SustainabilityHQ.com Weekly Highlights December 17, 2013

Top Story of the Week

Corporate Sustainability Reporting – Up, Up, Up
Majority of Large Firms Join Trend

KPMG, the global accounting firm, has been tracking the sustainability reporting of companies for two decades. A new study from the firm reveals that of the largest 250 companies in the world, 83% publish annual sustainability reports.  (Question that raises – what’s with the 7% not reporting yet?)

G&A Institute examined the reporting activities of the Fortune 500 companies and the S&P 500 Index companies in 2012 – more than half of the firms in each universe published reports (up from about 20% in 2011).  You can review this analysis on our web site.

More details are available in our Top Story from Greenbiz.com.

Survey reveals a surge in corporate sustainability reporting       
(Friday - December 13, 2013) 
Source: GreenBiz - For the past 20 years, international accounting firm KPMG has been tracking the evolution of corporate sustainability reports. Recently, it revealed that a large majority of the world's biggest companies now produce the reports....

Sustainability in Focus

Sustainable strategies win over skeptical emerging stock investors 
(Friday - December 13, 2013) 
Source: Reuters - Cajoled by developed world governments and shocked by disasters such as the Bangladesh factory collapse, investors in emerging market companies are looking more closely at environmental, social or governance issues before they...

Linking CSR performance with pay sends clear sustainability signal 
(Friday - December 13, 2013) 
Source: Guardian - Back in 1993 when KPMG published its first Survey of Corporate Responsibility Reporting, it was a new and niche activity practiced by only one in 10 pioneering companies. Fast forward 20 years and things are very different...

 US: Updated Higg Index aids sustainability measurement 
(Thursday - December 12, 2013) Associated Profiles : Sustainable Apparel Coalition 
Source:  just-style.com - The Higg Index sustainability measurement tool for the apparel supply chain has been updated with a new web interface and social impact modules, improved environmental content - and for the first time brings...

Sustainability increasingly mainstream 
(Thursday - December 12, 2013) 
Source: Business Day - Businesses must cater to Kiwis' growing sustainability concerns or be left behind, a survey shows. Colmar Brunton's sustainability survey of 1000 Kiwis found Gen Y, people aged 13 to 29, were driven by sustainability concerns...

Seeing is believing: CEOs experience sustainability challenges firsthand 
(Thursday - December 12, 2013) 
Source: Guardian - When former Walmart CEO Lee Scott traveled to see the aftermath of Katrina, his experience led directly to Walmart mobilizing its tremendous logistics infrastructure to aid disaster victims. It also made him realize the Earth's...

This is just a sample of some of the articles from this weeks SustainabilityHQ Highlights.  You can view the full Highlights by using the following links. Sustainability | ESG, Highlights for the Week of December 17, 2013