Download source CSV for disaggregations
Headline data
Year | Value | Units | Series | Observation status | Unit multiplier |
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2020 | 266.0 | Number | Number of companies publishing sustainability reports | Normal value | Units |
This section provides metadata for the data reported for this indicator at the national level and at the global level.
- Goal
Goal 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
- Target
Target 12.6: Encourage companies, especially large and transnational companies, to adopt sustainable practices and to integrate sustainability information into their reporting cycle
- Indicator
Indicator 12.6.1: Number of companies publishing sustainability reports
- Series
- Related indicators
N/A
- Custodian agencies
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
United Nations Environment Programme(UNEP)
Field | National | Global |
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Organisation | Not available for this indicator |
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) United Nations Environment Programme(UNEP) |
Contact organisation unit | Not available for this indicator |
Not available for this indicator |
Contact email address | Not available for this indicator |
Not available for this indicator |
Field | National | Global |
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Definition and concepts | Not available for this indicator |
Definitions: Sustainability Reports: For the purposes of this indicator, ‘sustainability reports’ will not be limited to stand-alone sustainability reports produced by companies, but will be considered as ‘reporting sustainability information’ and expanded to other forms of reporting sustainability information, such as publishing sustainability information as part of the company’s annual reports or reporting sustainability information to the national government. This is to ensure that the focus of the indicator is on tracking the publishing of sustainability information, rather than on the practice of publishing stand-alone sustainability reports. It also ensures that the indicator interpretation is aligned with the wording of Target 12.6 which refers to promoting “the integration of sustainability information into the annual reporting cycle of companies”. Not every report called ‘Sustainability Report’ will be counted towards the indicator. In order to be counted, they will have to comply with a ‘minimum requirement’ in terms of sustainability disclosures reported on (see below). Company: While many companies report at the group level, many of their impacts will be local, and some subsidiaries or franchises produce separate sustainability reports. As a practice that should be encouraged, and one that is useful to monitor, is therefore proposed to count both the group and subsidiary/franchise level separately, as separate entities. “Company” can therefore apply to either the parent company, or a franchise or subsidiary, depending on their reporting practices. Concepts: It is proposed that, to be counted towards the indicator, companies must publish information that meets a “Minimum requirement” of disclosure. A core set of economic, environmental, social and governance disclosures of sustainability information is therefore identified. In defining these disclosure elements, the custodian agencies attempted to align with the disclosures that appear in existing related reporting frameworks, including the IIRC reporting framework, the Global Reporting Initiative Standard (GRI), the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) (see Annex I for a comparison of the various sustainability disclosures contained under each. It also attempts to align with the UNCTAD Core Indicators for company reporting on the contribution towards the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals. UNCTAD has prepared Guidance on Core indicators for entity reporting on the contribution towards the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to support entities in the provision of information under indicator 12.6.1 and governments in assessing the private sector contribution to the SDGs. The Guidance reflects the Agreed Conclusions of the thirty-fourth session of the Intergovernmental Working Group of Experts on International Standards of Accounting and Reporting (ISAR), which in 2017 requested UNCTAD to develop the guiding document. The UNCTAD Guidance includes detailed definitions and data sources for the core indicators in the company accounts to assist the entities in the reporting. The purpose is not to create a new reporting standard or framework, but to ensure that the minimum requirement for Indicator 12.6.1 is aligned with existing global frameworks currently used by companies, so that they may continue to use these frameworks and be counted towards the indicator. While establishing a minimum requirement in terms of reporting ensures that only companies disclosing meaningful information on all aspects of sustainability are counted towards the indicator, it could be perceived as giving the message that the minimum suffices and that companies do not need to go beyond it. Therefore, it is proposed that the methodology include an advanced level, with a further set of disclosure elements which would further provide impetus for examining and reporting on the sustainability practices and impacts of the company. These include: 1) stakeholder engagement, 2) assessing impacts beyond the company boundaries and along the supply chain; 3) supplier and consumer engagement on sustainability issues; 4) procurement and sourcing practices; and 5) environmental performance information in the form of intensity values to be monitored over time, such as consumption of energy, water or materials per unit of production or per unit of profit. Having different levels will also allow for information to be collected on the degree of reporting of different companies, including whether the same companies produce more ambitious reports, and go further in their sustainability practices with time, such as through supplier engagement. It would allow for companies who are beginning to produce sustainability reports to be counted towards the indicator once they achieve the minimum level, but provide incentive, through their inclusion in the indicator count, for them to work towards more ambitious reporting and demonstrate their progress over time. |
Unit of measure | Not available for this indicator |
Number of companies |
Classifications | Not available for this indicator |
Not available for this indicator |
Field | National | Global |
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Data sources | Not available for this indicator |
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Data collection method | Not available for this indicator |
The platform will be online and open access. It will include filters so that governments or other stakeholders will eb able to filter the information themselves, per country, sector, company size or disclosure element, to obtain the desired information.
