20th edition Awards for Best Belgian Sustainability Reports
27-08-2020
Awards for Best Belgian Sustainability Reports: apply now
Since many years the Institute of Registered Auditors (IBR-IRE) has taken an active role in sustainability reporting and corporate social responsibility (CSR). In particular, IBR-IRE organizes now every two years the Awards for Best Belgian Sustainability Reports.
Back in the 90's, the Award intended to celebrate the best environmental report. Only large entities took the initiative to communicate on their sustainability impact.
The Award evolved and now also takes into consideration the two other key pillars of sustainability, namely the social and economic factors. Nowadays, more Awards are given to reflect the fact that also NGOs, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the public sector as well as governmental organizations, schools and federations are convinced of the added value of sustainability reporting.
Focus on SDGs
The Jury focuses on how organizations can align their strategies and on how they can measure and manage their contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the United Nations in September 2015 and replacing the Millennium Goals (2000-2015) .
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a set of universal goals for sustainable development. The 17 goals cover highly varied themes, such as climate change, health, employment, innovation, and even the development of increased transparent institutions and the fight for justice for everyone. For the sake of clarity they are divided into 5 groups: People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace and Partnerships.
The SDGs represent the new strategic direction for the three pillars of sustainable development, being people-planet-profit, as well as for the strengthening of international peace and partnerships.
How to link the GRI Standards with the SDGs?
An updated resource is available to assist companies to report on progress in support of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through the GRI Standards.
The document dated March 2020 – Linking the SDGs and the GRI Standards – covers the 17 SDGs and maps them against the Standards and disclosures that apply for each. This makes it easier for organizations to use their reporting through the GRI Standards to assess how they impact the SDGs.
