Corporate leaders are challenged to step up to greater commitments on sustainability, and to ensure they have performance measures for behaviour directly linked to responsibility and trust if they are to succeed. With sustainability driving trust and innovation, companies are making it core to their strategies and activities, so having stand-alone CSR (corporate social responsibility) departments looks like a fast-declining trend. This is according to global reputation auditors Echo Research, in their latest report, "A World in Trust - Leadership and Corporate Responsibility" with the International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF).

David is Climate Change Adviser to Tomorrow’s Company and was the author of the Tomorrow's Company report Tomorrow's Climate - beyond peak carbon which you can find here. This article is based on David Vigar's speech at the launch of that report on 16th July 2009.

What difference do sustainability reports make to business strategy?

84% believe business should help address global issues. So why, then, are some companies still being slow to respond? And how can their finance teams help them to get to grips with this agenda? A global survey by CIMA and the Institute of Business Ethics looks at how companies are managing their ethical performance and explores the finance function’s potential contribution.