Dutch Transparency Benchmark for ESG disclosure 2

Transparency Benchmark 2010
The Crystal 2010 in association with NBA Transparency Benchmark 2010
The Crystal 2010 in association with NBA Table of contents
1 Foreword 5
2 Summary 7
2.1EmergenceofCSR 7
2.2Transparencyasdriverforbetterbusiness 7
2.3 Aninstrumentindevelopment 8
2.4 Theresults 9
3 Findings 13
3.1 Approach 13
3.2 TransparencyBenchmarkladder 17
4 Trends 25
4.1 Themecomparisons 25
4.2 Crossconnections 34
5 Evaluation 53
5.1 Dialoguewithparticipants 53
5.2 Reflectiononamendmentsinthe2010TransparencyBenchmark 54
5.3 Changesfor2011 55
A Appendices 57
A.1 Figuresofthemecomparisons,sectorcomparisonsandinternationalcomparisons 57
A.2 Organisationswithnopubliclyavailable(Dutch)report 61
A.3withaseparatelisting(onbasisofinternationalgroupreport) 64
A.4includedininternationalcomparisons 65
A.5 Weblinksto(Dutch)reports 67
A.6TransparencyBenchmark2010questionnaire 77
A.7 PanelofexpertsTransparencyBenchmarkandjuryTheCrystal 98
Transparency Benchmark 2010  The Crystal  31 Foreword
Thisreportcontainstheresultsofthe2010TransparencyBenchmark,covering2009.
TheMinistryofEconomicAffairs,AgricultureandInnovationsubstantiallyaddressed
andupdatedtheTransparencyBenchmarklastyear.Thegroupoforganisationswhose
CSRreportingisreviewedhasbeenbroadenedfrom183toaround500companiesand
organisations. Furthermore,thecriteriahavebeendeepened,moreisdemandedon
transparencyconcerningspecificCSRissuesandthethemeofsupplychainresponsibility
hasreceivedamoresubstantialrolethaninpreviousyears.The haswebsitealso been
updatedandbecomemoreinteractive.
Morechangeswereimplementedduringthepastyear.Forexample,self-assessmenthas
beenintroduced,permittingorganisationstoscreentheirownannualreports.Ateamof
reviewersconductedthequalityaudit.
Furthermore,anindependentpanelofexpertsalsoreviewedthetop20.Thecriteriaonwhich
thisreviewwasbased,arelistedonthenewwebsitewww.transparantiebenchmark.nl.This
alsoshowsallthescoresandorganisations.Becauseitisanopen website,source
alltheinformationcanbesharedwithothers.
TheMinistryofEconomicAffairs,AgricultureandInnovation,jointlywiththeDutch
ProfessionalAssociationofAccountants(NBA),tooktheinitiativetolaunchanewprize
forthebestCSRreporting.Thiscombinesboththecriteriaandthemethodologyofthe
TransparencyBenchmark,andtheACCAwardforthebestCSRreport.Thenewprizeiscalled
‘De Kristal’(theCrystal).DeKristalaimstobethemostimportantprizeforCSRreportingand
isawardedtothecompanywhoseannualCSRreporthasfinishedwithhighestthe ranking
intheTransparencyBenchmark.Thejury,consistingthisyearofMs.Bibi(chairdeVries–
DutchLLM),HRHPrinceCarlosdeBourbondeParme,andProfessorLeenPaapeRAROCIA,
selectedthewinnerfromthetopthree.
Withallthechanges,aconstantfactoristheimportanceattachedintheNetherlandsto
transparencyinannualreportingbyorganisations.Stakeholders,suchasshareholders,
specialinterestgroups,andauthoritiesexpectthatcompanytobetransparentabout
performance atasociallevel.Bybeingopenandclear,anorganisationexposesitselfto
vulnerability,andmaybeaddressedaboutitsactivitiesbyitsstakeholders.Transparency
enablesadialoguetostart.ThishasbeenthemotiveforperformingtheT
Benchmarksince2004.
ForaproperunderstandingoftheTransparencyBenchmark,itisimportanttoemphasize
thatthetransparencyinreportingismeasuredandnotthespecificactivitiesorresultsin
theareaofCSR.TheTransparencyBenchmarkisnotonlyaboutdeterminingscoresforeach
Transparency Benchmark 2010  The Crystal  5company.Itismoreimportantforidentifyingtrends.Whichsectorsshowanincrease,and
whichdonot?Howmanyorganisationsareissuingtheirfirstsocialreport?annualEtcetera.
In2010,allparticipantsintheTransparencyBenchmarkof2009andtheACCAwardof
2009tookpart,plusnewparticipantswhovolunteered.Inthecontextoftheexpansionto
500participants,anewselectionprotocolhasbeensetup.Thisprotocolassistsinscree-
ningnewparticipantspriortotheirinclusion.Thereviewmeansthatcertainconditions
ofreportingmustbemet.Thefixedgroupforreviewisestablishedusingthisselection
protocol,whichisavailableonline.
ThisbookletcontainsmoreinformationonthebackgroundoftheTransparencyBenchmark
andtheresultsofthemeasurementconcerning2009.
