Reporting approach
Defining report content
This report details our performance during fiscal year FY20 (1 April 2019 through 31 March 2020) in managing key issues and targets identified through our materiality assessment, and it is reviewed and approved formally by our Executive Committee. Our previous report (covering FY19) was issued in June 2019.
Determining what to include in this report begins with an understanding of our impacts throughout our value chain, which include our associations with business partners, our work undertaken for clients and our thought leadership activities. This report addresses those items that are of significant interest to our stakeholders and to ERM's business strategy.
We conduct annual materiality assessments as part of a three-year cycle. During year one, we undertake a comprehensive evaluation, while during years two and three, we perform a streamlined review to confirm that our material topics continue to be appropriate for our company – and make adjustments as needed. Based on the results of the materiality assessments, we set targets to track the effectiveness of our management of our material sustainability issues.
The key elements that we focused on in developing this report include:
- Engagement with stakeholders: This report responds to feedback from our stakeholders, which helped inform our materiality assessment and the report content.
- Sustainability context and value chain: We explain how we see the role of ERM in wider sustainability issues, the impact we have through our client work and own operations, and the role that our experts play in professional associations, industry forums and other thought leadership activities to address important issues raised by our stakeholders.
- Materiality: We identify and describe the material topics that are important to our stakeholders and the business, and set out our associated performance for the reporting year as well as targets for the coming year and beyond.
The GRI Standards set out principles for defining reporting quality, and we have taken a number of actions to meet these principles:
- We safeguard the quality of information contained in this report through a robust assurance process leveraging internal and external expertise; and
- We continue to improve the availability of timely information to internal leaders in order to inform decision-making and drive performance.
ERM has taken steps to make sure that the information, data and materials mentioned in this report are correct at the date of publication. However, ERM is not able to guarantee that the information, data and materials remain correct after that date. For this reason, the contents of this report is provided for informational purposes only and may not be relied on. ERM disclaims liability for any reliance made on the information, data and materials contained in this report.
If you would like more detail on any information contained in this report please contact Sustainability@erm.com.