Long before the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) formally introduced sustainability reporting guidelines in 2019, large corporations have been publishing their sustainability reports as part of their best practices. While these reports are essential for compliance and transparency, there are important narratives that remain “unreported” in the public sphere.

The gap between data and impact: what is missing?

It takes an extensive amount of time, research, verification, and money to produce metrics, frameworks, and disclosures to create a sustainability report. However, public engagement can get low. Achievements and good intentions often get lost in the jargon and technical details. 

Sustainability reports need to be “storified” for specific reasons. Investors need to be convinced that they’re investing wisely. Talents want to know which are the best companies they can work in. The public could use information to make purchase decisions and establish brand loyalty.

This is the communication gap filled by the partnership between WSP, Inc. – a public relations agency – and BSD (Business for Sustainable Development) – a non-profit organization for sustainable business.

The PR sense

Public Relations is the discipline that translates data into audience-centric and media-friendly dialogue, making complex sustainability reports become human-scale narratives that resonate with media, influencers, and general audiences. 

WSP leverages BSD’s expertise and global chest of information on sustainability to craft content that is timely, newsworthy, and relevant. This partnership turns compliance into headlines that inspire action, shaping stories from boardrooms and assurance processes to the legacy (traditional) and new (online) media spectrum where influence is cultivated.

When PR lifts sustainability stories from the pages of reports, companies capture value that builds brand reputation, deepens stakeholder trust, establishes industry leadership, attracts talent, and earns consumer loyalty.

Report the unreported beyond sustainability

Every company deserves to celebrate the hard work they put into every sustainability report they publish. Documentation and compliance should not be the end goal – it’s the closing of the gap between data and impact. Let the new WSP-BSD partnership create your banner stories of sustainability for you.