AA1000 AccountAbility Principles Launch Event

The event focused on leading practices in managing, measuring, and monitoring sustainability performance through the efficient implementation of the updated Principles.

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AccountAbility hosted a successful launch event for the new AA1000 AccountAbility Principles (AA1000AP, 2018) on the 18th September 2018 at a private club in Central London. The event focused on managing, measuring, and monitoring sustainability performance through the efficient implementation of the updated Principles.

The launch event began with opening statements from Sunny Misser, AccountAbility CEO, and Sir Mark Moody-Stuart, AccountAbility Advisory Board Member, Chair of the United Nations Global Compact Foundation, Chairman of Hermes Equity Ownership Services, director of Accenture and Saudi Aramco, as well as the former Chairman of Royal Dutch Shell Group and Anglo American. They spoke of the importance and timeliness of the newly added Principle – Impact.

Key themes that emerged from the discussion included:

• Drivers for organizations using the AA1000AP (2018), including increasing regulation and competition.

• The advantages of using a non-prescriptive sustainability framework, which provides “completeness, whilst simultaneously allowing for flexibility.”

• The use of the Principles to obtain buy-in from senior management and ensure alignment with middle management, highlighting a “need for expertise, credibility, and trust through all levels of an organization.”

• The AA1000AP (2018) can provide external stakeholder engagement guidance, with panelists stating that there is “real strength in actively listening with the intent of taking responsive action.”

• The challenge of measuring the impact of sustainability activities, sparking a debate around the need for organizations to define the “currency of impact.”

About the AA1000AP (2018)

The purpose of the AA1000AP (2018) is to provide organizations with a practical set of internationally accepted guiding principles with which they can assess, manage, improve, and communicate their sustainability performance.

Accountability’s AA1000AP (2018) is founded on the principles of:

• Inclusivity – People should have a say in the decisions that impact them.

• Materiality – Decision makers should identify and be clear about the sustainability topics that matter.

• Responsiveness – Organizations should act transparently on material sustainability topics and their related impacts.

• Impact – Organizations should monitor, measure, and be accountable for how their actions affect their broader ecosystems.

Download the AA1000 AccountAbility Principles (AA1000AP, 2018) for free at the link below.