SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING & ASSURANCE
LECTURE 1: INTRODUCTION TO SUSTAINBILITY AND
SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING
Society’s call for action
In their day to day Companies realize Investor nowadays If nothing changes
live these younger they have an make their at the legislation
generations important impact, decisions based level, nothing
implement sustainability wise sustainability much will happen.
sustainability and social wise. information that
more. they can find. They
will give conditions
linked to
sustainability to
companies.
Our impact
Society’s impact:
,Our individual impact:
Annually, 51 billion tons CO2 is emitted in the atmosphere.
A person in Belgium emits 8 tons CO2 per year on average.
Climate change: the most urgent crisis of our time
The greenhouse effect = a natural process where certain gases in Earth's atmosphere trap heat
from the sun. This trapped heat keeps the planet warm enough to support life. Without it, Earth
would be too cold. However, human activities have increased these gases, leading to more heat
being trapped and causing global warming.
Causes and effects of global warming & climate change:
Because of global warming, ice
caps are melting. This is the biggest
problem because more this leads
to more water, so sea levels are
rising which leads to more
problems.
So global warming starts a whole
mechanism that dysregulates the
whole planet.
, Report from IPCC (= Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change):
The policies implemented today
causes about 3.2 degrees global
warming which leads to all the bad
consequences.
When you implement committing and
strong policies you will be able to
limit global warming.
When you implement committing and
strong policies you will be able to
limit global warming.
Sustainability in the corporate world – ESG
ESG Sustainability
= environmental, social and governmental Sustainable development = development
information about a company. that meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations
This is used more in the business context.
to meet their own needs.
ESG information is important for investors in
their decisions.
, Sustainability report
Sustainability reporting does already exist on a voluntary basis. In general there are about 3
types of reporting:
Stand-alone sustainability report Sustainability chapter in an annual Integrated report
report
= a report specific to sustainability, This will become the mainstream in = the sustainability information is
with no financial information. Europe because the CSRD obligates integrated throughout the annual
this. report.
There is not a difference
between financial and
sustainability information,
these companies consider
both topics as important.
Content in these reports:
Materiality assessment ESG strategy and Important ESG topics Targets
and stakeholders commitments
consultations
Materiality assessment Based on the result of the
= a big exercise to identify materiality assessment the
the most important topics ESG strategy and
of their company. commitments will be
developed.
To do this exercise there
will be stakeholder
consultations.
But not every
company does
this, sometimes it
is done very
internally.
KPI’s Information of the supply chain Actions to integrate sustainability in
and value chain the company’s business
= Key Performance Indicators. This can be a very long and complex It is important that sustainability is
chain to identify but it is important to not staying a stand-alone topic in the
know your supply chain and company.
comment on this. Often the most difficult thing
to do.
Before the legislation companies were not obligates to comment on this. So they can choose
what and how they report. They have a voluntary use of sustainability reporting frameworks:
- SDG
- GRI
- TCFD
- EDPRA
- sBPR
LECTURE 1: INTRODUCTION TO SUSTAINBILITY AND
SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING
Society’s call for action
In their day to day Companies realize Investor nowadays If nothing changes
live these younger they have an make their at the legislation
generations important impact, decisions based level, nothing
implement sustainability wise sustainability much will happen.
sustainability and social wise. information that
more. they can find. They
will give conditions
linked to
sustainability to
companies.
Our impact
Society’s impact:
,Our individual impact:
Annually, 51 billion tons CO2 is emitted in the atmosphere.
A person in Belgium emits 8 tons CO2 per year on average.
Climate change: the most urgent crisis of our time
The greenhouse effect = a natural process where certain gases in Earth's atmosphere trap heat
from the sun. This trapped heat keeps the planet warm enough to support life. Without it, Earth
would be too cold. However, human activities have increased these gases, leading to more heat
being trapped and causing global warming.
Causes and effects of global warming & climate change:
Because of global warming, ice
caps are melting. This is the biggest
problem because more this leads
to more water, so sea levels are
rising which leads to more
problems.
So global warming starts a whole
mechanism that dysregulates the
whole planet.
, Report from IPCC (= Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change):
The policies implemented today
causes about 3.2 degrees global
warming which leads to all the bad
consequences.
When you implement committing and
strong policies you will be able to
limit global warming.
When you implement committing and
strong policies you will be able to
limit global warming.
Sustainability in the corporate world – ESG
ESG Sustainability
= environmental, social and governmental Sustainable development = development
information about a company. that meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations
This is used more in the business context.
to meet their own needs.
ESG information is important for investors in
their decisions.
, Sustainability report
Sustainability reporting does already exist on a voluntary basis. In general there are about 3
types of reporting:
Stand-alone sustainability report Sustainability chapter in an annual Integrated report
report
= a report specific to sustainability, This will become the mainstream in = the sustainability information is
with no financial information. Europe because the CSRD obligates integrated throughout the annual
this. report.
There is not a difference
between financial and
sustainability information,
these companies consider
both topics as important.
Content in these reports:
Materiality assessment ESG strategy and Important ESG topics Targets
and stakeholders commitments
consultations
Materiality assessment Based on the result of the
= a big exercise to identify materiality assessment the
the most important topics ESG strategy and
of their company. commitments will be
developed.
To do this exercise there
will be stakeholder
consultations.
But not every
company does
this, sometimes it
is done very
internally.
KPI’s Information of the supply chain Actions to integrate sustainability in
and value chain the company’s business
= Key Performance Indicators. This can be a very long and complex It is important that sustainability is
chain to identify but it is important to not staying a stand-alone topic in the
know your supply chain and company.
comment on this. Often the most difficult thing
to do.
Before the legislation companies were not obligates to comment on this. So they can choose
what and how they report. They have a voluntary use of sustainability reporting frameworks:
- SDG
- GRI
- TCFD
- EDPRA
- sBPR
