Responsibility · Disclosure · Component
Sustainability statement
The periodic public account of material topics, targets and progress, built on a named reporting framework and consistent with the financial accounts.
The deliverable
What it is
The sustainability statement is the organisation’s main public account of its responsibility. It reports what the materiality assessment found, what was committed and how progress stands — including where it is behind.
It is distinct from the statutory accounts under financial reporting in Finance and from general stakeholder reporting under Stakeholders. It may be published alongside the annual report, and where it uses financial figures they must agree with the accounts.
One level in
What it is made of
Each element is a constituent part of the component. Follow one to see the attributes it carries.
Framework basis
Which reporting framework or standards the statement follows, and whether that follows from a legal duty or a voluntary choice.
3 attributes: Framework · Basis · Obligation entry
LearnMaterial topics covered
The topics reported on, matched one-to-one against the material topics in the latest double materiality assessment.
3 attributes: Material topic · Reported · If omitted
LearnMetrics and progress
The figures reported for each topic, compared with the baseline and the latest milestone in the target pathway.
3 attributes: Reported value · Target · Restated
LearnBoundary with other reports
Where the statement ends and the financial accounts and general stakeholder reports begin, and where figures must reconcile.
3 attributes: Related report · Shared figures · Reconciled
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Lay the list of material topics next to the table of contents. Any topic on one and not the other needs a sentence of explanation.
The other components in disclosure
Claim substantiation file
Every public environmental or social claim, in its exact wording, with the evidence that supports it and who approved its use.
LearnAssurance record
What an independent assurer examined in the sustainability statement, at which level, what they found and how the organisation responded.
Learn