Introducing AccountAbility and AA1000AS

Today, as we face various challenges such as climate change, resource depletion, and deepening volatility, the organization is transitioning from a short-term perspective to a future-oriented perspective, the importance of corporate sustainability issues including governance, environmental, and social is becoming increasingly recognized.

In an effort to solve this problem, the AccountAbility standards body established the AA1000AS standard, which is flexible and ensures applicability, and provides guidelines for performing sustainability assurance based on the principles presented in AA1000AP.

The purpose of AA1000AP is to provide internationally recognized, practical guiding principles to help organizations assess, manage, improve and communicate the disclosure and sustainability performance of their systems. AA1000AP provides a practical guide to implementing verifiable principles with clear compliance criteria and is applicable to all industries and markets.

The four principles and compliance items presented by AA1000AP are as follows.

• ▶ Inclusivity
  
  Stakeholders should be able to provide input on decisions that affect them.
  ㆍDevelopment of stakeholder participation strategies and processes
  ㆍIdentification of stakeholders and their needs
  ㆍStakeholder participation performance measurement, improvement and communication
  
  
• ▶ Materiality
  
  Decision-makers must identify and clearly understand important sustainability topics.
  ㆍDevelopment of importance assessment and decision process
  ㆍCollection and analysis of information on sustainability topics
  ㆍDetermine the importance of the topic, take action and communicate
  
  
• ▶ Responsiveness
  
  Organizations must act transparently on important sustainability topics and related impacts.
  ㆍSetting priorities for sustainability topics
  ㆍDevelopment of strategies on sustainability topics
  ㆍTake action and communication on the topics
  
  
• ▶ Impact
  
  An organization must be able to monitor, measure, and explain how its activities affect the overall ecosystem.
  ㆍDevelopment of methods and indicators for impact monitoring
  ㆍImpact monitoring and measurement
  ㆍImpact assessment and release
  

AA1000AP Importance and advantage

• AA1000AP is simple, comprehensive and flexible in application. Adoption of these principles enables organizations to establish a robust sustainability performance management structure based on an external framework.
  
  This principle provides organizations with benefits related to:
  
  ㆍEncourage active and meaningful participation of stakeholders
  ㆍBroadly identify sustainability areas that affect both non-financial and long-term financial performance
  ㆍBased on this understanding, we support the development of a clear organizational strategy and balanced sustainability performance goals
  
  Additionally, the Principles provide a framework to support the establishment of a vision, values, strategy and goals related to sustainability performance. You will help organizations manage regulatory and non-financial risks and understand the broader impact of their activities across the ecosystem.

If you have any other or related questions, please contact us at the email address below.

E-mail: info@igcert.org