by Shane Henson — August 1, 2012—Through new guidance proposed by U.K.’s environment minister, British businesses should find that demonstrating their sustainability performance to the public and investors is now simpler.
According to Environment Minister Lord Taylor of Holbeach, the proposed guidance shows businesses how they can measure and report on their performance in five areas: air quality and emissions, water, biodiversity and ecosystem services, natural materials and waste.
“British firms are world leaders in understanding that improving the sustainability and resilience of their whole business is not only good for the environment but good for the bottom line, too,” said Lord Taylor. “This new guidance is another step towards our aim of corporate sustainability reporting becoming normal business practice by making it as simple as possible for companies to show their environmental impact.”
According to the U.K., the proposed guidance will help companies to see where they can make savings in their business model. It will also help meet the increased interest from investors in environmental information that is relevant to investment decisions. The guidance builds on the agreement at Rio+20 where British firms and government helped secure international support to encourage businesses to include sustainability information in their annual reporting.
