coalition to manage sustainability.  2010 Sustainability Report- Expedition Sustainability. First report; accompanied by Video format content. (North Face's web site features "Corporate Responsibility-Global Compliance" content about its supply chain and compliance with the California Transparency in Supply Chain Act of 2010.)   Sister company Timberland® is a sustainability leader. VF Corporation is a US$9 billion apparel and footwear retailers. (NYSE:VFC).  Timberland®, another VF brand, is recognized as a sustainability leader. Tenet Healthcare Corporation – C Application Level. C Level confirmed by the GRI. Owns and operates hospitals. Report covers owned and majority-owned facilities.  (NYSE:THC) 2010 Corporate Sustainability Report –  Sustaining Our Company; the Communities We Serve; and the Environment.  The report will be updated on the company's web site going forward

G&A Notes: The Level of the GRI reports (Level A, B, C) indicates the scope and extent of Boundaries, Disclosure and selection of performance Indicators and other factors. This is a self-selected Level -- not a grade assigned to the report by GRI. The level is to be viewed as a description of the scope of the reporting what information is included, what is not, or may be partially reported. Greater the inclusion of Disclosure information and response to the framework's key performance Indicators determines the Level. The red plus sign (+) indicates that an independent third party Assurance Provider checked all or parts of the report. The GRI reports that have a Level selected by the reporting company contain a Content Index to refer the reader to specific pages where the company or institution provided responses to specific GRI framework Disclosures and Indicators. All reporting following the GRI guidelines is voluntary in the USA.

Non-GRI Corporate Reports

Intuit,Inc. Business and financial management solutions for small and mid-sized businesses, professionals and consumers. (Quicken® and Turbotax® brands.) (NASDAQ:INTU) Sustainability Report 2011. The company created "Intuit Green" in 2007 to formalize sustainability efforts – this is the first report on the journey; the hope is to publish a report annually. Kraft Foods, Inc.  Brand marketer, food products. (NYSE:KFT) Creating a More Delicious World – Our 2010 Report.  Topics:  Delicious @ Work Highlights; Partners; Health & Well Being; Sustainability; Food Safety & Quality; Workplace & Culture; Governance & Compliance (themes). Independent analysis provided by ERM against AA 1000 AS Principles.

Special Focus - GRI G3 Report - B Level
The US Army (Department of Defense)

President Barack Obama issued Executive Order 13514 – Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance.  The US Army is the first department of the federal government to align the GRI Framework and EO 13514 reporting.  The report will serve as a road map to relate ongoing and new efforts.  The report is the US Army's third sustainability report and covers FY 2009.  Content: human capital, training and operations, materiel and acquisitions, services, and infrastructure (the US Army has many installations in the USA and in other nations. 

See the Featured Social Responsibility Report. 

All of the reports can be viewed in our Data Partner database online.

This brings to date (January-December 2011) approximately 200 sustainability, responsibility, environmental, citizenship, and similarly-titled corporate reports issued by US-based companies, institutions and other organizations compiled by the Governance & Accountability Institute. The G&A Team will have a wrap up of 2011 reporting in the February Update.  
 

USA Data Partner

Governance & Accountability Institute is the Data Partner for the Global Reporting Initiative in the United States of America. GRI maintains a Data Consortium around the globe with the aim of providing an as complete overview of GRI reports as possible for public access. 

G&A Institute maintains an on-line database of all 2011 corporate and organizational reports published in the USA and makes the information publicly available on the SustainabilityHQ^TM Web platform.

If you are a company manager responsible for sustainability and responsibility reporting, please be sure to send information on your report to: reports@ga-institute.com

Beginning in January 2012, G&A Institute is also the Data Partner for the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. 

We invite you to read the Update contents – news you can use about corporate S&R transparency and reporting that is shaping investor and stakeholder perception in the "new normal" of the capital markets. 

- The G&A Institute Team &nb

Submit Your Report 

We invite corporate and institutional managers to submit their company or organization report directly to us at: reports@ga-institute.com

For more information about the G&A Institute, visit our web site:  www.ga-institute.com (previous copies of the Update newsletter are archived there).

Contents © 2012 by G&A Institute – All Rights Reserved. Please credit G&A Institute as the source if content is reproduced.

• Issue #6 Headlines | January 2012
• Update on Corporate Sustainability & Responsibility Reporting in December 2011
• Featured Social Responsibility Report: US Army/Dept of Defense
• Trendwatching: Corporate Scorecards for McDonald's and Starbucks
• Trust Across America™ Names G&A's Hank Boerner to "Top 100 Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business Behavior"
• Apple Names Names in January 2012 Supplier Responsibility Report
• Brazil's Stock Exchange Recommends Listed Company Sustainability Reporting,  Movement Toward Listing Requirements Seen in Other Nations
• From GRI:  Test the Taxonomy: GRI Releases Draft XBRL Taxonomy for Public Comment
• New from GRI: Website to be "Hub" for Sustainability & Reporting Information
• Governance & Accountability Institute: Now Data Partner for the United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland
• Does Sustainability & Responsibility Reporting Matter to Investors? An Analysis by G&A Institute of Fortune 500