The sustainability report needs a new brief

In becoming better disclosed, sustainability must not become less well communicated.

“If sustainability is covered in our annual report, do we still need a sustainability report?”

It is a reasonable question, and one we are hearing a lot. Preparing two publications takes time, money and considerable patience from the people supplying the information. If both repeat the same account, something needs to change. 

For years, the standalone sustainability report has carried an expanding brief: frameworks, data, policies, strategy, case studies, stakeholder voices and corporate ambition.

But today, disclosures once housed in sustainability reports are moving into annual reporting. For companies reporting under CSRD, for example, the sustainability statement belongs in the management report. UK Sustainability Reporting Standards (UK SRS) also connect sustainability-related risks and opportunities with a business' financial prospects.

Alongside regulatory change, businesses face pressure to streamline publications and control costs. Making content easier for AI tools to interpret adds another reason to keep figures and explanations consistent across publications. Together, these pressures can make removing the standalone report seem a logical answer.

That raises a fair challenge: what does a standalone sustainability report, a distinct publication with its own purpose rather than an extract from the annual report, now contribute?

Simply dropping it could miss a bigger opportunity. Adding disclosure to the annual report can make it longer without making the sustainability story clearer. The challenge is to meet reporting requirements while helping readers understand what matters and why.

The question businesses should now be asking is: What could sustainability reporting achieve when one document no longer has to do everything?

There are three routes to consider: retain the report, redesign it or retire it. The right choice depends on what your audiences need and how well your existing reporting serves them.

1. Retain the report with a clearer purpose

If your readers need a coherent sustainability account in one place, retain a standalone report with a clear purpose alongside the annual report.

It can explain the choices behind the commitments. Show what delivery looks like. Make the trade-offs clear. Help readers understand why the business is acting, where it is making progress and what remains unresolved.

A purposeful sustainability report can bring those elements together into an account worth reading. Procurement teams assessing a business, NGOs scrutinising its commitments or prospective employees researching its values may benefit from having that explanation and evidence in one place.

The report can also support conversations elsewhere. Managers explaining the strategy, suppliers seeking guidance and customers assessing products may need different content drawn from the same facts. Publishing the report alone will not reach everyone.

Different windows into the same story.

The best sustainability reports already work this way. The opportunity now is to make that purpose explicit from the start: who is the report for, and what should it help them understand or do?

It may also have a formal disclosure role. UK SRS disclosures can be incorporated by reference from a sustainability report, subject to applicable requirements. That choice needs careful coordination of publication timing, accessibility and any required assurance.

2. Redesign it around a specific need

If your audiences need more depth on a particular issue than a broad report provides, redesign the format around that need. An impact publication could explain the outcomes of a social programme. A transition-focused report could explore the choices, investment and challenges behind a climate commitment.

A digital account could let readers follow the topics that matter to them, with links to data and progress updates. The aim is to make the content more useful, not simply move the same document onto a screen.

3. Retire the standalone report and strengthen what remains

If your annual report and other communication channels can meet your audiences’ needs, retire the standalone report and strengthen those channels. At its best, the annual report connects sustainability to strategy, governance, performance and the business' prospects. Improve that account before commissioning another one.

Then address the conversations it cannot carry alone. Employees may need managers to explain how a transition plan affects their work; suppliers may need practical guidance. They need those facts made relevant to them. Those needs can justify better communication without justifying another report.

Start with the purpose

“We’ve always published one” and “it’s all in the annual report now” are equally incomplete answers. Start with your audiences: what do they want to know, and what do they need to understand, assess or do? Identify where existing reporting falls short, then choose the format that best meets those needs.

The evidence must hold across every channel. Moving technical detail elsewhere cannot mean leaving difficult truths behind. Missed targets and trade-offs belong in the story too.

Publication is a milestone. Understanding, trust and action are outcomes. Decide which you want to achieve before starting your next sustainability reporting cycle. 

If you’re reconsidering the role of your sustainability report, we’d welcome a conversation. Contact Selabe Kute, Sustainability Consulting Director, at  [email protected].