Aegis Group – Reporting
“As an organisation very much at the beginning of our environmental reporting journey, the plethora of environmental standards and protocols is muddling the field and was obscuring progress towards the very goal they are trying to achieve: clarity and accountability. Carbon Smart helps us make sense of it all. They are instrumental in helping us take the next step in our environmental reporting journey.” Frank Krikhaar, Corporate Responsibility Manager
Client name: Aegis Group
Sector: Media
Project: Assurance readiness
When: Summer 2010
Summary
Aegis is one of the world’s leading marketing communications groups, offering a wide range of services ranging from communications strategy to media buying and marketing analytics. Aegis takes its responsibility towards environmental sustainability extremely seriously. But as a large, multi-national organisation spread over 6 continents and 24 time zones, measuring and monitoring environmental impacts is a complex undertaking.
Client’s objectives
• Improve the accuracy, quality, credibility and reliability of Aegis’s environmental reporting and data.
• Seek an external “limited assurance” audit
Process
To further improve its environmental reporting, Aegis is preparing for its first third party verification with the assistance of Carbon Smart. Our assurance team produced a set of recommendations on how to improve Aegis’ environmental reporting to sufficient standards to withstand the scrutiny of an external third party. The main challenges in this engagement have been the complexity of the company’s international operations and the short timeframe for preparations. Carbon Smart developed a roll out action plan to achieve assurance readiness in 2011:
• As a means to test the existing record keeping systems and analyse the quality of reported data, our team interviewed country champions across major international offices.
• Carbon Smart produced a guide to Aegis on the documentation and procedures that need to be developed and implemented.
• A month-by-month plan was developed, outlining actions required at country and headquarters level.
• A communications plan targeting all Aegis staff involved in the future data collection process was developed.
Success
The assurance readiness review identified both key success factors for Aegis and risks to be managed. The assessment equipped Aegis with a manageable and time bound plan to improve the effectiveness and consistency of reporting principles, allowing Aegis to confidently move forward towards gaining third party verification.