{"id":3931,"date":"2009-02-16T15:31:27","date_gmt":"2009-02-16T15:31:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/?p=3931"},"modified":"2021-01-05T15:09:42","modified_gmt":"2021-01-05T14:09:42","slug":"sustainability-legislation-the-future-of-sustainability-assurance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/sustainability-legislation-the-future-of-sustainability-assurance\/","title":{"rendered":"Sustainability Legislation : The Future of Sustainability Assurance"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a title=\"Gordon Brown News and Events\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gordonbrown.info\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-3957 lazyload\" title=\"Gordon Brown at World Economic Forum, 2007\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/gordon-brown-wef-2007-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"Gordon Brown at World Economic Forum, 2007\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/gordon-brown-wef-2007-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/gordon-brown-wef-2007-150x99.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/gordon-brown-wef-2007.jpg 500w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/199;\" \/>Gordon Brown<\/a>\u2019s love of bondage is well known to all UK voters.  He used to boast in Parliament how he\u2019d snuggle up to <a title=\"The Prudence of Mr Gordon Brown by William Keegan\" href=\"http:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/arts-entertainment\/books\/reviews\/the-prudence-of-mr-gordon-brown-by-william-keegan-734536.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the dominatrix Prudence<\/a> and do whatever she asked, so long as she\u2019d eliminate boom and bust.<\/p>\n<p>Now <a title=\"Gordon Brown Forced To Kiss Prudence Goodbye\" href=\"http:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/finance\/economics\/2793472\/Gordon-Brown-forced-to-kiss-prudence-goodbye.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Prudence has been kissed goodbye<\/a>, her siren whispers left behind as conveniently as any thought of limiting public debt in line with domestic GDP.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a salutary lesson in being so cock-sure of yourself that you forget that life has a remarkable way of turning out differently to how you envisage.<\/p>\n<p>So I thought I\u2019d do a little self examination.  There have been several posts on this blog which have concluded along the lines of \u201cbusiness really has to pull its finger out otherwise governments will legislate\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>But would legislation be such a bad thing?<!--more--><\/p>\n<h3>The Sustainability Legislation Agenda Has Begun<\/h3>\n<p>There is already substantial sustainability legislation on the statute books in the EU, with the USA appearing to be likely to follow the same course.<\/p>\n<p>The UK <a title=\"The Companies Act (2006)\" href=\"http:\/\/www.opsi.gov.uk\/ACTS\/acts2006\/pdf\/ukpga_20060046_en.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Companies Act (2006)<\/a>, which reflected an EU Directive, brought in several important non-financial regulations.  These included:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>any director of any company, large or small, must have regard for \u201cthe impact of the company\u2019s operations on the community and the environment\u201d<\/li>\n<li>a quoted company must include in its Business Review information about \u201cthe impact of the company\u2019s business on the environment &#8230; the company\u2019s employees, and social and community issues\u201d<\/li>\n<li> the Business Review must also contain analysis, as appropriate, of \u201cenvironmental &#8230; and employee matters\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"pqRight\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/companies-act-2006-frontpage.gif\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/companies-act-2006-frontpage-141x200.gif\" alt=\"\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 141px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 141\/200;\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.opsi.gov.uk\/ACTS\/acts2006\/pdf\/ukpga_20060046_en.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Companies Act 2006  Frontpage<\/a><\/div>\n<p>For the first time companies have to focus on something other than shareholder value and financial performance.<\/p>\n<p>These regulations won\u2019t directly change corporate behaviour, but by introducing some degree of transparency to corporate sustainability it has led to a flurry of accusations and rebuttals over greenwashing.<\/p>\n<h3>Flaws In The Current Legislation Framework<\/h3>\n<p>The best way to ascertain the veracity of such claims and counter claims is through introducing a form of independent assurance: auditing, in plain terms.<\/p>\n<p>In the UK, company auditors currently have a duty to report whether the company\u2019s Annual Accounts give \u201ca true and fair view\u201d of the company\u2019s financial situation.<\/p>\n<p>However they need only consider whether the Directors\u2019 Report (which includes the Business Review) is consistent with those accounts, not how accurate the report is in a wider context.<\/p>\n<p>While this regulatory mismatch between what must be reported and what must be audited remains it could be turned into a very large loophole for corporate greenwashers, bringing the whole framework of sustainable business in the UK into disrepute.<\/p>\n<h3>GAAP &#8211; A Lesson From Past Audit Legislation<\/h3>\n<p>Such criticism will serve to bring sustainability issues to a wider audience and so will increase its political importance.  The recent <a title=\"Primark\u2019s Sweatshops: The Future of Sustainability Assurance\" href=\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/primarks-sweatshops-the-future-of-sustainability-assurance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Primark \/ TNS Knitwear sweatshops controversy<\/a> is a case in point.<\/p>\n<p>And once an issue becomes a political football regulation, in one form or another, is inevitable as parties seek to outbid one another.  This is not dissimilar to how financial auditing began.<\/p>\n<p>During the <a title=\"The Great Depression\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Great_Depression\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Great Depression<\/a>, the <a title=\"American Institue of Certified Public Accountants\" href=\"http:\/\/www.aicpa.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">American Institute of Accountants<\/a> adopted five \u201cGenerally Accepted Accounting Principles\u201d (GAAP), to give certainty of companies\u2019 financial health.