A growing number of the largest publicly traded U.S. companies are reporting annually on their environmental and social performance just as they do on their financial performance, according to a new study by the Social Investment Research Analysts Network.
BOSTON — A growing number of the largest publicly traded U.S. companies are reporting annually on their environmental and social performance just as they do on their financial performance, according to a new study by the Social Investment Research Analysts Network (SIRAN).
Among the key findings of a SIRAN analysis of the reporting practices companies in the S&P 100 Index:
--More than half of the S&P 100 Index (58 companies) have special sections of their websites dedicated to sharing information about their social and environmental policies and performance.
--Almost 40 percent of the S&P 100 Index (39 companies) now issue annual corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports.
--Nearly a quarter of the S&P 100 Index (24 companies) say they base their CSR reports on the widely recognized external standard provided by the Global Reporting Initiative's (GRI) Sustainability Reporting Guidelines. Twenty of the companies included an index to GRI indicators in their reports. Six of the companies met the highest standard of reporting fully "in accordance" with the GRI guidelines.
Of those companies issuing annual CSR reports, 62% say their reports are based on the GRI standards, and just over half (51%) include an index to GRI indicators.
For the full text of the Joint Analyst Statement on Sustainability Reporting, go to http://www.siran.org/sust.html. For the full text of the press release and individual company results in our S&P 100 Index reporting analysis, see http://www.siran.org/csr.php.
SIRAN is an analyst network that supports more than 100 North American social research analysts from 30 investment firms, research providers, and affiliated investor groups, and is a working group of the Social Investment Forum.
The Social Investment Forum is a national nonprofit membership organization that promotes socially responsible investing. For more information, see http://www.siran.org and http://www.socialinvest.org.
Source: Social Investment Forum, PRNewswire
