The AA1000 Assurance Standard

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• The AA1000 Assurance Standard
• AccountAbility

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Credibility in a Low-Trust World
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Does Reporting Build Credibility Performance
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• Reports are not believed by stakeholders.
• Reports are not used to make decisions.
• Weak evidence that reporting improves performance.

• Credibly communicates about the reporting
  organisation.
• Enables report users (stakeholders) to make
  decisions on the basis of the report
• Improves performance of the reporting
  organisation by strengthening management and/or
  accountability.

Intended Benefits of Reporting
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• AA1000 Series
• Amnesty Internationals Human Rights Guidelines
  for Companies
• Association of British Insurers Guidelines
• CERES Principles
• DJSI
• Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS)
• EU Eco-label
• Ethos Reporting Guidelines
• European Foundation for Quality Management
• Fair Trade Labelling Standards
• Forest Stewardship Council

• FTSE4Good Criteria
• IFOAM Organic Standards
• Global Compact
• Global Reporting Initiative
• Investors in People
• ISO14000
• London Benchmarking Group
• The Natural Step
• OECD Guidelines
• Responsible Care
• SA8000
• SIGMA
• Sullivan Principles
• WHO/UNICEF International Code on Marketing of
  Breast-milk Substitutes

Standards for Credibility - Particularly for
Reporting
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The Original AA1000 Framework - Launched in 1999
Reporting
Communicatereport(s) andobtain feedback
Prepare report(s)
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Council/Operating Board Technical
Committee/Working Groups Members/Practitioners
Consultations/Research
AA1000 Series
Creating the AA1000 Series
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• Paul Monaghan, Co-operative Financial Services
  (co-Chair on behalf of AccountAbilitys Council)
• Andrew Wilson, Ashridge Management School
  (co-Chair on behalf of AccountAbilitys
  Operating Board)
• Roger Adams, Association of Chartered Certified
  Accountants (ACCA)
• Mark Bateman, Investor Responsible Research
  Centre (IRRC)
• Alun Bowen, KPMG
• Maria Emilia Correa, GrupoNueva
• Alois Flatz, Sustainability Asset Management
  (SAM)
• Adrian Henriques, Independent Consultant
• Eileen Kaufman, Social Accountability
  International
• Vernon Jennings, Novo Nordisk
• Scott Noesen, Dow Chemical Company
• Johan Piet, European Federation of Accountants
  (FEE)
• Wendy Poulton, Eskom
• Preben Sorensen, Deloitte Touche

Technical Committee - Governing the Development
of the AA1000 Series
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Focus on the AA1000 Assurance Standard
The AA1000 Assurance Standard is a generally
applicable standard for assessing, attesting to,
and strengthening the credibility and quality of
organisations sustainability reporting and
underlying processes, systems and competencies
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Review of Current Emerging Practice
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• The AA1000 Assurance Standard is a generally
  applicable standard for assessing, attesting to,
  and strengthening the credibility and quality of
  organisations
• sustainability reporting
• processes, systems and competencies.

What is itWhat is it For ?

• Underpins assurance provider assignments.
• Guides internal accounting and assurance,
  planning and commissioning of external assurance.
• Strengthens credibility of reports.
• Supports professional development and credibility
  of assurance providers.
• Encourages improved performance.

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• How to do it ?
• AA1000 principles
• Materiality
• Completeness
• Responsiveness
• Assurance statement
• Who does it ?
• Independence/impartiality
• Competencies

Assurance Standard - Whats In It
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knowing/sayingwhat is important to you and
stakeholders
The Accountability Commitment Inclusivity
The AA1000 Principles - Applied to Assurance
accounting for stakeholders aspirations and
needs
Principles
Responsiveness
Materiality
Completeness
knowing/saying what is important to you and
stakeholders
knowing your impact what people think of
you
demonstrating response to peoples concerns
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Redefining Materiality
Materiality requires the disclosure of
information enabling stakeholders to be able to
make informed judgements, decisions and actions
AA1000 Assurance Standard
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• Covers an organisations sustainability
  performance.
• Focuses on the relevance of information reported.
  
• Assesses an organisations responsiveness to
  stakeholders.
• Provides a view on where the organisation is
  going, not just where it has come from.
• Complementary to other standards (e. g. GRI).

AA1000 Assurance Standard - Key Aspects

• Establishes approach to determine and report on
  the independence and impartiality of the
  assurance provider.
• Requires disclosure of assurance provider
  competencies.

Non-commercial, non-proprietary, open source
standard to improve organisation performance and
credibility.
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Adopting Companies AA1000 Assurance Standard
October 2003
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Assurance Providers AA1000 Assurance Standard
October 2003
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• The leading sustainability assurance standard.
• Take-up and use by
• Reporting organisations (business and
  non-business)
• Assurance providers
• Investment community.
• Integration/convergence of standards
• Private voluntary standards (e.g. GRI)
• Investor requirements (e.g. listing requirements,
  risk reporting)
• Regulatory developments
• Enhance credible improvements in organisational
  performance and sustainable development outcomes
• Credibility of tomorrows institutions
• Organisational performance

Our Success Model
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• The AA1000 Assurance Standard will play an
  important part in re-establishing trust around
  corporate reporting and bridging the divide
  between business and communities,
• Stephen Timms MP, UK Government minister
  responsible for corporate social responsibility.
• "Sustainability reports will not have a shred of
  credibility for NGOs if they are not externally
  verified using a generally accepted framework.
  The AA1000 Assurance Standard is clearly the
  front runner for such a framework, and should be
  first point of call for companies wishing to
  engage more productively with the international
  NGO community."
• Ed Mayo, Former Executive Director, New Economics
  Foundation (UK)
• "If financial auditors were required to disclose
  as much about themselves as will be required of
  social and sustainability auditors under the
  AA1000 Assurance Standard, the Enron-Anderson
  debacle might never have happened."
• Barry Coates, Director, World Development
  Movement
• The AA1000 Assurance Standard provides a
  much-needed, coherent and robust basis for
  assuring a public report and the underlying
  accounting systems.
• Vernon Jennings, Former Vice President, Ethics
  and Social Responsibility, Stakeholder Relations,
  Novo Nordisk A/S (Denmark)

Opinion Leader views on AA1000 Assurance Standard
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