Nike Inc. and Hewlett-Packard received the top sustainability reporting awards in an international competition sponsored by the Boston-based Ceres coalition and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).

The winners, selected from a record 87 nominations, also included Center members Seventh Generation and Gap Inc.

The awards program, now in its fifth year, is designed to highlight best practices in reporting on sustainability issues by North American companies and other organizations, and to provide guidance to other groups and companies that are publishing or intend to publish sustainability or corporate social responsibility reports.

Best Sustainability Report

Nike and Hewlett-Packard shared the award for Best Sustainability Report. Nike’s winning 2004 Corporate Responsibility Report includes “unprecedented disclosure about the names and locations of the more than 700 active contract factories that currently make Nike-branded products worldwide. The report also discusses the impact of environmental performance on the company’s product design and manufacture, and candidly discusses the challenges and unresolved complexities of monitoring as a mechanism for measuring company and contractor performance.”

For advice in preparing its report, Nike invited experts from trade union, NGO, academic, investor and business communities acting in their capacities as individuals to participate in a Report Review Committee. Convened by Ceres, the committee provided feedback that helped establish the scope, coverage and focus for the company’s report.

Hewlett-Packard won the award for best sustainability report for a second consecutive year. Its 2005 Global Citizenship Report identifies the company’s three primary sustainability challenges: electronic waste reduction, improving environmental and social performance in its extensive supply chain, and increasing global access to information technology. The report also presents the company’s global reach and overall performance, in contrast to many other reports that focus exclusively on North American issues and impacts.

Best Small and Medium Enterprise Report

Seventh Generation won the award for the best report in the “Small and Medium Enterprise” category. According to the awards program, Seventh Generation’s Corporate Responsibility Report, Widening the Lens, is “a pioneering effort in transparency for a privately-owned company. In addition to describing the company’s extensive stakeholder engagement efforts, the report includes candid employee testimonials revealing how the company responded to various challenges to its commitment to social and environmental responsibility. The report also details how life-cycle analysis impacts its product design, and describes the company's efforts to motivate its suppliers to meet sustainability goals.”

Dofasco Inc. received a commendation for “Continued Excellence in Integrated Reporting.” For the third straight year, Dofasco has integrated its sustainability reporting into its Annual Report. Employing this approach “reinforces Dofasco's message to its shareholders that sustainability is a core part of its business strategy and that the company's social and environmental performance are just as important as the company’s fiscal performance. The report details the company’s performance in energy use, air and water quality, waste use and management of secondary materials, and includes an open letter from community stakeholders.” Dofasco is Canada’s largest steel producer, serving customers throughout North America.

Commendation for Continued Excellence in Social Reporting

Gap Inc. was once again awarded for excellence in social reporting. As in its 2003 Social Responsibility Report, Gap reports on its progress and challenges in implementing a social responsibility program throughout its retail apparel and garment manufacturing supply chain. The report also describes the company’s diverse range of stakeholder partnerships that influence its program implementation, and includes an external stakeholder statement.