To what extent does the bhpbilliton's sustainability report comply Essay

To what extent does the bhpbilliton's sustainability report comply with the GRI's Sustainability Reporting Guidelines G3. Sust - Essay Example Discussion would also be done regarding the decision to provide assurance to the sustainability reports or not and if yes, then to which level. However, it is not viable to consider every industry and their companies, so in this report, BHP Billiton would be considered for the analysis (Adams, 2006; Hooghiemstra, 2000). Sustainability Reporting Sustainability reporting involves not only generating report, but also includes the method through which commitment of the organisation towards sustainability development is presented for both internal and external stakeholders. Organisation should ensure a robust system in order to manage the organisation sustainably, including traceability, transparency and compliance (Gray, Owen and Maunders, 1987; Hopwood, Unerman and Fries, 2012). Corporate sustainability reporting is the term being used since long in the business environment. It was first initiated with respect to environmental concerns, which later also integrated financial and non-fina ncial reporting, corporate governance and ethics in business. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is the key guidelines that are followed by organisations around the world to design and develop their sustainability reports (Heller and Darling, 2012). ... ng Sustainability accounting is also called social accounting because it aims at reporting the economic, social and environmental performance of organisations. The Sustainability Accounting Standard Board (SASB) is the non-profit making body, which designs and puts forward the standards for sustainable reporting in accounting. However, the SASB functions under the guidelines of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) (Ghillyer, 2011; Gossy, 2008). The standards design by SASB benefits more than 13000 corporations, which represent more than $16 trillion funds and all these standards are based on three pillars; social, environmental and governance (Gallagher and Andrew, 2007; Garriga and Mele, 2004). The elements, considered under the segment of environment, in sustainable accounting are recycling, emission, greenhouse gas and water, packaging. On the economic front, they are stakeholders’ value, financial performance, transparency, accountability and corporate governance. Soci al aspects such as, public policy, safety, human rights, fair trade, community investment and anticorruption, are also considered while developing sustainable accounting reports (Aras and David, 2010). Sustainability Reporting Guidelines G3 by GRI According to the GRI guidelines, the objective of sustainable development is to congregate requirements of the present without negotiating the capability of future generations to convene their own wants. The purpose of sustainability reporting is to measure and disclose the competent practices of the company to their internal and external stakeholders. The GRI framework was developed to assist organisations around the world in preparing their sustainability reports (Galea, 2004; Kolk, 2004; Dwyer and Owen, 2005). The sustainability guidelines include