– Sustainability Reporting Made Easy
Group 1:4 – Anna Hagman, Claud Henze, Gabriel Dagsanth, Michaela Sandberg & Victor Kjellström
The Construction & Real Estate industry in Sweden 2019
accounted for:
Boverket, 2017
PURPOSE PROCESS
RESULT
The project aims to provide the construction industry with a simplified framework for sustainability reporting.
Only about 0.2% of all Swedish companies are governed by law to provide a sustainability report. Many of these reports also do not meet the legal requirements1. The construction industry contributes large percentage of total waste and pollution. Throughout its value chain, both inputs and output have a large environmental impact. Looking at its further end, including the building process, maintenance and demolition, this involves prominent challenges from both an environmental and social aspect. 87% of all these companies have below 5 employees and thus do not need to report on
sustainability.
By making sustainability reporting easy, we want to increase the number of these reports, which in turn could help to promote a more
sustainable business practice in an industry that is in desperate need of more responsible businesses.
OUTLOOK & OPPORTUNITIES
CHALLENGES
Reporting in Construction
The project work towards SDG 7 by promoting a more efficient energy usage in an industry that accounts for nearly 40% of total energy consumption.
SDG 8 is addressed and primarily 8.4 and 8.8 as Sustainability Reporting
comprehends both Environmental and Social issues that engender a more sustainable enterprise.
12.4, 12.5 and 12.6 are important SDG’s as Sustainability Reporting promotes more sustainable businesses within the construction industry, which value chain includes heavy chemicals and waste all way through.
19%
of GHGs31%
of Waste32%
Energy of Usage
23%
of ParticlesThe most challenging aspect is to measure the use of the
template and to ensure that companies actually use it.
As a rather conservative industry with little openness and the general mindset to do “what we’ve always done”, another challenge was to create a genuine interest to use it in reality. Also, to simplify the template enough proved to be difficult. Despite efforts to use a basic language and create a straightforward process with instructions for each part, some businesses still expressed an incomprehension.
The lack of legislation forcing companies to report on sustainability, makes it difficult for companies to prioritize this. Perhaps legislation is needed to put more pressure on companies to gain insight into Sustainability Reporting. However, this is a long process, demanding high control and resources from authorities – where smaller companies might not be prioritized.
In agreement with Emilia Cederberg, researcher at SSE, the project scope was limited to smaller construction firms based on the industry’s fragmented market structure, issues with illicit work and environmental impact. Based on GRI and inputs from representatives from Handelsbanken and SEB, the project gave rise to the reporting framework, which consists of;
1. Information about Sustainability Reporting and its importance long-term
2. Template for stakeholder & essentiality analysis 3. Template for the final report
Also studies made by PWC, annual accounts from large firms as Skanska and Peab, as
well as SBUF:s guide for Sustainability Reporting was used in our project development. Once done, we have been in contact with about 20 companies with mixed interest.
Some are positive to use it in their next annual accounts, while others don’t understand its importance or value-add.
The harmful effects from the construction industry have reportedly been increasing. With stakeholders demanding more transparency and 73% considering sustainability in their purchase decisions2– consumers will likely review the suppliers more thoroughly as we shift towards a more consciously aware society. Therefore, smaller firms also have reasons to provide transparency, which can effectively be done through Sustainability Reporting.
By increasing the knowledge of its benefits, it is possible to increase the use of Sustainability Reporting and thus yield more responsible businesses. We are also convinced that sustainable reporting is necessary to increase the
transparency of companies, which in turn will induce them to work more actively towards the SDGs and strive towards a more sustainable business, both in terms of social and environmental aspects for a brighter and greener future.
The primary and concrete result is the Excel framework, which is both easy to download and share once filled in. As a result of the timing for final accounts, the impact has been difficult to measure.
While some businesses have been positive to use it in their coming annual accounts, this cannot be confirmed at this point in time, but is clearly an interesting prospect to follow.
By distributing our framework to business managers, some with no previous knowledge of sustainability or how to account for it, we hope to have planted a seed in their minds to explore using this framework in the future. Even if they don’t use this particular one, it will likely lead to think about sustainability within their businesses in the future.
Many a little makes a mickle…
1 PWC, 2019
2 Sustainable Brand Index, 2018
