What is a Sustainability Report?

It is an official document prepared to measure, evaluate and report company’s environmental, social and managerial performance. A sustainability report shows the effectiveness and performance of a company’s sustainability strategies. To be more specific; The sustainability report deals with the environmental impacts of companies, carbon footprint, water use, waste management, environmental management, energy efficiency, product recycling, human rights, labor rights, contribution to society, occupational health and safety, ethics and transparency.

Why should you have a Sustainability Report Verification?

Sustainability report verification describes the review and verification of a company’s sustainability performance by an independent third party. These reports often include environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors and are used to measure the way the company is making progress and meeting its sustainability goals.

Sustainability report verification enhances the accuracy and reliability of companies’ sustainability statements and provides a robust framework for monitoring and improving companies’ performance. It is also requested by investors, customers and other stakeholders, and the verification of its reports indicates the company’s commitment to transparency, accountability and improving its sustainability performance.

Sustainability report verification is performed based on the internationally accepted verification standard GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) guidelines or criteria set by other independent verification companies. The verification process includes reviewing the company’s sustainability report, checking data and management systems, assessing accuracy and integrity, and evaluating the transparency and quality of the reporting process.

The sustainability report verification process may include the following steps:

Preparation: The company indicates that it wants to verify the sustainability report and initiates a verification process. In this process, the scope, objectives, dates and sources of verification are determined.
Evaluation: The verification company evaluates the company’s sustainability report and checks that the data, methods and analyzes contained in the report are correct, reliable and comprehensive. At this stage, the verification company also evaluates the methods and reporting standards used by the company to measure its sustainability performance.
Reporting: The verification company verifies the company’s sustainability report and prepares a report on the reporting process. This report certifies that sustainability performance is accurate and reliable, or identifies any issues or deficiencies.
Post-reporting: By using the verification report, the company provides more transparent and reliable communication of its sustainability performance. The verification report demonstrates the accuracy and reliability of the company’s sustainability performance to its stakeholders. It also provides an opportunity to make improvements in future reporting processes by identifying problems in the reporting process.