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Experts Rate the Ratings

Over the last decade we have seen extraordinary growth in the number of ratings, rankings and awards that seek to measure corporate sustainability  performance. While ratings play an important role in improving corporate performance companies have struggled to keep up and many question the time and effort required to respond to raters' requests for information as well as how the information is being used, if at all.

The first of four deliverables of Phase Five of Rate the Raters sheds light on which ratings people pay attention to, how often experts use ratings & rankings and what they use them for as well as what experts feel raters need to do to become more effective at driving improvements in corporate sustainability performance. Michael Sadowski discusses the full results of the GlobeScan / SustainAbility survey of 850 sustainability professionals in Guardian Sustainable Business.

Watch video / Read article

Business Tools for Assessing Water Risk

The third edition of Water for Business developed by WBCSD in collaboration with IUCN and SustainAbility has been published. The report helps business identify the water tools and initiatives that will best meet a company’s specific needs for sustainable water management.

Jeff Erikson reports back from World Water Week in Stockholm where he was moderating a panel on harmonizing water tools. The session focused on perspectives from users - how they think about water risk and the kind of information they need to make decisions, and perspectives from developers - their experience of working with users and what companies need to think about when selecting tools.

Download report / Read more

Essential Components of Sustainability Leadership

It seems we have entered the age of the Big (Sustainable) Idea – Unilever’s Sustainable Living Plan, Marks & Spencer’s Plan A, GE’s ecoimagination, Nike Better World – are some of the most high profile branded corporate sustainability programs. At SustainAbility we have been watching and assessing sustainability branding and leadership for years. Mark Lee and Chris Guenther assess how important such initiatives are to a company’s performance potential. Jeff Erikson reflects on how integrating vision, engagement and performance makes leaders and winners in cycling, and in sustainability.

Read Mark and Chris's blog / Read Jeff's blog