MGT 501 October 06, 2008
Article
The Gazette
April 25, 2008 Friday
Final Edition
Companies are telling shareholders about their sustainability policies
BYLINE: HELEN MORRIS, CanWest News Service
SECTION: BUSINESS; Pg. B5
LENGTH: 548 words
DATELINE: OTTAWA
Company financial statements are going green. Around 80 per cent of the companies listed on S&P/TSX composite index include some environmental, economic and social information in their public reports.
It is not just concern for the environment that is prompting companies to tell shareholders and investors about their sustainability policies but, according to business consultants Stratos Inc., a realization that there are real financial costs to not running a sustainable operation.
PricewaterhouseCoopers is this week running a series of seminars across the country to teach businesses how to communicate their environmental, social and governance policies as an integral part of their business strategy.
"Some companies have been in it for a long time ... for example, the natural resources sector has been facing sustainability ... concerns for a long time," said Bruce McIntyre, the company's leader of sustainable business solutions. "But now, the issues are flowing down the supply chains - it's affecting the finance sector, the retail sector. Companies at the end of the supply chain are interested because their customers are interested."
Being a sustainable operation is not just about broadcasting a company policy on climate change - the broad definition of sustainability matter ...