Customers want to know procurement 'fair trade' issues considered: US Report

A US report by Ernst & Young has stated that customers increasingly want to know that a company’s procurement take “fair trade” issues into account and also that its supply chain uses alternative energy sources.

One of the best ways to communicate these practices is through sustainability reports, and some believe that integrated sustainability and financial reporting could be the norm before the end of the decade, Ernst & Young said.

The report also said that while sustainability issues have traditionally fallen outside the jurisdiction of the chief financial officer, job silos are crumbling as investors, customers and other stakeholders increasingly evaluate companies on their “triple bottom line”. Increasingly, CFOs are getting involved in the measurement, management and reporting of companies’ environmental activities.

CFOs must now help communicate a robust sustainability story through the company’s investor relations, Ernst & Young says. “Work with your sustainability team to develop a sustainability story for your organisation. If current trends continue, the CFO could be the one telling it,” the consultancy reports.

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