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Creating the Most Value with your COP

The COPs only develop their value creating potential for a company and its stakeholders if the COP is based on key considerations. Based on our previous Hints and Tips and recommendations by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI G3 ) and the AccountAbility (AA1000 Series) , the following aspects should be considered to ensure the effectiveness of the process, the quality of the content and credibility of disclosed information.

Process Effectiveness

Make the Connections

• Review the ten principles closely in order to understand the connections that exist between the principles and the companies’ vision / strategy, polices, activities and measurement and reporting systems already in place for current internal, government, investor, or industry association reporting (i.e. your companies CSR report, GRI…).

Content Quality

Be Complete

• There is no expectation that all ten principles will be covered in every COP, nor all 10 principles addressed to the same extent, nor that small companies will be able to provide as much depth and breadth in their COPs as multinational companies. However, the information contained within a COP should be complete and accurate enough to assess and understand the organization’s performance in relationship to the 10 principles and related issues.

Provide Context

• Your COP should be a document that seeks to put into context the actions and indicators so that readers can make informed judgments as to the extent of the challenges and the depth of your commitment.

Ensure Relevance

• COPs should contain all information that is necessary for a stakeholder to judge the sustainability performance of the company. Assuring that this is the case is best determined via a stakeholder dialogue process e.g. AA 1000 or that described in the GRI G3 guidelines.  

Define Boundaries

• Some companies specifically define the boundaries of their responsibility. This can be very useful in helping to manage stakeholder expectations and also to foster a dialogue about the boundaries.

Make Your COP accessible

• Language: A COP should be created in the language which is most appropriate for the companies’ stakeholders.
• Structure: A COP needs to be structured so that the report clearly communicates the companies progress in implementing the 10 principles. Some companies achieve this through a index or table of contents that directs the reader to the page on which they can find information relevant to the 10 principles. However, emerging best practices indicate the most effective way to structure the report is to base the report on the principles themselves.
• Chart progress: Reported information should be presented in a manner that enables readers to analyze changes in the organization’s performance over time and to follow-up on commitments a company has made in earlier COPs.

Use Standard Indicators

• Use Indicators, appropriate for your companies’ size, sector and unique operating environment, that allow for benchmarking and comparability, such as those of GRI.

Communication of Credibility

Present a Balanced View

• COPs should reflect positive and negative aspects of the organization’s performance to enable a reasoned assessment of overall performance.

Be Specific

• Avoid Generic Statements: As companies implementation and communication on progress of the principles matures it is important that the COP not contain generic statements (e.g. “we have a training program for suppliers”), but rather include more specific descriptions (e.g.“we trained 50 suppliers on how to improve their spill response performance”).

Provide Assurance

• Companies should develop systems and monitoring evaluation programs (such as peer review, third party assurance…) to assure that the information they are recording, collecting, analyzing, and disclosing is accurate and reliable.