Bill Baue, socialfunds.com
Context-based sustainability (CBS)
There is a growing consensus, we think, that the time for context-based sustainability in corporate sustainability management may have come. And none too soon, mind you. After all, the concept has been firmly ensconced in the Global Reporting Initiative’s guidelines for sustainability measurement and reporting for more than a decade now. What exactly is context-based sustainability, or CBS, though?
Can sustainability reporting be meaningful?
The list of companies in the world committed to measuring and reporting the sustainability of their operations using the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) framework is growing. We applaud this trend, and are proud to have been an Organizational Stakeholder of GRI since our founding in 2004.
What makes for a good sustainability metric?
Most of what passes for mainstream metrics in corporate sustainability measurement and reporting, including GRI, arguably fails to do the one thing it purports to do, which is make it possible to understand the sustainability performance of an organization. What experienced practitioners are increasingly looking for is a better way. At CSO, we think we’ve found it in the form of what we call Sustainability Quotients!
Why go with context-based sustainability?
Measuring and reporting sustainability performance with context included is a lot like including costs in financial statements: it takes more effort to do so, and also makes it painfully clear when performance is not so good. Context-free reporting, by contrast (i.e., what most organizations do), is easier to perform and is more forgiving when it comes to lackluster performance. Why, then, should any organization opt to go with the context-based alternative? What are its benefits?
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"Current forms of [measurement and] reporting can verge on the meaningless as they are both too simple and devoid of context."
Rob Gray and Markus Milne, 2004
Announcing World’s First Workshop on
Context-Based Sustainability
Corporate Sustainability Management: A Context-Based Approach
August 25-26, 2011 in Burlington, VT