German Ranking of Sustainability Reports
The German ranking of sustainability reports is a follow up of former rankings of environmental reports initiated by Dr. Klaus Fichter and
Dr. Jens Clausen and carried out in 1994, 1996, 1998 and 2000
(www.ranking-umweltberichte.de). Against the background of the ongoing discussion on sustainability management and CSR the existing criteria of the past ranking of environmental reports were extended by social and economic requirements.
The new ranking criteria reflect activities of many organisations as well the research of the rankers themselves. In particular the work of GRI, WBCSD, SustainAbility, Accountability, but also of other institutions has been considered. Within the process of developing the evaluation method stakeholder representatives were invited to critically review our set of criteria. Comments of industry representatives as well as industry associations and the German Council for Sustainable Development were considered. Regarding GRI the ranking requirements are to a wide extend complementary to the 2002 Guidelines.
In the German ranking of sustainability reports we considered the reports of the 100 largest German industrial and service companies as well as the reports of the 50 largest companies in retail, banking and insurance. Out of these top 150 companies, 53 publish a stand alone sustainability report (or an environmental or a CSR report) in Germany. These reports were evaluated.
A full overview on the results of the best 35 sustainability reports and a sector analysis is given in the English summary Sustainability Reporting in Germany: Summary of the Results and Trends of the 2005 Ranking.
running time: juli 2004 to march 2005
cooperation partner:
• future e.V.
• 4sustainability
• IÖW
supported by:
self financed by future e.V. and IÖW
contact:
Dr. pol. rer. Jens Clausen
clausen@borderstep.de
publications:
Loew, Thomas; Clausen, Jens; Westermann, Udo (2005): Sustainability Reporting in Germany: Summary of the Results and Trends of the 2005 Ranking, Berlin
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