Sustainability reports
Active in environmental and social matters
More and more companies are documenting their ecological, social and economic standards and services in sustainability reports. In order to lend credibility to sustainability reports, neutral certification through TÜV NORD CERT Umweltgutachter GmbH is recommended.
The check is based on the international guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), which have been worked out in cooperation with companies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
In addition to a comprehensive illustration of the company's profile,
- a sustainability vision and strategy with implemented management structure are required
- the illustration of economic performance indicators (for example by means of the business report with a certified balance and statement of profits and losses.
- Explanations of ecological performance indicators (energy, water/waste water, bio-diversity, emissions, wastes, etc.)
- for compliance with environmental laws and
- for product responsibility (health and safety of the product user)
- Information on social performance indicators such as work conditions, human rights and non-discrimination (also in the supplier chain) and on societal interaction and freedom of corruption
In the USA, the testing of sustainability reports by external experts is already widespread and is now becoming standard in Germany and Europe. For the testing of sustainability reports in Europe, the procedure according to EC ordinance no. 761/2001 on the voluntary participation of an organization in a municipal system is suitable for the environmental management system and the environmental test (EMAS). In order to meet the requirements of EMAS, companies must present an environmental declaration, which is validated by an environmental assessor. TÜV NORD CERT Umweltgutachter GmbH is approved for validating in this case as per the German environmental audit law. The companies participating in EMAS are publicly registered in the European EMAS directory.
The environmental declaration, which is provided with the declaration of validity from the environmental assessor, is suitable for use as a building block for a sustainability report, which can be supplemented by a company's social activities as per the GRI criteria and occupational health and safety requirements. The economic page can be integrated based on business reports that are certified under economic laws. This results in a credible sustainability report, the three components of which (economic, ecological and social) have been comprehensively tested by a certified, qualified third party.
