ACCA announce environmental reporting award winners

The overall award for the best example of environmental reporting in 1988 went to Anglian Water plc – a regular environmental reporter which won the award for the quality and depth of its coverage. The judges, consisting of academics, environmentalists, ACCA and the Government, particularly noted the corporate environmental expenditure and financial data included and the good use of benchmarking, describing the report as “well rounded, covering all issues necessary to gain a clear picture of their environmental commitment and actions”.

The runner up for the overall award was the Ipswich-based Eastern Group plc, which earned significant praise from the judges for its approach to ecoefficiency and sustainable development.

The best first time reporter prize went to Vauxhall Motors Ltd for its innovative efforts in communicating the environmental impacts of its trading activities. The Co-operative Bank plc collected a special commendation for the quality of its social reporting and its commitment to stakeholders. The judges also gave a special commendation to BAA for its approach to site reporting and made special mention of the site reports of Heathrow and Stanstead airports. Other shortlisted companies included: BP; British Airways; Celestica; Curtis Fine Papers; ICI; Scottish Hydro Electric; Shell; Solutia; and Wessex Water.

Presenting the awards, Environment Minister Michael Meacher threw down the gauntlet to other companies – particularly the those in the FTSE top 350 – challenging them to improve the quality of their environmental reporting in the next year. He warned: “There is a huge debate going on at the moment about howwe deliver our international commitments to reducing greenhouse gases and our national target to reduce greenhouses. We will need a mix of measures to achieve results. But the first and most basic step is that you have to be able to measure your emissions. Next year I will name and shame – and I will put the boot in.”

The winner of the 1998 award will go forward to the European Environmental Reporting Awards, of which ACCA is co-sponsor. Companies from the UK, France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark have submitted entries for the European Awards, now in their third year.