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ACCA Strategic Professional · Strategic Business Leader · Reporting to stakeholders

Karvel Energy publishes a sustainability report that sets out ambitious carbon targets, but the report has not been checked by anyone independent. A credit analyst doubts its reliability. What is the most appropriate step to increase stakeholder confidence?

Commissioning independent external assurance of the sustainability report is the best step. An independent verifier gives objective comment on the accuracy and completeness of the reported information, raising credibility, whereas removing targets, a director's signature or a website-only release does not provide independent verification.

  1. ACommission independent external assurance of the sustainability reportCorrect
  2. BRemove the carbon targets from the report
  3. CHave the finance director sign the report personally
  4. DPublish the report only on the company website

Explanation

Independent external assurance, a social and environmental audit, gives credible, objective verification of reported data and claims. Removing targets reduces transparency, a director's signature is not independent, and changing the publication channel does not improve reliability.

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