2Sustain

It’s becoming increasingly commonplace for companies to present environmental information on their websites, but most can do better on data substance and timeliness, according to new research from AltaTerra Research.

The new report, “Greening the Company Website: A New Era in Sustainability Reporting,” details the results from a study of the websites of 60 recognized corporate sustainability leaders, representing 13 different industries.

Here are a few findings that caught my eye:

• On a scale of zero to three, the average score per attribute was two. The authors point out that this means companies of all types have opportunities to improve sustainability reporting and communications through their corporate websites.

• Nearly all of the 60 companies studied provided clear direction to their environmental sustainability information. On a scale of zero to three, the average score for this type of navigation was 2.94.

• The lowest scoring attribute overall was timeliness. The average score for this attribute was 0.87.

• No industry did worse or better than another. Scores varied wildly across the different sectors.

Last month, Sustainable Investment Research Analyst Network (SIRAN) reported that 93 of the S&P 100 now provide at least some sustainability information on their web sites — an increase of more than 60 percent from 58 companies from the SIRAN study in 2004. That’s encouraging news and even more proof that over the past few years CSR reporting has become an integrated, fundamental component of corporate business plans.

More information and a link to download a free summary of the AltaTerra Research report are available here.