Developing sustainability reporting - Case Cargotec - Aaltodoc

Approximately half of the customers preferred web-based reporting with the option for pdf.
Some of them even considered hard copy reporting as being against the concept of sustainability.
The other half thought that hard copy is better than web-based reporting because it is more
comfortable to read from paper and to automatically receive the information without having to
look for it.
6.5. Stakeholders’ views about external assurance
All of the analysts except for Analyst E thought that external assurance of sustainability
reporting is not necessary at this point in time. Analyst B noted that “it can be hard to assure
sustainability reporting in practice and there are problems of objectivity since no uniform criteria
exist.” Moreover, Analyst F thought that auditors might not have enough competence in the area.
However, it was acknowledged that assurance adds credibility and helps in building uniform
practices. Analyst E explained that assurance is one of the indicators measured in the bank’s
sustainability analysis since “it provides more confidence in the accuracy of the data.”
The customers had mixed views about external assurance of sustainability reporting.
Approximately half of them thought that external assurance is not necessary, while the other half
were of the opposite opinion. For example Purchasing Manager at Customer Company D
suggested that sustainability reporting should be assured; Customer Company D itself uses
external auditors who audit both the reporting and the processes behind. According to Corporate
Responsibility Manager at Customer Company B “external assurance works as a tool to check
and balance that everything is being considered – it adds credibility and transparency, but is
becoming a business for the assurers.” Corporate Responsibility Manager at Customer Company
D suggested that assurance is not necessary for sustainability reporting, but instead it is more
important to assure the processes followed. On the contrary, Purchasing Manager at Customer
Company C explained that “external assurance is not necessary, the GRI is enough.”
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