that will help investors better understand the sustainability of companies.
Its work is highly sector-specific, that is, within an industry.
And that's because different industries have different aspects of business that
have the most impact.
For example, a mining company needs to show how it deals with pollution and
indigenous populations.
But a retailer needs to show how its suppliers operate and
how it's making its own operations more efficient.
You can go to the SASB website, so that's sasb.org, and download the standards for
about a dozen different industries.
Here's an example of the metrics that SASB recommends for
companies in the healthcare delivery sector.
CDP collects information on carbon emissions, water use, and forest health.
It's got very detailed surveys that companies fill out.
Some companies find them so detailed that they leave some of the data blank.
About 5,000 companies report to CDP.
So CDP is a data depository, but
it also produces analytic reports based on the data it collects.
All of the reports I'm aware of are available for free download.
Reporting to CDP is fairly common among the large companies.
About 70% of S&P 500 companies report to CDP.
This is probably smart because CDP identifies non-reporters.
The fourth item on the credibility list was having a sustainability report assured
or verified by a third party.
This is similar to having something audited.
An auditor, hopefully who is objective, examines a report and
verifies that it's accurate.
About 46% of reporting companies have their reports verified in this way.
Most of the verification is done by accounting firms, but
engineering companies and some specialty consultants also do some of this work.
Now we've covered a lot of territory in this lecture,
reasons to create a sustainability report, how to create a credible report.
And next lecture, I want to discuss the components of a typical CSR report and
then relate how two experts say you should read these reports, thanks.