SustainAbility staff review highlights of the 2010 GRI conference in Amsterdam

17 Jun 2010 – Headline

Alicia Ayars and Jean-Philippe Renaut summarize the biennial Amsterdam Global Conference on Sustainability and Transparency.

On June 2nd, 2010, Alicia Ayars and Jean-Philippe Renaut gave their impressions of the biennial Amsterdam Global Conference on Sustainability and Transparency to the Members of the Engaging Stakeholders Program. They walked participants through the main highlights of the conference, notable sessions, interesting quotes and further resources.

SustainAbility had an active role at the conference, facilitating or participating in various sessions. It was directly involved in the public launch of the “2010 Readers’ and Reporters’ Survey”:http://awards.globalreporting.org/reader.do. Our sister organisation Volans also launched its latest report, _“The Transparent Economy”:http://www.globalreporting.org/LearningAndSupport/GRIPublications/LearningPublications/Explorations/ _, to which SustainAbility contributed.

Propositions articulated by the GRI revolved around three themes including:

1. All large/SME companies should publicly report on material social, environmental and governance issues by 2015.
2. There should be a formal standard for integrated reporting by 2020.
3. What would GR4 look like and do GRI stakeholders see the need?

The announcement of a formal standard for integrated reporting generated the most speculation, alongside genuine enthusiasm for concrete reporting guidelines.

These themes are quite controversial and set the tone of the conference. As companies consider the implications of these challenges, SustainAbility will be working with its Engaging Stakeholders Program members to help define objectives and options for the second theme, Integrated Reporting.

Download the attached presentation for more information. If you have comments on this presentation or suggestions for the Engaging Stakeholders Program, please contact your dedicated liaison or the Engaging Stakeholders team at ES@sustainability.com.