Corporate sustainability a hot commodity. (News and Views).

According to a new KPMG survey, 45% of the Fortune global top 250 companies (GFT250) are now issuing environmental, social or sustainability reports in addition to their financial reports. This is a global tend, and an increasing number of the companies are having these reports independently verified.

These are just a couple of findings of a comprehensive survey of corporate sustainability reports by KPMG's global sustainability services, in collaboration with the Graduate Business School of the University of Amsterdam. Similar surveys were completed in 1993,1996 and 1999. The 2002 survey also revealed the following:

* Of the GFT250 companies surveyed, 45% published a separate corporate report on their performance, compared to 35% in 1999.

* Of the top 100 companies in each of the 19 counties included in the survey, Japan has the highest percentage (72%) of companies producing corporate reports, followed by the UK (49%), USA (36%), Netherlands (35%), Finland (32%) and Germany (32%).

* Health, safety and the environment are still the most common reporting types, but others are emerging, including sustainability and social reports.

For more information visit www.kpmg.ca.