What is sustainability reporting? What is covered in a sustainability report?

Sustainability reporting is a process for publicly disclosing an organization's economic, environmental, and social performance. Such reporting satisfies the needs of shareholders, customers, communities, and other stakeholders for information about overall organizational performance.

The term "sustainability reporting" is synonymous with triple bottom line (TBL) reporting, citizenship reporting, social reporting, and other terms that encompass the economic, environmental, and social aspects of an organization's performance.

As corporate reporting on environmental, social responsibility and economic performance has evolved and gained wider acceptance, the types of reports discussed above are increasingly being described as sustainability reports. These reports cover matters typically required by a sustainability framework, such as the Global Reporting Initiative's (GRI) Sustainability Reporting Guidelines on environmental, social and economic performance.