An analysis of sustainability reporting in Brazil has suggested that companies there are among the top performers in emerging economies – and are close behind international leaders in the developed world.
The road to credibility, published by the US consultancy SustainAbility, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the Brazilian non-governmental organization FBDS, is the first national survey of Brazilian reporting.
The study shows that 76 Brazilian companies issued sustainability reports in 2006-07, compared with eight in mainland China and 12 in India. The volume of reporting in Brazil is said to have almost tripled since 2003.
Averaging a 47 per cent score under SustainAbility’s assessment criteria, the companies ranked in the top ten are close behind leaders from richer countries, which averaged 57 per cent in the 2006 SustainAbility-UNEP ranking of 50 global leaders. There is, however, a significant quality gap between the top performers in Brazil and the rest of the Brazilian field, says the report.
Mark Lee, chief executive of SustainAbility, said: ‘Brazil sits at the crux of so many of the world’s sustainability challenges and opportunities, so it is inspiring to see Brazilian businesses rising to the challenges of disclosure and transparency and helping to raise the bar for other emerging economies.’
However, Lee said businesses in Brazil must work harder to integrate sustainability into their core business strategies and to engage key stakeholders more effectively.
The top-ranked performers in the survey included the cosmetics company Natura, followed by Suzano Petroquimica from the chemicals sector, and Ampla and Coelce, providers of electric utilities. All the top ten have signed up to the Global Reporting Initiative.
