Sustainability reporting in ‘poor shape’

The Star — Sustainability reporting in the country is in “poor shape”, says Environmental Quality Council Malaysia chairman Datuk Kok Wee Kiat.

Speaking at the Governance and Sustainability: Is there a link? forum in conjunction with the inaugural Corporate Governance Week 2009, he said Malaysian companies were “where we should not be” in terms of sustainability reporting.

“There was hardly any sustainable reporting until Bursa Malaysia made it a requirement and we saw listed companies providing descriptions of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. We’re in poor shape,” Kok said yesterday.

On the suitable standard of reporting, he said: “The value of reporting must contribute to the business and to the betterment of mankind. The report should also be verified by a third party.”

He urged the Government to make sustainability reporting compulsory for all Malaysian companies.

“There will not be any action unless there is a mandate to do so. A rule will be needed to help kick-start it,” he said.

The forum was organised by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants together with the Securities Commission and Bursa Malaysia.

Other panellists included Guinness Anchor Bhd managing director Charles Ireland and CSR Asia Malaysian director Rikke Netterstrom. The forum was moderated by Institute of Corporate Responsibility Malaysia chairman and PricewaterhouseCoopers executive chairman Datuk Johan Raslan.

Ireland opined that continuing with CSR practices was important despite an economic downturn.

“In times of crisis, there are more companies that fail than succeed. Companies that succeed are those that are good holistically and that include CSR.

“People have long memories. They will remember if you maintain CSR long after the crisis is over,” he said.

Netterstrom said while a company might not make as much money during a crisis, it was important for it to continue with its CSR initiatives and be viewed as a “good company.”

She also said CSR was a good tool for communicating the value of a company to its investors.

“CSR activities bring value for business and if you can show in your report that they do, any shareholder would be interested in your sustainability report,” she said, adding that a good report should be quantifiable.

On another note, Kok said consumers should be the biggest drivers of CSR. “The next to drive CSR is the chief executive officer of a company as he is the leader of the organisation. If he is committed, only then will everyone else within the company be committed.”