KPMG International survey of corporate responsibility reporting 2008

The purpose of this survey was to track reporting trends in the world’s largest companies. The sample of over 2200 companies includes the Global Fortune 250 (G250) and the 100 largest companies by revenue (N100) in 22 countries. The survey presents historical data where possible, drawing from five previous surveys conducted by KPMG firms since 1993. Only information available in the public domain was used for this survey, such as company websites, corporate responsibility reports, and annual reports issued in 2007-2008.

One of the most significant findings of the 2008 survey is that corporate responsibility reporting has gone mainstream - nearly 80 percent of the largest 250 companies worldwide issued reports, up from about 50 percent in 2005.

National level companies trail the G250 with only 45 percent of the total sample issuing reports, but numbers vary from less than 20 percent in Mexico to more than 90 percent in Japan.

Ethical considerations and innovation emerged as some of the most common drivers for reporting, while risk management fell in the G250 group.

Three-quarters of G250 companies have a corporate responsibility strategy that includes defined objectives. Nearly two-thirds of G250 companies engage with their stakeholders in a structured way, up from 33 percent in 2005. However, most companies do not use existing channels like annual general meetings (AGMs) to engage analysts and investors about environmental and social issues. More than three-quarters of the G250 and nearly 70 percent of the N100 use the GRI Guidelines for their reporting.

More than half of the world’s largest 250 companies publicly disclose new business growth opportunities and/or the financial value of corporate responsibility.

Although 92 percent of G250 companies disclose a corporate governance code of conduct or ethics, only 59 percent report on incidents of non-compliance with the code.

Nearly all G250 companies have a supply chain code of conduct, but only half disclose the details of how it is implemented and monitored. While 62 percent of G250 companies disclose information about climate risks, 69 percent of N100 companies do not. Whereas understanding the risks starts with understanding the footprint, a large part of the G250 (41 percent) need to develop this. Carbon footprint reporting is focused largely on the own operations.

Formal third party assurance of G250 reports jumped from 30 percent to 40 percent in the past three years, and the trend is similar at the national level with 39 percent of N100 reports containing formal assurance. Twenty seven percent of reports included other types of third party commentary, such as stakeholder panels or subject matter expert statements.Major accountancy organizations are the leading providers of assurance in corporate responsibility reporting. The consistency and quality of assurance approaches is demonstrated by an increase in the use of standards. G250 companies are less likely to ask for reasonable (positive) assurance than N100 companies.