1st Edition

Sustainable Measures Evaluation and Reporting of Environmental and Social Performance

Edited By Martin Bennett, Peter James, Leon Klinkers Copyright 1999

    Environmental and social performance measurement and reporting by business has become a high-profile issue during the 1990s. It is increasingly being requested by stakeholders and required by governments. Companies too are finding that they need better environmental and social performance data for effective internal management. And there are a growing number of standardisation initiatives – such as the ISO 14031 guidelines on environmental performance evaluation or the CERES Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) template for sustainability reporting – that are aimed at making it easier for more companies to take action, and for stakeholders to compare their progress.Sustainable Measures collects together most of the key work and individuals concerned with the topic from around the world. Contributions include: environmental and social reporting by John Elkington and colleagues at SustainAbility; the GRI discussion draft; Roger Adams and Martin Houldin on the FEE study of environmental reporting; Janet Ranganathan of the World Resources Institute on sustainability measures; and Martin Bennett and Peter James on ISO 14031 and the future of environmental performance evaluation. There are also chapters examining current practice in Austria, Denmark, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Netherlands and South Africa, developments in electronic reporting, as well as case studies of Baxter, Kunert, Niagara Mohawk, Unox, The Body Shop and the UK water industry, and an analysis of leading social reports.The book is essential reading for all academics, campaigners, policy-makers and practitioners with an interest in issues such as:The standardization and comparability of environmental and social performance measuresMeasuring and reporting on sustainable businessEco-points and other means of evaluating product impactsThe implementation of measurement and reportingBest practice in corporate environmental and social reportingNew means of communicating environmental dataEnvironmental performance evaluation in developing countries

    ForewordKlaus Töpfer, United Nations Environment ProgrammeForewordJonathan Lash, World Resources InstituteForewordLise Kingo, Novo NordiskForewordMaria Emilia Correa, BCSD ColombiaIntroductionMartin Bennett, Gloucestershire Business School, UK, Peter James, Sustainable Business Centre, UK, and Leon Klinkers, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Netherlands1. Key Themes in Environmental, Social and Sustainability Performance Evaluation and ReportingMartin Bennett and Peter JamesSection 1: Evaluating environmental performance2. ISO 14031 and the Future of Environmental Performance EvaluationMartin Bennett and Peter James3. An Environmental Performance Measurement Framework for BusinessWilliam Young, University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, UK, and Richard Welford, Huddersfield University, UK4. Standardisation: The Next Chapter in Corporate Environmental Performance Evaluation and ReportingAllen White and Diana Zinkl, Tellus Institute, USA5. Information Systems for Corporate Environmental Management Accounting and Performance MeasurementPall Rikhardsson, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Denmark6. Ecobalancing in Austria: Its Use in SMEs and for BenchmarkingChristine Jasch, Institut für Ökologische Wirtschaftsforschung, Austria7. Ecobalance Analysis as a Managerial Tool at Kunert AGRainer Rauberger, Institut für Management und Umwelt, Germany, and Bernd Wagner, Augsburg University Management Centre, Germany8. Environmental Performance Evaluation and Reporting in Developing Countries: The Case of Indonesia's Programme for Pollution Control, Evaluation and Rating (PROPER)Shakeb Afsah, International Resources Group Ltd, USA, and Damayanti Ratunanda, Environmental Impact and Management Agency, Indonesia9. Evaluating Corporate Environmental Performance in Developing Countries: TERI's Eco-Rating SystemVandana Bhatnagar, Tata Energy Research Institute, India10. Measuring and Benchmarking Environmental Performance in the Electric Utility Sector: The Experience of Niagara MohawkJoseph Miakisz, Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation, USA11. A Weighted Environmental Indicator at Unox: An Advance towards Sustainable Development?Willem van der Werf, Unilever, Netherlands12. The Evolution of Integrated Environmental Performance Evaluation and Reporting at Baxter InternationalMartin Bennett and Peter James13. Evaluating the Whole-Life Environmental Performance of Products: A Comparison of Eco-Points, Eco-Compass and Eco-Costing ApproachesMartin Bennett, Andrew Hughes, University of Bradford, UK, and Peter JamesSection 2: Reporting environmental performance14. Towards a Generally Accepted Framework for Environmental ReportingRoger Adams, Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, UK, Martin Houldin, EMAG Ltd, UK, and Saskia Slomp, European Federation of Accountants, Belgium15. A Survey of Company Environmental Reporting: The 1997 Third International Benchmark SurveyJohn Elkington, Niklas Kreander and Helen Stibbard, SustainAbility, UK16. Statutory Environmental Reporting in Denmark: Status and ChallengesPall Rikhardsson, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Denmark17. Reaching Consensus on the Implementation of Good Practice in Environmental Reporting: A Dutch NGO's PerspectiveJan Willem Biekart, Stichting Natuur en Milieu, Netherlands, and Karin Ree, University of Groningen, Netherlands18. Environmental Reporting in Japan: Current Status and Implications of ISO 14001 and a Pollutant Release InventoryTakehiko Murayama, Fukushima University, Japan19. South African Corporate Environmental Reporting: Contrasts with the Experience in Developed CountriesCharl de Villiers, University of Pretoria, South Africa20. The Relationship between Company Environmental Reports and their Environmental Performance: A Study of the UK Water IndustryPeter Hopkinson, University of Bradford, UK, and Michael Whitaker, freelance environmental consultant, UK21. Internet-Based Environmental Reporting: Key ComponentsKathryn Jones and Julia Walton, Centre for Environmental Informatics, University of Sunderland, UK22. Sustainable Industrial Development: Benchmarking Environmental Policies and ReportsRiva Krut, Benchmark Environmental Consulting, USA, and Ken Munis, Environmental Protection Agency, USASection 3: Social and sustainability performance evaluation and reporting23. Sustainability Reporting Guidelines: Exposure Draft for Public Comment and Pilot-TestingThe Global Reporting Initiative24. Signs of Sustainability: Measuring Corporate Environmental and Social PerformanceJanet Ranganathan, World Resources Institute, USA25. Socially Challenged: Trends in Social ReportingJohn Elkington and Franceska van Dijk, SustainAbility, UK26. Social Reporting: Developing Theory and Current PracticeAndrew Wilson, Ashridge Business School, UK27. A New Deal for Sustainable Development in Business: Taking the Social Dimension Seriously at The Body ShopMaria Sillanpää, KPMG, UK

    Biography

    Martin Bennett, Peter James, Leon Klinkers