Short commentary on the SustainAbility report The Road to Credibility.
Download PDF Brazil emerges or click through to read online
Brazil’s emerging reporting scene
The SustainAbility, UNEP survey of Brazilian CR Reporting, The Road to Credibility, highlighted the increasing importance of sustainability to companies in this late industrializing country.
Operating in this nascent democracy of 188 million people, with an economic landscape primarily dominated by former State-owned enterprises and commodity exporters, the leading reporters have tried to articulate their own distinctive approach to sustainability aligned to the country’s specific characteristics. The rapid growth of CR reporting in Brazil and the importance of establishing a national context within which to frame key themes can be attributed to three main factors.
Firstly, Brazil’s deep and diverse social sector supported by government policy, through internationally acclaimed welfare programmes such as the Bolsa Familia, has created a platform that is steadily improving historically entrenched inequality and providing civil society with the frameworks through which it can engage with the corporate sector.
Second, the country’s role as a global provider of ecosystem services, notably through its role of stewardship of Amazonia, has provided an international focus to policy and corporate commitments to the environment.
Thirdly, lessons learnt from the economic volatility of the past have delivered a robust, stable economy, characterised by well-capitalized banks and globally competitive companies, providing a secure landscape for Brazil’s corporate sector to thrive and for millions of its citizens to begin to earn decent wages.
Whilst CR reporting may still be in an embryonic phase, companies – responding to a mix of decisive national policy signals and international demands for clear evidence of strong environmental, social and governance impact management, are recognising the importance to their corporate goals of being able to demonstrate how they do business, and they are doing it in a Brazilian way.
Report link: http://www.unep.fr/scp/gri/publications/Brazil%20Global%20Reporters%2008.pdf
By Jimmy Greer
www.greenbrazil.wordpress.com
