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The most challenging aspect when embarking on the journey of sustainable development and reporting is to bring about and manage mindset change amongst people in the company
Roland Pirmez, CEO of Asia Pacific Breweries, winner for Best Sustainability Report
Ever wondered about the environmental footprint of the beer you drink? There is more than meets the eye behind each beverage produced by Singapore’s Asia Pacific Breweries (APB).
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But rather than hiding the full picture, the Singapore firm has embraced full disclosure in their latest sustainability report, aptly named exactly that - ‘More than Meets the Eye’. And for its efforts, APB was declared Overall Winner for Best Sustainability Report at this year’s ACCA Singapore Awards for Sustainability Reporting.
The awards, in its 11th edition, recognise organisations that have excelled in reporting environmental, social and governance issues and practices.
The National Environment Agency (NEA) was the other winner for Best First Time Sustainability Report – the first for a public agency in Singapore.
Guest-of-honour at the event held earlier this month at Raffles hotel, Permanent-Secretary of the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources Choi Shing Kwok, noted that sustainability reporting “will encourage organisations to critically reflect on and systematically improve their sustainability practices”.
While there have been some progress, sustainability reporting in Singapore is still considered to be in its nascent stage. Reporting about the environmental impact of business operations is voluntary and most companies have been reluctant to disclose information as the advantages of sustainability reporting are not well understood.
ACCA Singapore, an extension of the over 170-country strong Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, noted the tardy progress on sustainability reporting in a report released at the awards, ‘The Business Benefits of Sustainability Reporting in Singapore.’
ACCA noted in the report that top management and employees do not know what kind of framework to use or what is needed in a substantial report, especially the targets required of a commitment.
The awards serve to correct this misconception and increase the number of submitted sustainability reports by promoting efficiencies gained in implementing a sustainability strategy and improved corporate accountability, said ACCA.
“Good sustainability reporting is a catalyst that generates good sustainability practices and long-term value creation,” Leong Soo Yee, head of the ACCA Singapore, said at the event.
APB, out of 10 entries, garnered the top prize for doing that, showcasing clearly the relationship between sustainability, business operations and financial performance, as noted in ACCA’s judges’ report.
The APB report also shone for its comprehensive listing of material issues, quantitative historical data and emerging trends, extensive documentation of community investment and for using the London Benchmarking Group methodology. The latter gave it an extra layer of credibility, ACCA’s judges concluded.
The beverage company also provided a thorough environmental performance analysis of its breweries’ individual plants, revealing which plants were under-performing and which plants improved.
In an interview with Eco-Business, APB chief executive officer Roland Pirmez said, “We decided to embark on sustainable development and sustainability reporting because there was a growing need to show that we are accountable for our company’s impact on societies as our footprint grows.”
He added that not only did they want to address responsible alcohol consumption in their 14 markets in Asia Pacific, but also to support local communities.
The NEA, for its part, was commended by the judges for having “professional presentation and credible scope”.
Proof of its sustainability commitment is the benchmark it set, which the expert judges commended for being the first issued by a public organisation. NEA also detailed its approach to accomplish future targets, such as a five-year programme to raise sustainability awareness among employees.
Similarly, Pirmez said, “The most challenging aspect when embarking on the journey of sustainable development and reporting is to bring about and to manage mindset change amongst people in the company … It needs a high-level of buy-in from all business functions and this requires extensive education and awareness to aid understanding about how each function’s day-to-day operation can have an impact on the company’s long-term sustainability and growth.”
Gordon Hewitt, sustainability advisor to ACCA Singapore, told Eco-Business that employee engagement programmes are one of the many examples of corporate sustainability practices included in a sustainability report, along with carbon management plans, human rights audits of key suppliers and health and safety training.
The award judges also had pointers for the winners. For the NEA, they recommended having a better balance between policy and organisational coverage. And APB can improve their report by suggesting preventive measures to correct under-performing areas and adding benchmarks for performance.
Sustainability reports require such specific data and plans. These are a strong demonstration of commitment to sustainability. “In contrast, reports that adopted a more marketing-oriented approach lacked rigour,” according to ACCA’s findings, indicating it only meets advertising goals rather than any concrete value.
“Checking the credibility of a report, through an external audit, will provide the readers of a report with more confidence in the information present. If an audit is performed thoroughly, it will pick up areas that cannot be substantiated with evidence, and therefore will reduce the risk of greenwashing,” said Hewitt.
Leong also stressed, “The accountancy professional has an important role to play by taking the initiative in defining and delivering the means by which sustainable development is measured and reported.”
The award winners reflected the top scores in three elements of sustainability reporting: completeness, credibility and communication. Leong said, “We hope by emphasising these three elements the quality of disclosed information will continue to improve.”
Sustainability reporting reaps better businesses and other benefits
ACCA has launched a report earlier this year - ‘The Business Benefits of Sustainability Reporting in Singapore’ - which outlines the discussion between experts in the academe, business and green sectors on sustainability reporting.
The report provides useful information that address the challenges faced by companies who wish to embark on the journey. Other benefits of sustainablity reporting include:
- It instils discipline and helps a company define its long-term vision.
- It leads to reduction of cost operations, an effect of looking at sustainability practices and its relation to increasing efficiency.
- It increases communication with stakeholders especially with investors in discussing social impact and performance targets and with employees including new talent who relate to sustainability issues.
- It reduces risks by virtue of identifying them early on and looking at historical data, and builds business resiliency.
