92% of the S&P 500® and 70% of the Russell 1000® Published Sustainability Reports in 2020, G&A Research Shows
10th Anniversary Report Finds All-Time Highs for Sustainability Reporting of Largest U.S. Public Companies
Governance & Accountability Institute (G&A), a leading consulting firm on sustainability and ESG, today announced the findings of its 2021 Sustainability Reporting in Focus research on sustainability reporting trends among companies in the S&P 500® Index and the Russell 1000® Index. The report marked the 10th anniversary of G&A’s research series tracking the publication of sustainability reports by the largest U.S. public companies.
When analyzing the reporting trends of the entire Russell 1000 Index, we broke out the companies into the larger and smaller halves of the index by market cap. The largest half by market cap of the Russell 1000 Index generally comprises the same companies as the S&P 500 Index. G&A’s research found that 92% of the S&P 500 companies published a sustainability report in 2020, up from 90% in 2019. This research shows that corporate sustainability reporting has clearly been adopted as a best practice by the largest U.S. public companies.
For the entire Russell 1000 Index, our research found that 70% of the Russell 1000 companies published a sustainability report in 2020, up from 65% in 2019. The number of reporters in the smallest half by market cap of the Russell 1000 index rose to 49% in 2020 from 39% in 2019, showing that corporate sustainability reporting is increasingly being adopted as a best practice by mid-cap companies.
For the complete 2021 Sustainability Reporting In Focus Research Report with comparisons of the smallest and largest halves of the index, please complete the form on this page to download your copy of the report.
Let us walk you through what we found.
In 2012, G&A’s analysts began researching the sustainability reporting of the S&P 500® companies for the publication year 2011. The results of this initial research ten years ago showed that just 20% of the S&P 500 companies published sustainability reports, meaning that 80% were NOT publishing such reports. Today the percentage of non-reporters in the S&P 500 is only 8%.
The 2021 research report features a breakdown of non-reporters in the S&P 500 and Russell 1000 by sector, those utilizing commonly used frameworks and standards (GRI, SASB, TCFD), those aligning with the UN SDGs, and examines trends in external assurance and survey reporting (CDP, CSA/DJSI).
Significant findings of G&A Institute’s 2021 Sustainability Reporting in Focus include:
To download and read the full report, complete the form to the right.