I think environmental reports will one day achieve this, but it is still a long way away. Their financial data, however, which is really the majority of the report, is based on generally accepted accounting principles. That is why I think environmental accounting is going to be the critical part in development of the whole field. Unless people have a common language, there will never be a way to compare how companies are doing. One difference between annual and environmental reports is that annual reports have only one audience the shareholders.
Companies are able to meet their needs in one annual report.
Environmental reports have a much greater challenge to address the information needs of many different stakeholders, that is, employees, management, local communities, regulators, customers, and competitors. I actually think they will not be able to meet all needs in one report. It is possible that environmental reports will eventually evolve to providing the information that people request, rather than one comprehensive report.