20 years ago this June the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro hosted the UN Conference on Environment and Development also known as the Rio Earth Summit. During this conference Agenda 21 which hosted a comprehensive plan on how humans could seek and achieve "sustainable development" was adopted by more than 178 governments, Agenda 21 and its components can be reached here for further details. One major step that the Rio Earth Summit and the Rio Declaration, which is a section of Agenda 21, took was to engage businesses and NGO's (non-government organizations) in the sustainable development of developed and developing countries. The Rio Declaration, constituted by 27 principles, outlines the grounds of agreement required for, and the goals of sustainable development. These principles range from the sovereign rights of nations to the importance of trade in achieving global "sustainable development", the full Rio Declaration can be viewed here.
Now 20 years later the city of Rio de Janeiro is playing host to the Rio+20 conference, which seeks to reaffirm the goals and strategies of the initial Rio conference while outlining additional strategies and goals needed to achieve "sustainable development". This conference yet again will seek to incorporate business into the process as a major participant. One of the major ways in which the Rio+20 conference is seeking to incorporate business into this "sustainable development" frame work is through mandating corporate sustainable reporting. More information on this process is presented below in an interview with Global Reporting Initiative Deputy Chief Executive Teresa Fogelberg.
To many of the proponents of sustainable reporting the UN, in its preliminary drafts for Rio+20, is taking a weak stand by only encouraging public and large private corporations to integrate material sustainability issues within the annual report. Paul Abberley, CEO Aviva Investors, displays the importance of such information, "[e]mbedding an explanation of the sustainability of a company's strategy in its reporting will allow investors to better understand the associated investment risks and opportunities, and will make it more likely that global financial markets will allocate capital in a manner better aligned with sustainable development." While corporate reporting on sustainability measures won't in and of itself achieve sustainable development, it does create incentive for companies to become more sustainable.
More information on the Rio+20 conference and corporate sustainability reporting can be found at the following sites, which were also used as references in this post:
Will Rio+20 make a difference: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-business/readers-response-rio-2012-sustainable-development
Deliverinag an invesment-grade outcome at Rio+20: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-business/investment-green-economy-rio-zero-draft
The role of governments in mainstreaming sustainability reporting: http://rioconventionsreporting.net/the-role-of-governments-in-mainstreaming-sustainability-reporting/
Report or Explain: A policy proposal for sustainability reporting to be adopted as a common practice for the advancement of a Green Economy for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20): http://www.uncsd2012.org/rio20/content/documents/ReportOrExplain.pdf
Can Rio+20 deliver systematic change in the private sector?: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-business/corporate-models-green-economy
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