Reporting helps demonstrate a commitment to environmental management and openness. Local authorities, planners and local communities are increasingly aware of the local environment. Reporting helps identify you as a responsible operator, and builds trust. Many customers want to feel assured that their suppliers are operating to good standards and will be influenced by a company's environmental reputation. Reporting can identify you as a responsible supplier and helps differentiate you from competitors.
Staff are also helpful in identifying where performance can be improved.
There are a number of Government backed mechanisms available to support reporting and disclosure. This issue can be compounded if your organisation has widespread centres of operation or unusually diverse or fluid operations. Incremental approaches are discussed in more depth in Chapter 5 on the Guidelines.