Ranking of German sustainability reports underway

++ The German Council for Sustainable Development and the Ministry of Work and Social Affairs support the IÖW/future ranking of sustainability reports

++ New: A separate ranking for the reports of German small and medium-sized companies

Berlin, 5 December 2008 - The Institute for Ecological Economy Research (IÖW) and "future e.V." are once again assessing the sustainability reports of the 150 largest companies in Germany for the 2009 ranking. In addition, the sustainability reports of small and medium-sized companies will be evaluated for the first time with their own ranking. This project takes place under the aegis of German Federal Labor Minister Olaf Scholz and Dr. Volker Hauff, Chairman of the German Council for Sustainable Development.

The ranking of the sustainability reports encourages companies to compete in the area of entrepreneurial sustainability. Dr. Volker Hauff says: "Particularly in the current economic crisis, companies that have long relied on a sustainability strategy are proving successful. With this ranking we are thus supporting the best examples of readily understandable communication." In addition to the renewed backing of the German Council for Sustainable Development (RNE), this year the Ministry of Work and Social Affairs (BMAS) is supporting the rankings for the first time. "Sustainability reporting already plays a major role within the framework of corporate social responsibility and will continue to gain in importance. The many – often pioneering – activities of small and medium-sized companies must be made more visible. This is why we support a separate ranking for these businesses. It is intended to serve both as an official recognition and as an incentive," says Olaf Scholz, Germany's Minister for Labor and Social Affairs.

Focusing on small and medium-sized companies

In addition to the established ranking of the sustainability reports of the largest German companies, in 2009 small and medium-sized companies will have their own ranking for the very first time. "The ranking for small and medium-sized companies will bring additional momentum to sustainability reporting in Germany," says Jana Gebauer, Project Director at IÖW. "After all, small and medium-sized companies in particular often act as pioneers with innovative concepts," says Gebauer.

The development of the assessment criteria

The new ranking will take into account current developments in the area of sustainability reporting on a national and international level. In order to achieve this, the assessment criteria will be comprehensively updated and further developed. A special list of criteria is being compiled for the small and medium-sized company ranking. The new criteria are being discussed in a range of ways by companies, associations, politicians, administrative officials and NGOs. The criteria for large companies will be debated in an online forum in January and at a workshop in March. And the criteria for the small and medium-sized company rankings will also be discussed during a workshop in February. "The main focus for us is on dialogue with the companies. We want to encourage learning processes, so we are emphasizing transparency throughout the entire ranking process," says future Secretary Dr. Udo Westermann.

Surveys on current reporting

In order to gain a comprehensive overview of the reporting practices in Germany, the ranking team will also conduct two surveys: In January, the focus will be on small and medium-sized companies, and in April it will shift to Germany's 150 largest companies. The researchers at IÖW und future e.V. have already extended an invitation to small and medium-sized companies to submit their environmental and/or sustainability reports.

The results of the small and medium-sized company rankings will be made public in September, followed by the presentation of the results of the rankings of large companies in November. Information on the 2009 rankings is available online at:

www.ranking-nachhaltigkeitsberichte.de

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