Poll: Your opinion on sustainability assurance?

[AccountAbility]

Hello All,

whether you are a report preparer, an assurance provider, a reader/user of sustainability reports we would like to know your opinion on sustainability assurance.

Also explain your opinion on and share your experiences in sustainability assurance with us in this thread!

[Stakeholder]

Hi.

I am big fan of stakeholder pressure and getting the word out that certain companies do nto really do what they say they do.


Can in your opinion assurance like the AA1000AS change that?

I am not so sure.

What are the arguments for and against assurance?

Stakeholder

[biker]

Just saw this. Great the forum now works with Accountability.

I have always been interested in assurance and feel it really has a lot of value for the company and their stakeholders.

Its just like with every financial auditing. The auditors in the CSR field are these people that check that everything in terms of numbers, claims, etc has been properly gathered and is correct.

This is the true purpose of assurance in my opinion.

Any other views?

biker

[AccountAbility]

Dear all

Stakeholder's questions was whether the AA1000AS (2008) can impact the manner companies disclose sustainability information?

In my opinion, absolutely yes!

First, it is in the nature of assurance to verify the accuracy and fairness of information. The AA1000AS (2008) does so by requiring assurance providers to evaluate adherence to the AA1000 AccountAbility Principles of disclosed information as well as underlying the systems and processes. Principles based assurance means that it is not a tick box, certification standard based on yes/no answers to fixed criteria. It provides conclusions based on evidence that reflect the status of an organisation at a particular point in time and provides recommendations to encourage continuous improvement.

Further, in an engagement using the AA1000AS (2008) the independend assurance provider also needs to provide a conclusion on his findings and will reveal whether the information is fair and balanced. This will give report readers a good idea on a company's sustainability performance and related disclosure.

Does this help? What else can you think of to improve sustainability disclosure? Any other features that could improve the AA1000AS (2008)?

[biker]

What about stakeholder engagement?

I have seen the AA1000 SES. How does this tie in with the AA1000AS?

biker

[AccountAbility]

Good question biker

As stakeholder engagement is an essential ingredient of sustainability performance and reporting, the AA1000AS (2008) takes account of it.

In the current version of the standard, stakeholder engagement is incorporated in the foundation AA1000 AccountAbility Principle of Inclusivity, which also provides the basis for the other three AA1000 AccountAbility Principles (materiality, completeness and responsiveness).

As the AA1000 Stakeholder Engagement Standard establishes requirements for effective quality stakeholder engagement, the guidance section of the AA1000AS (2008) refers to the AA1000SES as a source of an acceptable criteria for evaluating adherence to the AA1000 AccountAbility Principle of Inclusivity.

Is this articulated clear enough in the standard?
Any other suggestions on that matter?

[biker]

Thanks for the clarification.

I think in a number of aspects is the topic of stakeholder engagement totally underestimated. It is good that the new version of the standard will take that into account.

I have heard about some guidance notes. Will there be one on stakeholder engagement as well? Or is that to general to be put into a guidance note?


biker

[AccountAbility]

Hi All!

just chekced...there are different guidance pieces I can think of:

first, there is a AA1000 guidance in the current version of the AA1000AS (2008); it was one of the major outcomes during round 1 and 2 in the revision process to have three complementary documents forming the structure the AA1000AS (2008):

1) the AA1000 AccountAbility Principles as a binding reference to the standard

2) the actual standard sets out requirements for sustainability assurance in accordance with AA1000AS (2008).

3) the section called Guidance on the AA1000 Assurance Standard (2008), which is non-binding and intended to provide guidance on good practice and further information for assurance providers, reporting organisations and report users


Speaking of a "Guidance Note": think we will publish such a document in the future after the new standard has been used for a while as we did for the old one

To find some more guidance on stakeholder engagement I would recommend to have a look at the Stakeholder Engagement Manual

[londoner]

Hello everyone I am new to this.

I saw this on the AccountAbility website and thought I must join.

Great to see this discussion.

I will engage more in the next week or so.

Until then.

[AccountAbility]

Hi londoner

good to know that we draw some attention and looking forward to your participation!