Global Reporting Initiative and Sustainable Reporting Essay

Global Reporting Initiative and Sustainable Reporting - Essay Example The increase in regulatory scrutiny, the emergence of new standards and the heightened interest on the part of public and private policymakers are the reasons why sustainability reporting becomes imperative for organizations today. To demonstrate this, this paper will explore one of the most widely recognized sustainability standards, the Global Reporting Initiative. Reporting Standard The Global Reporting Initiative was established in the year 1997 and sponsored by the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies; the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) was formed for the purpose of outlining a set of guidelines that would deal with the economic, environmental and social consequences of organizational activity (Brown, 2005, p.90). Because of this objective, the initiative is often called as â€Å"sustainability reporting.† Its declared mission is â€Å"to create conditions for the transparent and reliable exchange of sustainability information through the development an d continuous improvement of its Sustainability Reporting Framework† (GRI 2007). ... ainability Reporting Guidelines mandates that â€Å"a sustainability report should provide a balanced and reasonable representation of the sustainability performance of a reporting organization† (SRG, p.3). The significance of this initiative for companies rests on the determination of the sustainability performance. By defining, outlining and documenting the economic, environmental, social and governance areas for specific economic activities, an organization through the report, could identify its achievements in the context of its sustainability objectives. It is able to better benefit from the impact of its sustainability performance because the report contains correct and legitimate feedback. The benefits of a transparent organization, which will be explored further later on, is particularly maximized. This is the reason why companies release sustainability reports. In the International Survey of Corporate Responsibility Reporting in 2008, for instance, it was found that a lmost 80 percent of the companies in the Global 250 issued sustainability report (White, p.47). The same report cited numerous other reasons. They include ethics, economic considerations, brand reputation, innovation and learning (p.47). These variables reflect the changing dynamics of doing business today as stakeholder relationships changed. It appears that profit, which traditionally govern such relationship, is no longer the sole concern especially on the part of investors or that profit is no longer exclusively driven by purely economic activities. The case of AstraZeneca is an excellent example of how sustainability reporting could achieve a valid and acceptable sustainable reporting. The company has incorporated environmental and social aspects into its existing accounting and reporting

History of Amlwch Anglesey Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

History of Amlwch Anglesey - Case Study Example By the late 18th century Amlwch was on the most populated towns of Wales. By this time the harbor of Amlwch was extended to include ships to transport copper from the town. The copper from the mines of Amlwch was used to protect the ships of war from the growth of seaweed and boring by worms. But because of excessive export and use of copper, with time the reserves of the copper mines started to diminish. Also the competition from cheaper copper and other ores from abroad by the mid 18th century, led to the overall decline of the deep mining industry in Amlwch. The copper ore was initially extracted from shallow shafts and then through open pit mining in Amlwch. Later it used to be extracted from shafts up to three hundred meter deep. After extraction the ore used to be broken into pieces by hand and then transported to South Wales for smelting. The metal copper used to be extracted from the remainder with the help of furnaces that were present at the port of Amlwch itself. Many other chemical industries that were based on the by products of the mines were also established. These chemical industries included those of alum, vitriol, sulphur and chrome pigments. By the mid of the 18th century the popularity of copper mining industry had declined in the town, and ship building industry had gained popularity.