If awareness is a precursor to action, new research suggests the world’s leading corporations are getting more sophisticated in tracking and influencing the environmental, social and governance-related issues that can affect their operations in the developing world.
Last year 72 percent of companies listed in the Standard & Poor’s 500, a stock market index which tracks 500 leading companies, published a sustainability or corporate responsibility report — a marked jump from the 52 percent the previous year, according to research released this week by The Governance & Accountability Institute.
In 2011 the number of companies publishing sustainability or corporate responsibility reports was only about 20 percent, according to the research.