What Constitutes a Good Quality Annual Report Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting By Ng Kean Kok

Types of reports Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reports Corporate Reports (CR) Sustainability reports Environmental, health and safety (EHS) reports Environmental, social and governance (ESG) reports Community affairs reports 2

Areas looked into (in the past?) Marketplace Workplace Environment Community General Other voluntary disclosures 3

Marketplace Corporate Governance CSR Reporting Stakeholder engagement Procurement policies Product responsibility 4

Workplace Health & Safety (H&S) Human capital development Quality of life / work-life balance Workplace diversity 5

Environment Environmental management system Evidence / description of initiatives to measure and monitor CO 2 / greenhouse gases emissions; energy usage, water management, waste management etc Reduction in measurements Aligning business services to achieving environmental outcomes 6

Community Community Investment – UN Millennium Development Goals / National Development Goals CI initiatives Description of CI initiatives 7

General Third party assurances Audit / awards 8

Key concerns surrounding CSR Reports How thorough and credible is the report? Companies expected to go beyond simply community affairs reporting Past criticism: companies tend to confine their programs and reporting to charitable giving and volunteer programs

Questions to be answered (guide) : Is this a CSR report or a community affairs report? Does the report provide details on CSR practices as well as policies? Does the CSR report provide systematic data or just anecdotes? Does the company report data in a comparable format? Does the report present future goals as well as past practices?

Questions to be answered (guide) – continued: Does the report include bad news as well as good news? Does the report address the company’s greatest challenges? Does the company integrate CSR reporting with its traditional business strategy and its financial reporting? How can readers look beyond a CSR report?

Framework for assessing reports 5 Cs CONTENT Offers a complete picture of the company’s background, impacts, policies, and performance Includes the necessary elements of a ‘good’ report such as an index, introduction, and summary Incorporates quantified data and references for further information

Framework for assessing reports COMMUNICATION Is easy to read and to navigate Is accessible to diverse stakeholders Communicates key messages effectively CREDIBILITY I s a genuine report - not just a piece of marketing or public relations material Covers issues such as missed targets and ongoing challenges Includes an independent external assurance statement

Framework for assessing reports COMMITMENT Looks forward as well as backwards Includes ongoing policy commitments and targets Sets out a clear direction on corporate responsibility COMPARABILITY Puts performance into context Measures current performance with that from previous years Evaluates performance against stated targets, sector competitors, and best practice Trends, summary, interpretation etc

Other suggestions MULTIMEDIA FEATURES Online CSR reports Allows for multimedia content Videos, podcasts, slide shows, animations and other innovative formats for presenting data in dynamic graphs and charts Usability, user experience, more engaging Case studies Present complex issues

Bursa Malaysia’ Sustainability portal Strategic financial management – identification of the possible strategies capable of maximizing an organisation’s net present value, the allocation of scarce resources amongst the competing opportunities, and the implementation and monitoring of the chosen strategy so as to achieve stated objectives

Items on the portal STRATEGY AND EMBEDDING SUSTAINABILITY Integrating & Managing Sustainability Enabling Sustainability in the organisation BURSA MALAYSIA’S CSR FRAMEWORK Launched in 2006 for PLCs Covers 4 focus areas – Environment, Workplace, Community and Marketplace Aim: make CSR integral in business operations

Items on the portal (cont’d) MEASURING AND REPORTING Process and impact measures Impact of sustainability on financial valuation Accounting for sustainability Current industry practices Maturity of sustainability reporting Overview of sustainability reporting process Sustainability reporting Role of external assurance providers Assurance standards Role of stakeholder panels

Items on the portal (cont’d) ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT & REPORTING Key environmental issues – climate change; ecosystem management; harmful substances and hazardous waste; water scarcity

Other resources Explore the tenets of Integrated Reporting Report Alert at CorporateRegister.com

Other resources Work of: 1.The Prince’s Accounting for Sustainability Project, 2.Global Reporting Initiative 3.World Business Council for Sustainable Development, 4.World Resources Institute 5.World Intellectual Capital Initiative 6.Carbon Disclosure Project 7.Climate Disclosure Standards Board etc