New Metrics

The new and evolving metrics that are helping expand the way businesses create, quantify, manage and report their impacts – and the value they deliver

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New Metrics
GRI and Sustainability Context: Explain It Like We’re Four
GRI and Sustainability Context: Explain It Like We’re Four
Published on March 19, 2012
About a 8 minute read

“Now, explain it to me like I’m a four year old,” says Denzel Washington to Tom Hanks in the 1993 film Philadelphia. We pose this same question to the Global Reporting Initiative, the standard-setter for sustainability reporting. ... View More

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Clarifying the Business Case for Sustainability and CSR
Clarifying the Business Case for Sustainability and CSR
Published on February 6, 2012
About a 6 minute read

Michael Porter and Mark Kramer once wrote: "No business can solve all of society’s problems or bear the cost of doing so." Striking a similar chord, Aneel Karnani later said: "...the idea that companies have a responsibility to act i... View More

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Are Materiality Matrices Really Material?
Are Materiality Matrices Really Material?
Published on December 1, 2011
About a 5 minute read

While it is common practice now for corporate sustainability reports to include materiality matrices, whether or not they actually serve their purpose is debatable. Indeed, we (the Center for Sustainable Organizations) don't think they do, and have s... View More

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GRI Responds to "Enforce or Explain"
GRI Responds to "Enforce or Explain"
Published on October 17, 2011
About a 5 minute read

GRI has now formally responded to the Enforce or Explain campaign we (the Center for Sustainable Organizations) launched last month in which we suggested that it either enforce the ‘sustainability context’ principle in its Guidelines, or explain ... View More

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A Public Plea to GRI: Enforce or Explain
A Public Plea to GRI: Enforce or Explain
Published on September 16, 2011
About a 5 minute read

Earlier this month, we (the Center for Sustainable Organizations) issued a press release in which we called for GRI to either enforce the ‘sustainability context’ requirement in its standard, or explain why it doesn’t. Motivated, in part, by GR... View More

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Do LCAs Measure Up To Sustainability?
Do LCAs Measure Up To Sustainability?
Published on August 15, 2011
About a 5 minute read

Despite the growing use of LCAs (life cycle assessments) to measure the sustainability of products, a strong case can be made that the one has less to do with the other than most people think. By design, LCAs provide a way of quantifying the environm... View More

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Sustainability Context – What Is It?
Sustainability Context – What Is It?
Published on July 18, 2011
About a 3 minute read

As some readers of this column may already know, I have for the past several years been advocating for the adoption of an approach to sustainability management known as context-based sustainability, or CBS. CBS is not only the most intellectually ri... View More

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Do Winning Sustainability Reports Measure Up?
Do Winning Sustainability Reports Measure Up?
Published on April 20, 2009
About a 7 minute read

Ahead of his breakout session on Strengthening Your Brand with Context Based Sustainability at Sustainable Brands '09, Mark McElroy writes on The Global Reporting Initiative's (GRI) call for context in all sustainability reporting. While even award-w... View More

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Corporate Sustainability Reporting - Where's the Context?
Corporate Sustainability Reporting - Where's the Context?
Published on March 23, 2009
About a 8 minute read

Call me old-fashioned, but I think a sustainability report should actually tell us something about the sustainability performance of the organization it describes. In order to do that, though, it must include context. ... View More

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Defining "Sustainability": An Open Letter to the FTC
Defining "Sustainability": An Open Letter to the FTC
Published on March 26, 2008
About a 7 minute read

On April 30, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will conduct a second public workshop in its continuing efforts to address the question of how sustainability claims in advertising should be handled. ... View More

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Mark McElroy on What's Wrong with Sustainability Reporting
Mark McElroy on What's Wrong with Sustainability Reporting
Published on March 24, 2008
About a 4 minute read

While it's great to see so many companies embracing sustainability reporting, most aren't giving us the whole picture, says Mark McElroy, founder of the Center for Sustainable Organizations (CSO). Mark is no armchair critic, however. CSO has spent th... View More

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