The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and Ceres, a U.S. coalition of environmental and investor groups, today called for submissions to the seventh-annual Ceres-ACCA North American Awards for Sustainability Reporting.

The purpose of the awards program is to acknowledge and publicize best practice in reporting on sustainability, environmental and social performance by corporations and organizations and to provide leadership to those companies that are publishing or intend to publish sustainability reports.

The awards are not intended to endorse or reward corporate sustainability performance, but rather to acknowledge exemplary disclosure that places performance in the broader context of sustainability challenges, risks and opportunities. The judging criteria address completeness, credibility and quality of communication. The panel of 12 expert judges includes North American leaders representing a broad spectrum of backgrounds in the nonprofit, corporate and investment worlds. The deadline for submissions is October 24, 2008.

This year’s awards will also feature a water risk theme. The panel of judges will analyze how companies are reporting on the risks and opportunities related to water and highlight examples of best practices.

Last year, Ford Motor Company and the Timberland Company both received the top award for Best Sustainability Report, while Suncor Energy, Inc. was recognized for its climate change disclosure and Dell, Inc. for the company’s excellent reporting on product stewardship. Both ACCA and Ceres expect the number of applicants to increase this year.

Lynn Beauregard, Administrative Head of ACCA Canada said, "The quality of reports has improved greatly during the eight years of these awards. We are anticipating that trend to continue this year and hope to see more submissions from first time reporters."

Any Canadian, American or Mexican company, institution or organization can submit a report to the awards program. An organization not based in these countries can submit a report if it is solely focused on a site or subsidiary based in Canada, the United States or Mexico. Companies may apply on their own behalf or be nominated by others.

"Reporting environmental and social performance is essential for companies to both understand and mitigate financial risk and their environmental and social impact," said Mindy, S. Lubber, president of Ceres, a national coalition of investors, companies and public interest groups. "The Ceres-ACCA Awards recognize innovation, leadership, and best practices in such corporate reporting."

To apply
For more information about the 2008 awards please read the Applicants’ Info Flyer and visit www.ceres.org/reportingawards.

To submit your report you can download the application form or complete the online application by visiting www.ceres.org/ACCAreportingawardsapplication.

The deadline for submissions is October 24, 2008