Sustainability report: This should be taken into account when preparing it.

Capital market-oriented companies with more than 500 employees have been obliged to submit an annual CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) report since 2017. For smaller companies, publishing such reports is increasingly becoming a perceived obligation. In addition, consumers are demanding transparency in the corporate climate strategy, which increases the pressure to disclose the company's own social, environmental and economic impacts. Transparent “sustainability reporting” is one of the most important building blocks for the credibility of companies today and can also increase competitiveness. But what can such reporting look like and what are the differences between CSR and sustainability reporting? The following is an overview as an introduction.

CSR versus sustainability report

In contrast to the statutory CSR report, the voluntary sustainability report allows more freedom: Here, the authors can decide for themselves where to focus. However, the sustainability report usually contains information from the economic, environmental and social areas. On the other hand, those who only refer to the climate often speak of a climate report. This mainly highlights the results of a company's carbon footprint and will not be explained further here.

Important criteria for determining the content of a sustainability report

Involvement of stakeholders: Stakeholders should be a fundamental content point of the report. It is important to explain the expectations and interests of the stakeholders.
Sustainability context: The company's performance presented should be related to sustainability. Ideally in the areas of economy, ecology and social issues
Materiality: The significant economic, environmental and social impacts of the company's actions, which have a considerable influence on stakeholders, are material. These points can be collected and weighted using a materiality matrix.
Completeness: The topics covered in the report should be sufficient in their entirety to demonstrate the significant economic, environmental and / or social impacts of the company and enable stakeholders to assess the company.

Helpful criteria for ensuring quality

Once the individual topics and points to be reported by a company have been selected and carefully coordinated, the challenge remains to ensure quality. The following must be taken into account.

Accuracy: The information contained in the report should be sufficiently accurate and detailed for an assessment.
Balance: The information contained should highlight both positive and negative aspects.
Comprehensibility: An understandable and accessible way of reporting is of great importance, for example through graphical representations.
Comparability: Reporting should be standardized so that changes in performance over time are visible and can be compared with other companies.
Reliability: The information used should be reliable so that it can be checked for quality and materiality.
Timeliness: Timely reporting is important for acute assessments of skateholders.

Assistance

The UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a good starting point for creating and defining individual sustainability goals. With their help, companies can position themselves on the various goals and agree internally which of the goals is best supported and implemented by their own activities. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) also provides good guidance. The organization's guidelines are internationally recognized and offer a detailed roadmap for preparing CSR reports. 80% of the world's largest companies that prepare CSR reports report according to GRI criteria.

Download the GRI Standards here.

Source: GRI, 2020.

For small companies, however, the GRI may appear somewhat too extensive or too far-reaching due to its international interpretation. The German Sustainability Code (DNK) is therefore increasingly establishing itself as a reporting standard in Germany. It is easy to apply and can be linked to more comprehensive standards such as the GRI. The DNK is meeting with an increasingly positive response from SMEs in particular, as it is geared towards the entrepreneurial realities of small and medium-sized companies.

Find the checklist for the DNK CSR Report here.