Sustainable Growth:

Inclusive Company

The Copenhagen Charter

A Management Guide to New Stakeholder Reporting

Brief Description

The Copenhagen Charter, a management guide to new stakeholder reporting, was launched at the third international conference on social and ethical accounting, auditing and reporting, 1999. It was published jointly by Ernst & Young, KPMG, PricewaterhouseCoopers and the House of Mandag Morgen.

The basic assumption underlying the Charter is that the process of stakeholder dialogue and reporting must be embedded throughout the organization, in the vision, mission, and values of the company, and in management and corporate governance systems. The vision, mission and values are both the foundation of the reporting process and the outcome of it, in that stakeholder reporting enables management to test that they meet stakeholders' expectations.

The process is envisaged as a feedback loop involving eight steps (see the table on your left).

Inclusive Approach

At the heart of the inclusive approach is the belief that understanding stakeholder needs – the needs of customers, employees, suppliers, shareholders and society, and the environment – and incorporating them into enterprise strategy and sustainable value creation activities are central to the achievement of sustainable growth and competitiveness.¹ ... More