Reporting on sustainability: A global initiative

HEADNOTE

An international coalition of companies, accountants, NGOs and trade unions is quietly changing the way companies report on sustainability issues.

"We now face an urgent need to secure the freedom of future

generations to sustain their lives on this planet - and we are failing to do it. We have been plundering our children's heritage to pay for unsustainable practices. Changing this is a challenge for rich and poor countries alike." These words by Kofi Annan, the UN secretary-general, in his report to the United Nations Millennium Summit last September, could not have been more blunt.

He stressed that governments could not achieve sustainability alone: "The rapid pace of change today frequently exceeds the capacity of national and international institutions to adapt." Part of the solution, he suggested, could be found in the emergence of "global policy networks", which he characterised as "coalitions for change -- which bring together international institutions, civil society and private sector organisations, and national governments, in pursuit of common goals." All partners would see their influence increase in such networks.