Singapore still lags in CR reporting

CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY       BUSINESS GROWTH

Singapore – Singaporean firms are in the bottom 20% of global companies which actively report on their corporate responsibility (CR) initiatives.

According to a report by accounting firm KPMG, only 43% of local firms reported on their CR efforts last year. This is slightly behind the Asia Pacific (APAC) average of 49% and the global average of 95%.

KPMG said CR reporting is critical as drives innovation and encourages learning, which can in turn help companies grow and increase their organisational value.

“In our own experience in the market, we have witnessed countless companies discover new opportunities for business improvement by analysing their corporate responsibility reporting data and developing countries improvement programmes to effect lasting change,” the report said.

Developing countries were also found to be the most active in CR reporting, but countries that top the list were the UK at 100%, Japan with 99% and the US with 83%. Countries which fell behind Singapore included New Zealand and Chile (27%), India (20%) and Israel (18%).

This is the first time Singapore in included in the report, and it said the city state still had a lot of catching up to do. It added local companies are not doing enough in terms of reporting on issues relating to water, regulation and supply chain.

However, Singaporean organisations were on par with the global average for identifying risk management and employee motivation as drivers behind CR. Despite that, they still lagged behind in terms of future focused issues such as access to capital, innovation, strengthening supply chain relationships and management.

“As more Singapore companies operate overseas and supply to leading global organisations, they need to send a message that they hold CR information in high regard,” Sharad Somani, head of KPMG’s sustainability advisory in Singapore, said.

“Having an external assurance programme for their CR efforts is the best way to establish the corporate value of their CR information while increasing the focus on internal management and processes.”

The report surveyed Global Fortune 250 (G250) companies and top 100 companies in 34 countries worldwide, across 15 industry sectors.
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