I know lots of sustainable business professionals feel like this (with thanks to Quentin Fouesnant for the image) - a massive amount of work goes into producing an annual sustainability report; the 'box is ticked'; all that work is quietly interred in a distant part of the 'graveyard' never to be read again; and the treadmill of preparing next year's report starts again.
But, let me offer a reframe of the value of a sustainability report from both the past and the future.
At M&S, our Plan A Report was an entirely voluntary effort, none of the mandatory pressure of #CSRD. It was hard, many people worked super hard to 'sweat' the data out of antiquated systems that had not been designed for that purpose. We reached painfully far back (supply chain) and far forward (customer use/disposal of products) into what we now know as #Scope3. We introduced external assurance when few others had. All in all a really tough gig. However, the process of generating the data; validating it; thinking through the narrative that the trends surfaced was worth its weight in gold.
It brought engagement; surfaced challenges and disagreements that might have been 'swept under the carpet; enabled us to build a robust business case; enabled continuity of target setting, tracking and attainment rather than a constant 'whiplash' of launch a plan, ditch a plan, create a new plan; and provided the underpinning proof points for corporate and product claims.
That was the value of reporting 1.0 as an enabler of sustainable progress. Now, look forward. The report, and the data lake it sits upon, is the enabler of all of the above but crucially it is now the foundation for proper sustainable transformation. The report 2.0 is where strategically and tactically the plans and modelling for a very different business model; product/service offer; and enabling value chain can gestate and come to be. TCFD/TNFD in annual reports and Climate Transition Plans can feel like yet more tasks to be done but don't lose sight of how all these 'jigsaw pieces' can be made to fit together to drive transformation. Data is key to model your many pathways into a complex future to find a sustainable landing spot.
This ain't to pretend that for many companies the report isn't the lazy 'fig leaf of compliance' but rather to encourage sustainable business professionals to see their potential to be far more than a lonely, rainswept internment in the cemetery.