The Reporting Exchange | What Are the Experts Saying About This New Global Resource for Corporate Sustainability Reporting?

Oct 10, 2017 6:00 AM ET

“At Philips, sustainability is embedded in the strategy of the company. We also find it very important to report publicly on our progress. New requirements are emerging in different markets on a very frequent basis and the Reporting Exchange helps us keep track of these! We think it is a great platform and a prime example where teaming up with companies, local organizations and the WBCSD resulted in something that really creates value.”

Simon Braaksma, Senior Director, Corporate Sustainability, Phillips

“Stakeholder expectations for companies to report non-financial information are rapidly evolving. A diverse and complex set of sustainability frameworks, protocols, regulations and methodologies has emerged to help companies meet these expectations. For companies operating in multiple sectors around the world, however, this sustainability reporting landscape can be difficult to navigate. That’s why the Reporting Exchange is so vital: it provides corporate sustainability practitioners with a single, credible resource supported by experts around the world to support business reporting decisions and to stay abreast of global sustainability reporting trends.”

Joe Monfort, Sustainability Manager, DuPont

“The Reporting Exchange - by collating requirements, resources and guidance related to ESG reporting - helps companies better understand what they have to do and how they can improve their reporting. I was glad to participate in this unique, complex and interesting project. It will help companies keep track of the latest developments in ESG reporting and support them as they work through reporting challenges, and seek to understand similarities and differences between various regulations, standards, codes and frameworks.”

Christian Hell, Senior Manager, Sustainability Services, KPMG

“The world of non-financial reporting is more complex than ever. Managing your reporting in a landscape of regional, national and international organizations with both mandatory and voluntary requirements can be a daunting task for even the most experienced reporting professionals. The Reporting Exchange is designed to help navigate this world. DSM is proud to be part of the group of companies that contributed to the development of this important resource.”

Simon Gobert, Sustainability Performance and Reporting Manager, DSM

“The Reporting Exchange is an amazing resource, collating over 1,750 reporting requirements and resources. With the increasingly complex landscape of topic specific vs wide reaching reporting requirements and recommendations, the Reporting Exchange brings it all together in one place. As a contributing partner, this project was particularly relevant to ERM as our clients face mounting pressure from investors, customers and employees for more and more transparent disclosure about their sustainability-related efforts and impacts across a range of platforms.”

Jennifer Eastes, Senior Sustainability Consultant, ERM

“As Vietnam integrates more with the global economy, we’re promoting sustainable development in the local business community more than ever. As such, our private sector is placing an increased focus on sustainability and integrated reporting as effective tools to improve reputation while mitigating negative environmental, social, governance impacts. We also see this as a way to better communicate business’ true value - tangible and intangible assets - to external stakeholders. As such, Vietnam Business Council for Sustainable Development (VBCSD), as a member of WBCSD, truly believes that the Reporting Exchange will be a highly useful, informative and complete platform for the business community to understand non-financial reporting trends. We believe this will help our companies produce best-in-class reports.”

Nguyen Thanh Trung, Research Coordinator, Vietnam Business Council for Sustainable Development (VBCSD)

“As a WBCSD network partner, Business Environment Council appreciated the opportunity to leverage our knowledge and sustainability leadership in Hong Kong to contribute to the Reporting Exchange. From our perspective, the Reporting Exchange is a crucial resource that efficiently and effectively provides a streamlined comprehensive source of detailed information on non-financial reporting, worldwide. Given Hong Kong’s position as a hub for global business in Asia, this research enables our members, and the wider business community, to untangle the complex world of sustainability reporting and stay up-to-date with the latest reporting trends - regionally and beyond.”

Nadira Lamrad, Senior Manager – Sustainability & ESG Advisory, Business Environment Council – Hong Kong

“The Reporting Exchange as a knowledge-sharing platform, gathers expertise and resources from many countries to build a global picture. Getting involved in the research as a Global Network partner provided us a great opportunity to understand how what’s happening in one country relates to international developments on a global scale. China BCSD has been following CSR and business sustainability reporting for a decade and wanted to use this opportunity to help our members better understand the reporting landscape.”

Jingzhu ZHANG, Manager, China Business Council for Sustainable Development (CBCSD)

“Reporting on non-financial performance has moved beyond compliance to become a strategic driver of integrated performance. We in Forética see great potential in The Reporting Exchange to facilitate the reporting process for companies, while inspiring better and more impactful reporting. We need to ensure that sustainability is central to business management, and therefore, we need reporting to be more aligned with business needs and requirements. As an easy to use resource, as a guide to better reporting, as a benchmark of reporting requirements around the world, the Reporting Exchange will make a significant impact on the way we tell the story of sustainability to our stakeholders.”

Tomás Sercovich, Director External Affairs, Forética – Spain

“Time is a scarce resource, so to have a platform that contains specific information regarding reporting requirements and resources is an important asset for anyone with reporting responsibilities. For this reason, DERES, as members of the WBCSD Global Network, understood the importance of the Reporting Exchange platform, and the great opportunity for us to engage member companies in the process of collecting the information for Uruguay.”

Eduardo Shaw, Executive Director, DERES – Uruguay

"Transparency and compliance are important elements in building a sustainable business. However, complexity and the number of reporting regulations is challenging for some companies. The Reporting Exchange, provides a comprehensive resource for sustainable reporting requirements and can help companies get the whole picture with respect to reporting, both in Indonesia and at global level. Therefore we - the Indonesia Business Council for Sustainable Development (IBCSD) - appreciate the opportunity given to us to contribute to the Reporting Exchange, so that we can help our member companies and many other corporations.”

Budi Santosa, Managing Director, Indonesia Business Council for Sustainable Development (IBCSD)

“CEBDS has participated in the Reporting Exchange project since the beginning, representing Brazil in the WBCSD Network. We believe that the Reporting Exchange is a highly valuable tool in understanding and navigating the many reporting initiatives, requirements and structures that have emerged in recent years. We were also motivated by the project’s potential to help companies to find the resources they need to produce their sustainability reports in a more efficient and effective way.”

Tatiana Araujo, Institutional Projects Advisor, Brazilian Business Council for Sustainable Development (CEBDS)

“As one of WBCSD’s Global Network Partners, the Private Sector Sustainable Development Commission (CESPEDES), acting as the Business Council for Sustainable Development – Mexico, appreciated the opportunity to be part of the Reporting Exchange, as it gave us the opportunity to expand our knowledge on the relevant rules and laws applicable in Mexico. We believe that the Reporting Exchange provides a great opportunity to compare the regulation in our country with others. It also helps us understand requirements and resources from other regions that could be used in the development of public-private policies and strategies. The Reporting Exchange allows our partners, and many other organizations, to learn about the sustainability reporting landscape across Latin America and beyond.”

Alexandra Gonzalez, Senior Consultant, Private Sector Sustainable Development Commission (CESPEDES) – Mexico

“The Reporting Exchange outlines the global landscape for non-financial reporting, and structures reporting requirements and resources so that users can easily access information. Taiwan BCSD welcomed the opportunity to participate in this project, and we believe that this is extremely significant work. We will work with other GN Partners to add new information, keep the content up-to date and to ensure the on-going success of the Reporting Exchange.”

Kenny Chang, Deputy Director, BCSD Taiwan