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Data collection calendar | Not available for this indicator |
Annually thereafter |
Data release calendar | Not available for this indicator |
Annually thereafter |
Data providers | Not available for this indicator |
See list of repositories and databases in Annex II, plus governments that have complementary information. |
Data compilers | Not available for this indicator |
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Institutional mandate | Not available for this indicator |
Not available for this indicator |
Field | National | Global |
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Rationale | Not available for this indicator |
While the private sector has a critical role to play in the attainment of the SDGs, Target 12.6 and Indicator 12.6.1 are the only ones specifically monitoring the practices of private sector entities. While Indicator 12.6.1 counts the number of companies producing “sustainability reports”, the custodian agencies consider the indicator an important opportunity not only to monitor and promote the growth in sustainability reporting globally, but also to monitor and promote high quality reporting, promote the integration of sustainability information into the annual reporting cycle of companies, and promote sustainability practices by companies (as mentioned in the Target under which the indicator falls). Attempts have therefore been made to integrate all of these aspects into the methodology, to the extent possible. Given the above, the custodian agencies propose an approach whereby:
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Comments and limitations | Not available for this indicator |
N/A |
Method of computation | Not available for this indicator |
Companies will be counted towards the indicator if they publish sustainability information covering the following sustainability disclosures: Minimum Requirement: Institutional and governance:
Economic:
Environmental:
Social:
The methodology will make allowance for application of the ‘comply or explain’ principle for the minimum standard, which allows reporting entities to highlight why certain disclosures are not relevant for their specific company and make it more accessible to small companies. However, this would not apply to issues that have been identified as material to the company, on which they are expected to report. Advanced level requirement: As for minimum requirement, with the following additional disclosures and/or indicators: Institutional and governance:
Economic
Environmental
Social
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Adjustments | Not available for this indicator |
Not available for this indicator |
Treatment of missing values (i) at country level and (ii) at regional level | Not available for this indicator |
The analytics will be carried out in all official UN languages and a variety of other languages, but not all national languages will be covered. Therefore there could be some reports that cannot be captured for this reason. • At country level • At regional and global levels |
Regional aggregations | Not available for this indicator |
The data will be aggregated at the sub-regional, regional and global levels. In doing so, double-counting will be avoided, so a company may appear under several countries, but will only be counted once at regional and global levels. |
Methods and guidance available to countries for the compilation of the data at the national level | Not available for this indicator |
Not available for this indicator |
Quality management | Not available for this indicator |
Not available for this indicator |
Quality assurance | Not available for this indicator |
Not available for this indicator |
Quality assessment | Not available for this indicator |
Not available for this indicator |
National | Global |
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Not available for this indicator |
Data availability: Data will be made available for all member states that have companies publishing sustainability information, as defined by the indicator. Time series: The reporting on this indicator will be annual, given that most companies publish sustainability information on an annual basis. Disaggregation: The platform will generate the following information for each country, then aggregate per sub-region, region and globally (avoiding double-counting of companies during the aggregation):
It is proposed that:
Company sizes are currently defined differently in different jurisdictions. For Indicator 12.6.1, a simple split of ‘large’ and ‘small’ could be proposed, with large being more than 250 employees, and small and medium being less than 250 employees. This is in line with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), UN Global Compact definitions, and is the most frequent definition at the national level in terms of employee number. No minimum turnover requirement is prescribed due to the wide variation in turnover of companies of this size between countries. This is the definition of a company size that will be used by the custodian agencies for aggregation and comparability of data and analysis of trends at sub-regional, regional and global levels. However, definitions of company size used by national governments when carrying out their own analysis and presenting their Voluntary National Reviews could be different, in line with their national definitions.
A. Agriculture, forestry and fishing B. Mining and quarrying C. Manufacturing D. Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply E. Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities F. Construction G. Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles H. Transportation and storage I. Accommodation and food service activities J. Information and communication K. Financial and insurance activities L. Real estate activities M. Professional, scientific and technical activities N. Administrative and support service activities O. Public administration and defense; compulsory social security P. Education Q. Human health and social work activities R. Arts, entertainment and recreation S. Other service activities T. Activities of households as employers; undifferentiated goods- and services-producing activities of households for own use U. Activities of extraterritorial organizations and bodies
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Sources of discrepancies: N/A |
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Not available for this indicator |
N/A Annex 1: Comparison of related Reporting Frameworks used to define minimum requirement
Annex 2: Global and national repositories to mine for global 12.6.1 Database
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