SustainabilityHQ.com Weekly Highlights February 10, 2015

Story-Telling An Important Skill Set in Corporate / Institutional Sustainability Disclosure and Reporting

Corporate managers are becoming very savvy in their practices related to disclosure & structured reporting on the enterprise’s sustainability journey.  Data charts are becoming more robust and comparable (year-to-year, impact considering production volume or employee count, etc.) Narratives are more complete, more compelling, more aligned with information that stakeholders are seeking. We at G&A Institute see the results of corporate “journey diaries,” if you will, in our duties as Data Partners for GRI. (Last year we analyzed more than 1200 reports in our research efforts.) 

As part of our corporate mission we share much of what we learn from our research through our newsletter, blog, research projects, and by other means. And what we learn informs our work with client organizations and our partnerships with key service providers.  We do a lot of “connecting” and “conversing.”

It’s always good to hear the thoughts of the corporate reporters and what they are doing in their reporting activities.  We have conversations with corporate managers several times a week.  Along with more savvy reporting we see that corporate managers are becoming more facile at telling the compelling story of the corporate sustainability journey.  An example is found in our Top Story – Dan Persica, sustainability communications manager at Domtar Paper, shares his perspective in The Guardian.

Headquartered in Newark, New Jersey, Domtar Paper Company LLC is considered North America’s largest manufacturer of uncoated, free sheet paper; the company now makes available “The Paper Trail,” a tool for customers to estimate the “gate-to-gate” impacts of their paper orders.  Transparency in practice:  Data from the company’s North American pulp & paper mills is factored in to the tool; this includes five environmental factors that are more made transparent in the “Trail”: fiber, GhG emissions, water, renewable energy, waste.  There’s many more important lessons shared in the commentary below.

Domtar positions itself as “The Sustainable Paper Company” -- As we read Dan’s storytelling, and advice, we’re reminded of the complex roles of major customers:  charting their own journey, and through their efforts, helping customers and supply chain partners become more sustainable in their own respective journeys.  The corporate leaders in sustainability know this well -- and their sustainability storytelling includes the “how” this is accomplished. 

There’s also news about The Paper Trail on the company’s web site: http://www.domtar.com/en/investors/pressreleases/index.asp?ID=2011335

If you have questions on how G&A Institute can help you with your corporate sustainability program, reporting, strategy and initiatives please send us an email at: info@ga-institute.com

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 February 10, 2015