Nine organisations have shared the first 11 Awards given by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) for Sustainability Reporting in the UK. At a ceremony in London this morning, the winning organisations received their awards from the Rt. Hon. Michael Meacher MP, Minister for the Environment, and Lawrie Quinn MP, Parliamentary Private Secretary to Douglas Alexander MP, Minister for Corporate Social Responsibility.
Rachel Jackson, Social & Environmental Manager at ACCA, said: "After ten years of UK Environmental Reporting Awards and six years of the European scheme, we have established a new structure for our UK awards to reflect the ever increasing public awareness of the environmental, social and economic impacts of business. Companies are under mounting pressure from investors, governments, NGOs and other stakeholders to demonstrate their efforts to manage the effects of their operations. Public environmental, social and sustainability reporting is now the main route through which corporate accountability and integrity can be demonstrated."
The ACCA Award scheme was restructured in 2001 under the title ‘The ACCA Awards for Sustainability Reporting’. This new scheme embraces three different award categories: the ACCA UK Environmental Reporting Awards, the ACCA Social Reporting Awards and a new category, the ACCA Sustainability Reporting Awards.
The Rt. Hon. Michael Meacher MP, Minister for the Environment, said: "To survive and prosper in competitive international markets, companies must get to grips with environmental issues. The best businesses are now increasing their economic output while using less energy, material or land. Others need to follow their lead. They also need to broaden their management to include all aspects of corporate performance, including the social and environmental alongside economic concerns."
The Award winners are set out below:
Sustainability Reporting Awards category
* Joint best sustainability report: BT Group plc
* Joint best sustainability report: The Co-operative Bank
* Joint best sustainability report: Shell International
* Commendation for SME sustainability reporting: Risk and Policy Analysts Ltd
Environmental Reporting Awards category
* Best environmental report: ScottishPower
* Best first-time report: Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council
* Best SME report: Waste Watch
Runner-up, Best first-time report: CIS
Social Reporting Awards category
* Best social report: CIS
* Joint commendation for social reporting: Camelot Group plc
* Joint commendation for social reporting: The Co-operative Bank