6 Transparency Benchmark 2010  The Crystal  Transparency Benchmark 2010  The Crystal 2 Summary
Andthewinneris… Moreover,CSRisfinallyshakingoffitformer
fustyimage:sustainabilityisincreasinglylinked
…anyonewho,duetoparticipationinthe toinnovationandopportunities,andlesstoonly
TransparencyBenchmark,hascomeastepfurtherin avoidingrisks.Thefocushasshiftedfromprocesses
considerationandactionwithrespecttothetheme to products.Theattentionpaidtothethemesof
ofCorporateSocialResponsibility(CSR). ‘environment’and‘social’hasshiftedtobroader
sustainabilityissues.Furthermore,investorsand
TheaboveistheessenceoftheTransparency lendersarealsoincreasinglyinterestedinCSR.An
Benchmark.Theobjectiveofthisinstrumentisnot enterprise thatfailstorespondtothispromptly
theorganisationofacompetitionintransparencyrunstheriskofbeingoutofbusinesssoon.
betweenvariousorganisations,buttoencourage Thereforemoreandmoreanalysts,privateequity
transparencyandstimulateconsiderationand firms,andotherpartiesinthefinancialworld,are
actionregardingCSR.Thisreporttellsyoumore lookingmorecriticallyathoworganisationsdeal
aboutthethoughtsbehinditand,ofcourse,you withtherisksandopportunitiesofsustainability.
canfindtheresultsofthemeasurementfortheyearThebusinesscaseforCSRis,inaword,strong.
2009.
2.2 T ransparency as driver for better
2.1 Emergence of CSR business
CSRisnotaluxury,andthisperceptionisincrea-Despitethestrongbusinesscase,acontinued
singlywidening.TheuncomfortablefactsarethatadvanceofCSRisnotobvious.Transparencyabout
thestocksofrawmaterialsandconsumablesare CSRcanmakeasignificantcontributiontothis
finite,thatthelong-termhealthoftheplanetis movement,andthatthoughtisthebasisofthe
atissue,andlargesectionsofsocietywantfairerTransparencyBenchmark.Transparencyinthis
andmoresocialpolicies.Allthisneedsnofurtherbenchmark isnotanendbutameans.Theidea
explanationhere,becauseitisbeingrecognisedandbehind theinstrumentisthatthedevelopment
tackledbyorganisationsandgovernments. towardsamoresustainableworldcancontinue
independently,butthatincentivesareneededto
Theconsequenceoftheaboveisthatbusinessmen give morestrengthtothisdevelopment.These
andmanagerssimplycannotaffordtoignoreCSR.incentives comepartlyfromnewlawsandregula-
Alargesectionofthebusinesscommunityisthere tions- andpartlyfrommarketforces.Transparency
foreembracingthetheme,whileitincreasingly aboutthesustainabilityeffortsandachievements
lessconcernspureidealism,andevercanalsobeagoodincentive.
concernssoundbusinessandcommercialmotives.
Themarket,forexample,demandsitevermore Anorganisationthatistransparenttoitsenviron-
often.Forexample,in2010,theDutchGovernment ment showshowitpositionsitselfinsocietyand
onlypurchasedfromsuppliersthatare100% howitdealswiththesustainabilitytheme,will
sustainable,andlargemultinationalsalsoincrea- oftenbeencouragedasaresultofthistranspa-
singlyoftenimposesustainabilityrequirementsonrencytoimproveitsperformanceinthisareaeven
suppliers. further.Theinformationitshareswiththeoutside
Transparency Benchmark 2010  The Crystal  Transparency Benchmark 2010  The Crystal  7worldis,afterall,agoodbasistoopenthedialogue 2.3 An instrument in development
withstakeholdersandthisdialoguewillleadto
improvements.ThetransparencyalsoimprovestheSuchaphilosophyalsoneedsanapproachthatdoes
comparabilitybetweenwhatorganisationsdointhe justice tothisobjective.Anapproachthatdevelops
areaofsustainability.Inthatareless on thebasisofexperience,andwhichcontains
advancedintheareaofsustainability,transparencyroom fordialoguewiththeparticipants.Inthis
leadstocriticalself-reflectioninthisareaandthus context ,anumberofchangeshavebeenmadein
alsotoimprovements. theapproachthisyear:
Moreover,inmanycases,transparencyonsustai- 2.3.1 More room for dialogue with
nabilityhasasideeffect.Organisationsthatwant participants
toaccountfortheirsustainabilityachievements AftercompletionoftheTransparencyBenchmark
oftenfindthatgatheringtheinformationneededis2009 (concerningtheyear2008),agroupof
aconsiderablechallenge.Sometimesinformation participantswereconsultedaboutadjustingthe
systemsand/orprocessesmustbedesigneddiffe- criteriaoftheTransparencyBenchmark.Thereis
rentlytoproducetherelevantinformationandthat more reportedaboutthisinsection5.1.Participants
issometimesafairlymajoroperation,especiallyin also hadtheopportunityin2010toexpresstheir
largeorganisations.Anyonewhohasoncegathered opinion ontheprocessandthecontentofthe
theinformation,however,willalsohavebetter TransparencyBenchmark.
insightintothesustainabilityachievements,accor-
dingtothemotto‘measuringisknowing’,andthusAmeetingwasheldattheendof2010withagroup
alsoacquiresthetoolstomanagewithmorefocus ofparticipantstotalkabouttheTransparency
onthesustainabilityachievements. Benchmarkandtheirexperiencewithit.Anumber
ofinterviewswerealsoheldwithparticipating
Inthissense,transparencyalsohasaninternal organisationsandareincludedinthisreport,in
effect.Themerefactthattheinformationmustbe which theirdilemmasandvisionsemerge.More
gatheredcreatesawarenessaboutthesustainabilityinformationaboutthesecanbefoundinthelast
achievements.Furthermore,thereissometimes sectionofthisreport.
internal‘competition’createdbetweenanorga-
nisation’sdivisions,whichdonotwanttounder- 2.3.2 Conscious choice for self-assessments
p