Corporate Responsibility reporting here to stay in Canada: KPMG Survey

Room for improvement with low reporting on supply chain impact

TORONTO, Dec. 9, 2013 /CNW/ - Corporate Responsibility (CR) reporting has evolved into a mainstream business practice over the past two decades, and is now undertaken by over three quarters (83 per cent) of the top 100 companies in Canada (up from 79 per cent in 2011), according to the 8th KPMG Survey of Corporate Responsibility Reporting.

The survey, which analyzes current global trends across 41 countries with a particular focus on the quality of CR reporting by the world's top 250 companies, provides insights to help Canadian companies determine their own CR reporting approaches and assess and improve the quality of their reports.

Key implications for Canadian businesses and organizations to consider:

• Supply chain reporting needs more focus: Many companies fail to fully report on the impact of their supply chains. Industry sectors with significant supply chain risks, including chemicals, utilities and oil & gas, tend to have the lowest levels of reporting on supply chain issues.
  
  
• Reporting the financial risks: Despite acknowledging the risks to their businesses from environmental and social factors, most large companies are not reporting the potential financial impacts of these risks. The oil & gas and financial services sectors lead the pack in terms of financial risk reporting.
  
  
• Corporate governance: Less than a quarter of the largest companies around the world report a clear link between Corporate Responsibility performance and executive remuneration. This aspect of corporate governance, linking a clearly defined CR strategy to performance-based executive remuneration, will be a growing trend in Canada in the coming years.
  
  
• Third party assurance gains acceptance: It is becoming standard practice to have CR and sustainability data externally assured. The percentage of Canadian companies who include a formal assurance statement in their CR report has grown from 21 per cent in 2011 to 34 per cent in 2013, with the expectation for this to increase over time.

The 2013 survey shows that CR reporting is a standard business practice globally as well as here in Canada - with 71 per cent of companies worldwide publishing a report, compared with 64 per cent in 2011 and 12 per cent in 1993.

The challenge for companies, going forward, is to use the CR reporting process to identify the most important environmental, social and governance issues for their business and stakeholders. They then must bring these issues into the heart of corporate strategy to manage risks, unlock opportunities and build long-term value.

QUOTES

"Corporate Responsibility reporting is now a standard business practice across the country, and companies that do not publish a report may be putting themselves at risk of falling behind their competitors. The important questions to now ask are 'what are our most significant environmental and social impacts?', 'how are we managing these?' and 'how should we report our performance and progress?'"

   -     Bill Murphy, Partner and National Leader, Climate Change & Sustainability Services, KPMG

"Sectors with more complex supply chains, such as oil & gas, chemicals and utilities, have low levels of reporting on supply chain issues, yet they carry potentially disastrous environmental and social risks. The reality is, if companies don't start reporting on how they manage the risks in their supply chains, they won't build the much needed confidence amongst communities, investors and stakeholders. "

   -     Bill Murphy, Partner and National Leader, Climate Change & Sustainability Services, KPMG

LEARN MORE

KPMG website
KPMG's Climate Change & Sustainability Services
@KPMG_Canada
KPMG on LinkedIn

About the survey

This KPMG Survey of Corporate Responsibility Reporting 2013 is published primarily for business leaders, company boards and CR and sustainability professionals. It provides a snapshot of current global trends in CR reporting with benchmarks, guidance and insights to help companies worldwide determine their own approaches to CR reporting and to assess and improve the quality of their reports. This year the survey, which has been regularly published since 1993, covers a record 41 countries and 4100 companies across 15 industry sectors. This year the survey is divided into two parts: Global trends in CR reporting: a view across 41 countries and The quality of reporting among the world's largest companies.

About KPMG

KPMG LLP, an Audit, Tax and Advisory firm (kpmg.ca) and a Canadian limited liability partnership established under the laws of Ontario, is the Canadian member firm of KPMG International Cooperative ("KPMG International"). KPMG member firms around the world have 152,000 professionals, in 156 countries.

The independent member firms of the KPMG network are affiliated with KPMG International, a Swiss entity. Each KPMG firm is a legally distinct and separate entity, and describes itself as such.

SOURCE: KPMG LLP

For further information:

Kira Froese
National Advisor, Communications
KPMG in Canada
[email protected]
416 777 8928

Julie Bellissimo
National Manager, Communications
KPMG in Canada
[email protected]
416 777 3988