Shell is to mail a summary of its latest social and environmental report to all shareholders for the first time.
The slimmed-down version of the fourth People, planet and profits report will be sent out with its annual report – bringing the oil company a step closer to triple bottom line reporting.
However, Shell says that combining details of its financial, social and environmental performance within a single report is still several years away.
This year’s 40-page People, planet and profits is a shorter document than last year’s. Stakeholder feedback had suggested that previous reports were too long.
‘Last year’s report was a four-hour read and that was felt to be too much,’ said Shell. ‘This time we have been much stricter on the editing without reducing the amount of information.’
Shell has been developing its own set of social performance indicators (EP2, 1999). The report contains a provisional list of 16 of these, five of which are already being reported on.
The company is ‘testing the practicalities’ of the other 11 but says some will require further study before they will provide data that can be used in future reports.
It warns that some indicators, such as those looking at customer satisfaction and innovation, ‘may take years to fully implement’.
The report also shows 106 contracts worth $8million (£5.5m) were ended and two joint ventures divested last year because they were incompatible with Shell’s business principles. This was mainly due to health and safety concerns and allegations of bribery.