Many stakeholders will need to engage with aspects of the sustainability information production cycle – whether making or recommending decisions or creating the necessary underpinning information. Before diving into the details, it is always helpful to appreciate the purpose and the bird’s-eye view of the information production process.

Appreciate the purpose of the sustainability information production cycle

Good-quality sustainability information that connects to business and financial information for use in the decisions of primary stakeholders is core to the business case for producing it.

Further, there is evidence to suggest that the act of producing this information supports better business through enablers related to governance and people, operation and risk management.

Our SME Guide explores these better business benefits, which are relevant to all organisations.

Gain a bird’s eye view of the sustainability information production cycle

Armed with the purpose for producing sustainability information, the next step is to consider ‘in brief’ the production stages: knowing the qualities, including the effort required to produce and limitations, of the resulting information is vital. This supports how to best approach and manage key relationships within the value chain who must provide data, or the business case to upgrade information systems to collect, process and report such data.

To help with the bird’s eye view, ACCA has developed both interactive highlights and a static ‘in brief’ guidance of the eight-stage sustainability information production cycle.

What next?

Once familiar with the bird’s eye view, professionals should explore the details as relevant to their roles and organisations’ circumstances, whether SMEs or otherwise, and so engage with the other content on this sustainability reporting hub.