A contrarian’s viewpoint
Lynn Patterson
Director, Corporate Responsibility
RBC
lynn.e.patterson@rbc.com
416-974-1381
The facts
Source: Corporate Register
CR Reporting Awards ‘08
March 2009
2
Why report?
Activist
Activist
NGOs
NGOs
SRI
SRI
Community
Community
Regulators
Regulators
and and government government Employees
Employees
Consumers
Consumers
Your
Your
Company
Company
AlAlGore
Gore
Factor
Factor
Scandals
Scandals
Development of
Development of global global standards standards
3
Peer and other
Peer and other industry pressure industry pressure
New media, blogs,
New media, blogs, internet internet
Stakeholders say they want to hear about:
human rights
61.4
energy/eco-efficiency
61.0
health and safety
60.4
59.4
climate protection environmental policy
58.8
environmental management of the production process corporate governance
58.8
56.8
standards in developing countries
56.6
avoiding soil and water contamination
53.9
environmental management system
53.9
52.7
bribery and corruption
51.1
supply chain standards for social issues corporate citizenship
4
34.5
Source:
Pleon
Transitioning from “a report” to “reporting”
Ad
Adhoc
hoc
Annual
AnnualReport
Report
Marketing
MarketingVehicles
Vehicles
CR
CRReport/Review
Report/Review
CR
CRor orsustainability sustainabilitywebsite website Responses
Responses to to SRI
SRI analysts analysts 5
RBC’s reporting suite
6
…plus a ‘create your own’ option
7
So…what to include?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
8
Issues that are relevant to your business (common sense)
GRI indicators (menu approach)
Areas of interest identified on SRI surveys
Competitive scan (financial services)
Input from stakeholders
Report rankers (CERES, Stratos)
Content of award-winning reporters (UK, Brazil, Canada,
US)
Current events (trends, scandals, media campaigns etc.)
Codes of conduct or voluntary commitments your company has signed (UN Global Compact)
Example: CERES/ACCA
9
RBC’s reporting cycle
Spring
Summer
DJSI Survey
1 month
Website updated
Report Production
Website updated
3-4 months
Report Released
Winter
10
Promotional tools updated
Fall
RBC reporting strengths and weaknesses •
•
•
•
•
Readable style
Consistent structure year over year
3-year comparative data
Discussion of issues that are relevant to the business
Good mix of formats for various audiences
•
•
•
•
•
11
Few or no targets
No external verification
Lack of specific information about risk, liabilities and exposure within our investments arm (carbon etc). Lacking specific detail on
CR