Selecting Companies and Establishing Criteria

I am currently working on mapping sustainability performance with sustainability reporting. After all, one of the main purposes of sustainability reporting is to understand the health of the organization that it's investing in and to ensure that disclosure and being monitored results in improved performance. We are conducting five case studies of companies and cooperatives in the agriculture, animal farming, fish and aquaculture industry to assess their performance based on quantifiable and verifiable indicators.

Past literature has often been inconclusive in determining a link between sustainability performance and sustainability metrics, making one wonder what might have been missing in previous studies. It raises the question: if companies aren’t improving their performance based on reporting, then why not? Is there perhaps not enough incentive to improve based on the data they are sharing?

When it comes to criteria, we are focusing on environmental and social factors. Therefore, it seems more effective to look at cooperatives involved in production rather than just processing and packaging. This is because production-focused cooperatives often have more visible impacts on sustainability - it is easier to assess their environmental impact in areas like water use, soil health, and biodiversity preservation, as well as social factors such as labor rights and fair wages. However, one issue is that many cooperatives have only recently started reporting on their sustainability practices making it difficult to track their performance over time.

We are also looking at companies with larger market capitalization and revenue since measuring impact from those companies and seeing their performance improvement is most meaningful, however assessing their performance improvements with accuracy across the functions they cover can also be a problem.

Finally, another challenge is that many reporting frameworks tend to lump together sectors within broader industries, even when their operations are quite different. This can make it difficult to get a clear picture of how well companies are performing in their unique contexts - for example, agriculture, animal farming, fish and aquaculture industries have vastly different considerations for assessing performance.

Methodological Considerations: 

Right now, one of the questions we’re considering is about research methodology. Should we select the companies first and then establish the criteria, or should we develop the criteria and then find companies that meet those requirements? Both approaches have their advantages and disadvantages, and we’re still in the process of determining the best approach.

Team Work:

One of the most exciting aspects of this project is the diverse team I am working with. We come from a variety of professional backgrounds, which allows us to approach problems from unique angles. For instance, one team member has extensive expertise in impact measurement monitoring, particularly in the context of development and economic resilience for smallholder farmers. Another colleague brings valuable experience from the agri-tech sector and environmental policy, having worked on innovative solutions within food systems and sustainability. Additionally, another team member specializes in data analytics and economic research, focusing on sustainability reporting in emerging markets. My own background in legal and framework analysis, especially in ESG reporting, complements these diverse skill sets. Together, we are tackling the project from multiple perspectives, ensuring a comprehensive and well-rounded approach to our research.

Relevance of the project for me: 

For me, this project is particularly interesting because it ties into my larger professional goals of understanding how sustainability efforts translate into real-world improvements. Measuring sustainability and driving progress in environmental and social performance are crucial to addressing the challenges we face today.