Key Themes in Environmental, Social and Sustainability Performance Evaluation and Reporting

Abstract

This chapter distinguishes five reasonably cohesive bodies of work that address environmental, social and sustainability performance evaluation and reporting (ESSPER) in an integrated way. They are: accountability/social responsibility, business viability, management accounting/performance measurement, organisational change, and contrarian. Each of these has different strands within it, usually including a mainstream and a radical variant. The chapter discusses environmental, social and sustainability performance evaluation. The history of environmental performance evaluation is one of great diversity, with many different strands developing in isolation from each other and only now becoming fully integrated. The chapter considers developments and issues in reporting, and provides the topics of comparability, standardisation and benchmarking. It then analyses issues of implementation and examines links between environmental, social and sustainability performance and financial performance. The chapter concludes with some thoughts on the current situation and future directions of development.