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Communication in the Environmental Report
While there may be some consensus and convergence in terms of the content of Environmental Reports, there is a wide diversity of approach in terms of presentation styles and tone of voice. The perceptions of the report may be strongly influenced by presentation - but in the past little attention appeared to be given to the development of an appropriate style. As the number of reports increase, the importance of presentation style will increase: as the novelty wears off, the fight for attention begins. Dragon Research Study One target audience which most reporting companies to be important is environmental opinion-formers especially those who have a particular interest in environmental reporting. This may include journalists, some campaigning groups, policy researchers. Because this group is rather less accessible to companies that, for example, employees, peer companies, customers, we decided to try to understand how they react to the presentation styles of environment reports. They tend to receive many reports, and are so in a position to 'compare and contrast'. They are also highly sensitive - often without realising it - to issues of style and tone. They believe that environment reports are there to be read - and therefore need to be 'user-friendly' and reasonably attractive. The length of some reports was also mentioned critically - with the number of reports this audience receives, over-long reports (50 pages +) are too overwhelming and are likely to be 'skimmed and filed'. Layout should, in their view, be accessible and clear: signposting was a significant issue, as many people were 'dipping in and out'. Imagery must be used with care: the inclusion of 'nature' shots tends to be criticised - even if the use is relevant to the text. Glossy photos, especially if they are very large, tend to be commented on negatively. Charts and diagrams are crucial aspects of reports: information presented in chart form text. Sufficient weight needs to be given to well-designed, informative diagrams and charts. The presentation of 'raw data' is important: the instinctive reaction tends to be 'the more the better' - but many people admitted they did not really scrutinise it fully. Consistency with corporate style emerged as a significant issue. Respondents thought it important that the environment report should be designed in the main corporate style - to indicate that the company saw environment as a mainstream issue. the apparent expense of some reports was not always criticised - the view was that this at least showed the company was willing to spend money on environment. Few companies are actually completely consistent in terms of their environment report reflecting their corporate style. Some corporate styles may actually be very sympathetic to the presentation of this subject: corporate styles which were developed during the 80's, when companies were striving to look confident, dynamic, assertive, 'go-getting' - may find it quite hard now to appear to be responsible and responsive. Some evolution of corporate style (though not necessarily of corporate identity) may be required. 'Greenness' - terms of paper type, ink type etc. was an issue only for a few: all believed that it would be inappropriate for environment reports to be done completely differently from the rest of corporate material. The real issue, therefore, was to change corporate material overall. "Acceptable' paper was defined as non-bleached, 50 per cent + pcw recyclate. Dissemination Environment Reports need to be treated as a major mainstream corporate communications initiative, with a proper internal and external communications programme. Internal dissemination and briefing should normally precede external distribution; some "seeding' with key opinion-formers can be very helpful in positioning the report accurately, and in building more general opinions. Few companies appear currently to be using their Environment Reports positively and pro-actively with other material, in order to differentiate the company and provide relevant and interesting information. For example, in a survey Dragon conducted of how major companies deal with enquiries from different stakeholders, none were including the Environment Report in packs for potential investors or employees - which is surely missing an opportunity. The environment report why do companies report their environment performance? In the UK, two-thirds of the top 100 companies refer to their environment performance in their annual reports now; one third of these companies are producing separate environmental reports. The number of companies in the UK and world-wide producing separate reports is increasing steadily, and can be expected to continue to increase. A variety of factors have led to this:
"report annually on their environmental records, as well as on their use of energy and natural resources', and 'adopt and report on the implementation of codes of conduct promoting best environmental practice, such as the Business Charter for Sustainable Development of the International Chamber of Commerce and the chemical industry's Responsible Care initiative'. Over 1200 companies have now signed the ICC Charter, and should therefore be reporting externally on their performance.
The chemicals and oil industries have led the way in reporting, with several companies now on their fourth or fifth report. However, companies from less obvious sectors such as leisure and banking are also reporting, as good environmental performance is seen as an indicator of good and far-sighted management The food and drink and construction industries are just two of the sectors with major environmental impact which have been very slow to produce independent environment reports, however environment reports and annual reports Few companies include within their Annual Reports anything more detailed than a general commitment to improve environment performance, backed up by examples of a few initiatives. Some try to give a figure for expenditure on capital investment related to environmental improvement, and give an estimate of environmental liabilities, such as contaminated land. However, many are concerned about publishing such figures. The trend towards publishing detailed separate reports of environmental performance is likely to continue, because the amount of environmental information currently of interest to different audiences is more extensive than can be accommodated within a traditional Annual Report. content of report There has been considerable convergence in the content of the reports published over the last couple of years. Guidelines of good practice, such as the US Public Environment Reporting Industry, have contained many common elements, and these have been reflected in the content of reports produced by major multinationals. A detailed list of reporting guidelines can be found in the UNEP publication, Company Environmental Reporting. Whereas early reports tended to focus on setting out policies, explaining the environmental system and responsibilities, and listing manufacturing emissions data, the latest wave of 'leading edge' reports have been trying to explain their environmental impact in terms of their overall inputs and outputs, following the concept of the life-cycle of their materials and products. Companies are also trying to include more, and more robust, quantified targets for performance improvements - targets against which their future performance can be assessed. Several companies have included details of their compliance record, listing prosecutions. Far from attracting criticism for poor performance, this admission of error has tended to be widely applauded, and has enhanced the credibility of the overall report. presentation of report While content has been converging, styles have become very varied. Some are still in the 'green glossy' style, while other have aimed to impress by the seriousness of their approach and the quantity of data presented. Dragon's research highlights the important contribution presentation style can make to the way in which the report is received, and the credibility of the content. There is no 'ideal' style: the appropriate style depends on the industry sector of the company, and the main audiences being addressed. The style appropriate for a report intended for wide dissemination among the community surrounding a manufacturing site will be very different form one targeted at international regulators and environmental opinion-formers. One of the most important style-related issues to emerge was that of consistency with the overall corporate style. Dragon's analysis of a cross section of environmental reports from UK companies shows that few consistently apply the corporate style. This can be interpreted by critical audiences as suggesting that environment is not a mainstream corporate issue - entirely the wrong message. Some companies have tried to give environment reports a 'green' feel - by printing on obviously recycled paper by using imagery from nature. This tends not to be well-received by more critical audiences. Where the company's corporate style is such that it is difficult to apply to environmental communications, it may be the case that the corporate .style is itself inappropriate and ripe for re-assessment - especially likely when environment is an important issue for the company.
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