Reflections on sustainability reporting and stewardship codes

This article is set against the background of the increasing environmental, social and governance responsibilities and obligations that have arisen for organisations, in both the private and public sectors. It focuses on two related issues. Firstly, the paper considers the development of sustainability reporting standards internationally and how the three main sets of standards are converging. It proceeds to examine the introduction of sustainability reporting in the commercial state-body sector in Ireland and highlights the need to build capacity and capability as sustainability reporting extends to other parts of the public sector. Given the importance of sustainability, the article makes the case for the inclusion of sustainability reporting in the Code of practice for the governance of state bodies. Secondly, it examines the growing use of stewardship codes internationally and the responsibilities and obligations associated with them. It proceeds to consider the case for the introduction of a stewardship code in Ireland. After examining the advantages and drawbacks of stewardship codes, it concludes that there is not a sufficient case for the introduction of such a code in Ireland.