Beyond the balance sheet

Investors want to understand how a Project operating entities creates long-term value. This narrative must be connected with financial and non-financial information. Companies must do more than just look at the balance sheet.

This resource provides project operating entities with definitive, step-by-step guidance on how to prepare comprehensive and integrated annual reports. It addresses the modern corporate value creation pillars – strategy, governance, risk management, and performance – and integrates material sustainability (ESG) factors.

Comprehensive and Integrated Reporting. Meeting information needs of all stakeholders

Sustainability Statements Transparency (SST) presents a company's key climate-related information in one place.

The standardised framework improves transparency by allowing all stakeholders to review and compare progress on commitments.

The SST report is published on an annual basis. The SST also serves to ensure that companies are held to account for their public commitments. It is the responsibility of participating BidCarbon Standard Scheme companies to provide accurate data and information for their SST report.

We work closely with other government regulators in several countries to report concerns about companies misrepresenting their green credentials. This includes the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Sustainability Statements Transparency report will continue to evolve and seek alignment with global carbon accounting frameworks and government policies. This includes the Government’s proposed mandatory climate-related disclosure arrangements.

As demand for climate-related information grows, we will continue to engage with eligible companies, industry associations and other stakeholders to further enhance the Sustainability Statements Transparency report.

The future of Sustainability Statements Transparency

Sustainability performance reporting provides a comprehensive picture of a company's impact on the environment and society. It includes the value created or eroded that is not captured in financial performance information.

Reporting on sustainability performance must answer the following information needs: 

● Disclosure of key performance indicators (or metrics) and targets used to measure, monitor and manage material sustainability-related risks and opportunities.

● Contribution to sustainable development. Provide an account of the company's contribution to broader societal and sustainability goals (for example, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Climate Agreement).

The following resources provide a comprehensive set of metrics that companies can use to prepare their sustainability statements:

Sustainability statements, like financial statements, are important for public accountability. The Tool for Agroecology Performance Evaluation (TAPE) represents a novel framework for consolidating global evidence on the role of agroecology in facilitating the transition to more sustainable agricultural and food systems. TAPE can be employed to assess a diverse range of production systems and agricultural sub-sectors, including crop and livestock production, aquaculture, fisheries, and forestry.

BidCarbon Standard Scheme projects must:

● Firm up the Tool for Agroecology Performance Evaluation (TAPE) as a sustainability performance tool from before the project started.

● The project activity will be evaluated annually using the TAPE. Provide consistent and comparable metrics and targets for the project's material ESG issues to allow comparison of performance over time and with peers.

Step 1

Sustainability performance

Step 2

ESG Standards

The following resources provide a comprehensive set of metrics that companies can utilise in the preparation of their sustainability statements:

Integration with IFC's ESG Standards (the Performance Standards on Environmental and Social Sustainability and Corporate Governance Methodology) using TAPE annual data.

Model Structure of Annual Report

The model structure aligns perfectly with the main recommendations of the governance, strategy, risk management (impact, risk, and opportunity management), and metrics and targets pillars of the IFRS S1 General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related Financial Information and IFRS S2 Climate-Related Disclosures and European Sustainability Reporting Standards. It is the ideal solution for your disclosure needs.

Suggested metrics for the SDGs

This overview of the IFC Dataset clearly demonstrates the alignment between IFC's ESG Standards and the SDGs. The Dataset provides a detailed mapping of the Standards against the SDGs in a searchable format, offering a comprehensive tool for understanding the relationship between these two sets of standards.

Sustainability statements – or sustainability performance summary – are defined by reference to financial statements and refer to a tabulated presentation of quantitative metrics reflecting a company’s sustainability performance on material environmental, social and governance issues.

Sustainability statements, like financial statements, are important for public accountability. Unlike sustainability key performance indicators, which are unique to the company’s business model and context, sustainability statements present an account of performance that is more standardized according to relevant sustainability metrics.

It is international good practice for companies to present information and data in their sustainability statements with comparative figures from the past two to three completed fiscal years. The scope of the reported information should be clear, especially if it differs from year to year. Any changes to the coverage of information should be explained.

Step 3

Sustainability statements

Step 4

Audit and Sustainability Assurance

Prior to submitting your sustainability statements, it is advisable to engage the services of a registered Independent Expert Evaluators (IEEs) to undertake a voluntary assurance audit. This type of assurance is valuable. providing a higher level of confidence in your reporting compliance. Voluntary assurance also plays a pivotal role in providing us with confidence in the accuracy and completeness of your reported information.

Financial statements must be audited in accordance with international standards, including the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), International Standards on Auditing (ISA) set by the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board, and other internationally recognised best practices, such as the Financial Accounting Standards Board's Generally Accepted Auditing Standards (GAAS).

The Sustainability Report must be submitted via the online service by 30 June each year; it cannot be withdrawn after 30 June.

Step 5

Disclosures

Unless otherwise instructed, we will disclose this in our ‘Annual Report’ on your project's promotional website within 30 days of the date we receive your submission.