Press Release: Experts Trust Ratings Organizations Less Than NGOs and Employees as Judges of Sustainability Performance

29 Sep 2010 – News Release

More than 1,200 experts were surveyed in July and August 2010 on topics relating to corporate accountability: transparency and sustainability reporting, rating sustainability performance, and the implications of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on the sustainability agenda. Respondents were drawn
from corporate, government, NGO, academic, research, and service organizations, and span more than 80 countries in Asia, Africa / Middle East, Europe, North America, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand. The Sustainability Survey is the largest global poll of the views of sustainability experts.

Key findings from the survey include:

• Transparency & Reporting: Sustainability reporting continues to add value. In fact, more than eight in ten experts believe that increasing transparency not only improves a company’s reputation, but its sustainability performance as well.
• Rating Performance: The objectivity and credibility of data sources and the disclosure of the methodology are considered the two most important factors when determining the credibility of a rating. Therefore, ratings organizations must improve their own transparency in order to gain the
  trust of experts moving forward.
• Implications of Deepwater Horizon: The BP Deepwater Horizon incident is expected to accelerate regulatory and voluntary improvements to drive greater corporate accountability, but not expected to significantly transform the oil industry in the near term.

Download the full release below, or contact SustainAbility to learn more.