SustainabilityHQ.com Weekly Highlights

The G&A Institute team closely monitors US corporations included in the index (a number are clients of G&A), and analyzes the reporting practices of the constituent companies. In the first year of the study, we looked at 2010 sustainability / CSR / citizenship reporting by the S&P 500 and determined that about 20% were doing some kind of structured sustainability and related subject matter reporting. That was a good baseline year to build on, but 80% were laggards.

The next year the volume of reporting dramatically increased to more than 50% of the universe; then to three-quarters, and in our latest examination, for year 2016 the result was that 82% of the universe is reporting -- only 18% of the 500 are now laggards in this regard.

We've been sharing news and perspectives on recent developments in l'affaires climate change, with the US government [at the Federal level] abandoning the landmark Paris Agreement (the COP 21 accomplishments, with almost 200 nations participating).

All eyes were on Hamburg, Germany last week as the leaders of the "G20" nations** gathered. High on the agenda was climate change and sustainable development. Mixed messages came out of the gathering, but as Jens-Peter Saul explains in our first Top story, even if governments can't agree in such gatherings, private industry is moving forward in providing climate change solutions.

Six months ago an experienced sustainability professional assumed the CEO post -- Tim Mohin, who during his career was at US EPA, where he led the effort that led to the Clean Air Act; Apple (overseeing the company's global supply chain, "Supplier Responsibility"); Chair of the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition; and Senior Director of Sustainability at Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).

As the President of the United States began the laborious process of reneging on the historic global agreement to address the challenges of climate change reached in Paris at the COP 21 meetings in 2015, the reaction inside the country by thought leaders and important economic players was swift and decisive: The "We Are Still In" movement was launched by private parties and state and municipal-level government officials.

The good news is that more public company managements are involved in, and approving, broader disclosure on sustainability information. There are widely-accepted frameworks in place to help boards and managements better understand the needs and desires of stakeholders -- especially providers of capital (asset owners, managers, analysts) seeking meaningful data and accompanying narrative to explain the progress being made (or lack thereof) in ESG performance.

What's driving sustainability now without the official "push" of our national governmental infrastructure? For companies: compliance; corporate mission; business performance; employee satisfaction; industry (peer) recognition...and this means companies are holding firm with 50% of those surveyed are showing no change in budgeting for sustainability.

Our first analysis was shared publicly in 2011, for the results of year 2010 company reporting. We found that just about 20% or one-in-five of the S&P 500 universe was publishing a sustainability report in some form. Now we have year 2016 results -- holding steady at 82%.

We have made tremendous progress over the last 10 years in such areas as the embrace of corporate sustainability, corporate responsibility, corporate citizenship, and related approaches by the global corporate sector...and in the continuing adoption of sustainable investment policies and approaches by a widening universe of institutional and individual investors.

What do you think the next 10 years will bring?

Important elements of the Governance & Accountability Institute mission are to share knowledge, perspectives and information about the opportunities in corporate responsibility, including career paths to success, and to do the same for men and women interested in sharpening their focus in the financial community, with the continuing embrace of ESG approaches by investment firms of all types ("sustainable investing").