Sustainability Reporting

Challenge

Facing increasing pressures from credit rating agencies and community stakeholder groups, a large, publicly owned municipal organization requested support in developing a sustainability strategy that could both influence and be incorporated into its broader strategic plan and reporting activities. ScottMadden was engaged to support this organization develop its first Community Responsibility Report to disclose and communicate its environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance and goals.

Process

The sustainability reporting approach a company selects depends on the regulations it is adhering to, and the goals the organization aspires to achieve. We began our engagement by establishing a baseline understanding of sustainability reporting options and critical consideration of which frameworks, standards, and reporting objectives to prioritize based on the broader organizational strategy.

To help inform the community responsibility priorities and organizational efforts to highlight, ScottMadden assessed the importance of sustainability issues for each stakeholder group through a combination of desktop research, industry benchmarking, and stakeholder interviews. We worked closely with subject matter experts to understand and document existing sustainability initiatives along with anticipated opportunities and risks. We documented key programs, accomplishments, metrics, testimonials, photos, and case studies in preparation of draft materials to communicate externally. ScottMadden established a reporting structure and table of contents to organize our findings and validated the report format and contents through a series of iterative reviews with leadership.