Sustainability Management and Reporting System
VANOC’s Sustainability Management and Reporting
System (SMRS) is the mechanism we use to put our Vancouver 2010 Bid
commitments and sustainability performance objectives into action
on a daily basis.
Whereas other Organizing Committees have had environmental management systems, VANOC is the first to develop an integrated system for management of all aspects of sustainability — one that includes environmental, economic and social interests.
Because there is no generally accepted model for broad sustainability management systems, we based our SMRS on the Environmental Management System model (ISO 14001) of the International Organization for Standardization. We then enhanced it with management processes for economic and social interests. We integrated principles of the AA1000 Standard which provides global guidance on accountability through engaging with diverse interests. We have secured VANOC Executive approval of our 10 SMRS Procedures to support integrated delivery of our sustainability objectives.
For reporting, we drew on the leading global framework, the Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI’s) Sustainability Reporting Guidelines. We added custom performance measures to cover issues that relate to the unique dimensions of our organization and are relevant and meaningful to our goals, activities and stakeholders.
For our first report covering 2005-06, we applied GRI Level “C” requirements. For our second report, covering 2006-07, we applied GRI Level “B” requirements, which means we reported on more GRI indicators than before. Our final two reports will have the added benefit of third-party assurance, whereby an outside independent auditor assesses the accuracy and authenticity of our report. This is consistent with best practice in sustainability reporting worldwide and is in alignment with our commitment to openness and transparency.
Whereas other Organizing Committees have had environmental management systems, VANOC is the first to develop an integrated system for management of all aspects of sustainability — one that includes environmental, economic and social interests.
Because there is no generally accepted model for broad sustainability management systems, we based our SMRS on the Environmental Management System model (ISO 14001) of the International Organization for Standardization. We then enhanced it with management processes for economic and social interests. We integrated principles of the AA1000 Standard which provides global guidance on accountability through engaging with diverse interests. We have secured VANOC Executive approval of our 10 SMRS Procedures to support integrated delivery of our sustainability objectives.
For reporting, we drew on the leading global framework, the Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI’s) Sustainability Reporting Guidelines. We added custom performance measures to cover issues that relate to the unique dimensions of our organization and are relevant and meaningful to our goals, activities and stakeholders.
For our first report covering 2005-06, we applied GRI Level “C” requirements. For our second report, covering 2006-07, we applied GRI Level “B” requirements, which means we reported on more GRI indicators than before. Our final two reports will have the added benefit of third-party assurance, whereby an outside independent auditor assesses the accuracy and authenticity of our report. This is consistent with best practice in sustainability reporting worldwide and is in alignment with our commitment to openness and transparency.
As illustrated below, our SMRS defines the framework VANOC will
use to consistently engage our workforce, manage the implementation
of our sustainability programs and activities, as well as monitor
and measure our progress and performance along the way.
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