<\/p>\n<div class=\"pqRight\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/the-evolution-of-us-gaap.gif\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/the-evolution-of-us-gaap-150x123.gif\" alt=\"\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 150px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 150\/123;\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nysscpa.org\/cpajournal\/2005\/105\/infocus\/p18.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Political Forces<br \/>\nBehind Professional Standards<\/a><\/div>\n<p>However <a title=\"GAAP\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/GAAP\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">GAAP<\/a> did not become a statutory requirement until a few years later, when the <a title=\"Securitiies and Exchange Commission\" href=\"http:\/\/www.sec.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Securities and Exchanges Commission<\/a> wanted to make business comparability compulsory and decided to use the best common practice as its foundation.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"The Evolution of U.S. GAAP: The Political Forces Behind Professional Standards\" href=\"http:\/\/www.nysscpa.org\/cpajournal\/2005\/105\/infocus\/p18.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">This decision<\/a> boosted the US economy as the 1930s unfolded, leading to increased investor confidence in companies\u2019 financial viability.<\/p>\n<p>The same situation has arrived once again, with companies needing to work ahead of the legislative curve to ensure future assurance standards will support businesses without becoming a burden.<\/p>\n<h3>How Websites Promote Transparent Sustainability Assurance<\/h3>\n<p>Websites are a natural place for this evolution in assurance to begin.  They are a relatively informal means of communication and allow interaction with many different stakeholders at the same time.<\/p>\n<p>The growing trend for companies to publish their annual reports in HTML is a good place to start.  This allows the normally dry content of a Business Review to be interwoven with more in depth information from elsewhere on the site.<\/p>\n<div class=\"pqRight\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/xbrl-homepage.gif\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/xbrl-homepage-150x123.gif\" alt=\"\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 150px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 150\/123;\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.xbrl.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">XBRL Homepage<\/a><\/div>\n<p>For instance, linking employee considerations to the careers section, or talking about environmental and community issues for any operational expansion or contraction.<\/p>\n<p>This in turn can allow the company to start moving informally towards an assurance standard when producing this additional content, perhaps in preparation for a formal move towards a particular standard at a later date.<\/p>\n<h3>XBRL &#8211; Sustainability Legislation Writ Large<\/h3>\n<p>Another area which websites can exploit to great effect is in the online analysis and mining of a company\u2019s underlying figures.  There are several examples of this available, one of the most well known being BP.<\/p>\n<p>The scope of such online analytical packages is about to explode.  From summer 2009 <a title=\"SEC Final Ruling on XBRL\" href=\"http:\/\/www.sec.gov\/rules\/final\/2009\/33-9002.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">large US companies have to file their accounts<\/a> using <a title=\"XBRL\" href=\"http:\/\/www.xbrl.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">XBRL<\/a>, with smaller ones following in 2010 &amp; 2011.<\/p>\n<p>This could lead to a whole swathe of additional functionality for a corporate website: comparison to competitors\u2019 figures, for example, or publishing environmental figures alongside financial ones to allow value-added analysis to take place.<\/p>\n<h3>Making Websites Promote Sustainability Assurance<\/h3>\n<p>Ultimately, it is not a question of whether sustainability legislation will arrive or not.  It already has and nearly all EU and US commentators expect it to increase over the coming years.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s more a question of how companies can react to this coming wave and help to shape future legislation about  sustainability assurance.  The best way to address this for companies to look at how they report and manage their own sustainability data, and the best place to innovate and take the lead is on their website.<\/p>\n<p>Picture credit: <a title=\"Gordon Brown World Economic Forum Davros 2007\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/worldeconomicforum\/374716812\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Gordon Brown &#8211; World Economic Forum Annual Meeting Davos 2007<\/a> by <a title=\"World Economic Forum\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/worldeconomicforum\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">World Economic Forum<\/a> from <a title=\"Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">flickr<\/a> under <a title=\"Creative Commons Share Alike Attribution License\" href=\"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/2.0\/deed.en_GB\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike License<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gordon Brown\u2019s love of bondage is well known to all UK voters. He used to boast in Parliament how he\u2019d snuggle up to the dominatrix Prudence and do whatever she asked, so long as she\u2019d eliminate boom and bust. Now Prudence has been kissed goodbye, her siren whispers left behind as conveniently as any thought [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9,23],"tags":[1195,356,1247,1244,1246,1163,402,1245,1248,357,822,306,1249],"class_list":{"0":"post-3931","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-best-practices","7":"category-csr","8":"tag-companies-act","9":"tag-eu","10":"tag-gaap","11":"tag-gordon-brown","12":"tag-legislation","13":"tag-primark","14":"tag-sec","15":"tag-sustainability-assurance","16":"tag-tns-knitwear","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-usa","19":"tag-website","20":"tag-world-economic-forum","21":"entry"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Sustainability Legislation : The Future of Sustainability Assurance - Corporate Eye<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/sustainability-legislation-the-future-of-sustainability-assurance\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sustainability Legislation : The Future of Sustainability Assurance - Corporate Eye\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Gordon Brown\u2019s love of bondage is well known to all UK voters. 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He used to boast in Parliament how he\u2019d snuggle up to the dominatrix Prudence and do whatever she asked, so long as she\u2019d eliminate boom and bust. 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