Taking sustainability reporting to the next level

Social and environmental accounting – and more recently, sustainability accounting – is a well-established concept with an increasing number of organisations, including Irish companies such as CRH, Smurfit Kappa and Greencore, publishing a sustainability report alongside their annual report. There is also a growing level of interest in extending sustainability reporting beyond individual companies to a sector or industry level (i.e. multiple organisations reporting). Given that sustainability often involves complex global issues which require collaboration between companies and engagement with a variety of stakeholders, reporting in this way is potentially more appropriate and useful than single company reporting.