About the Report, Boundary & Chairman's Message
Every sustainability report opens with two sections that seem straightforward but carry more weight than most people realize. The "About the Report" section sets the rules of the game: what is included, what is excluded, and on what basis. The Chairman's Message sets the tone for everything that follows. Get either of these wrong, and you create problems that ripple through the entire document.
The "About the Report" Section
This is where you lay out the boundary, scope, reporting period, and standards followed. It sounds mechanical, and in many ways it is. But the decisions you make here, particularly around boundary, are binding for the entire report.
Reporting period is usually the financial year. Most companies report on an April-to-March or January-to-December cycle. State it clearly: "This report covers the period 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026."
Standards referenced: list every framework you are aligning with. Typically this includes GRI (as the structural backbone), plus whatever else the company has chosen: SASB, TCFD, IFRS S1/S2, CDP, BRSR. Be specific about which GRI standards you are reporting "in accordance with" versus merely "with reference to" (there is a meaningful difference in GRI's own language).
Scope describes what operations, geographies, and business units are covered. This is where it gets consequential.
The Boundary Decision
The boundary you set in the "About the Report" section is the boundary you follow for ALL data across the entire report. This is not a suggestion; it is a rule. If you say the report covers the parent company and three subsidiaries, then every data point (energy consumption, water usage, workforce numbers, governance structures) must cover all four entities. If you say standalone (parent company only), then every number must reflect only the parent.
The boundary decision is one of the most important choices you make early in the engagement. Whatever boundary you set here, you follow it for every single data point in the report. If subsidiaries do not have data, do not include them in the boundary. Chalk it out upfront to prevent painful problems later.
Here is where companies get into trouble: they set an ambitious boundary (consolidated, all subsidiaries) and then discover that two of their subsidiaries have no environmental data, no HR data, and no governance reporting systems. Now you are stuck. Either you go back and narrow the boundary (which means rewriting sections and losing credibility) or you leave gaps in the data, which looks worse.
The practical approach: have a direct conversation with the client about data availability before finalizing the boundary. If subsidiary X in Country Y cannot provide emissions data, it is better to exclude it from the boundary upfront and note the exclusion transparently.
A mid-size Indian conglomerate wanted to publish a consolidated sustainability report covering 8 subsidiaries. During the data requirement phase, it became clear that 3 subsidiaries had never tracked environmental data. The consultant recommended narrowing the boundary to the parent company plus the 5 data-ready subsidiaries, with a note stating: "Three subsidiaries acquired in FY24 are excluded from the reporting boundary for this period. Data collection systems are being established and these entities will be included from FY27 onwards."
This is honest, transparent, and avoids the nightmare of publishing a report with missing data across multiple sections.
Cross-Report Consistency
If the company also files a BRSR (mandatory in India for the top 1,000 listed companies) or includes sustainability metrics in its annual report, the data must match across all documents, provided the boundary is the same.
This sounds obvious, but it is one of the most common and serious errors in practice. The sustainability report says energy consumption was 45,000 GJ. The BRSR says 42,500 GJ. An analyst or rating agency spots the discrepancy and suddenly the company's credibility is in question.
Check alignment early. If the BRSR team is working separately from the sustainability report team, build in a reconciliation step where both teams compare numbers before publication.
Writing the Chairman's / CEO's Message
The Chairman's or CEO's message is typically the first thing a reader sees after the "About" section. It is also one of the most politically sensitive pages in the entire report.
Who writes it? Either the consultant team or the client's internal communications team. Sometimes both contribute. Regardless of who drafts it, it always gets the Chairman's or CEO's personal approval. This means expect revisions, sometimes multiple rounds.
What goes in it? The message should blend business performance with sustainability commitment. Think of it as a one-page summary of where the company has been, where it is going, and how sustainability fits into that journey. Specifically, it should touch on:
- The company's vision and strategic direction
- How the company has performed over the reporting period (business and sustainability highlights)
- Key sustainability achievements or milestones
- Targets and forward-looking commitments
- The broader context: industry trends, regulatory landscape, global challenges the company is responding to
Think of the Chairman's Message as the trailer for a movie. It does not tell the whole story, but it sets the tone, introduces the key themes, and makes the reader want to continue. A trailer that is all business numbers feels dry. A trailer that is all lofty sustainability language feels disconnected from reality. The best ones weave the two together naturally.
Drawing from the Annual Report
Here is a practical shortcut that experienced consultants use: the company's annual report almost always has a similar Chairman's or CEO's message. Read it carefully. It tells you what the leadership cares about, what language they use, and what strategic priorities they are emphasizing.
Your job is to take that business-focused message and add a sustainability dimension. If the annual report's Chairman's message talks about expanding into Southeast Asia, your sustainability report version should mention how the company is considering environmental and social impacts of that expansion. If it talks about a record revenue year, connect that to responsible growth or efficiency improvements.
Do not copy-paste from the annual report. The sustainability report message needs its own identity. But use the annual report as a source for the business context and strategic direction, then layer on the sustainability narrative.
The Chairman's Message must blend business and sustainability. A message that reads like a corporate earnings summary misses the point. A message that reads like an environmental manifesto disconnected from the business feels inauthentic. The best messages show how sustainability is embedded in the company's strategy, not bolted on as an afterthought.
Common Pitfalls
Being too generic. "We are committed to a sustainable future" means nothing if every company says it. Ground the message in specifics: "This year, we reduced Scope 1 emissions by 12% through our transition to natural gas at three manufacturing sites."
Ignoring challenges. A Chairman's message that only celebrates wins feels like marketing, not leadership communication. Acknowledging challenges, such as a target that was missed or a supply chain issue being addressed, builds credibility.
Inconsistency with the report body. If the Chairman's message highlights a 30% water reduction target, that target better appear in the Environmental section with data to support it. Readers notice when the leadership message promises things the report does not deliver.
Making it too long. This is a one-to-two page section. It should be concise and impactful. Resist the temptation to turn it into a five-page essay.
Some companies prefer first person ("I am proud to share..." or "We have made significant progress...") while others prefer third person ("The company has advanced its sustainability agenda..."). There is no universally correct choice: it depends on the company's communication culture. The critical rule is consistency. If the Chairman's Message is in first person, that sets a tone. The rest of the report may shift to third person for the technical sections, and that is fine. But within the message itself, do not switch between "I" and "the company", as it reads as careless. Ask the client about their preference early, and stick with it.
The Practical Workflow
For the "About the Report" section: draft it early, even before all data is in. You know the reporting period, you know the standards, and you should have agreed on the boundary. This section rarely changes much during revisions.
For the Chairman's Message: draft it mid-way through the engagement, once you have a good sense of the report's key findings and narrative threads. You need enough substance to write something meaningful, but you should not leave it until the very end (Chairman approvals take time, and last-minute rewrites under deadline pressure are painful for everyone).
Both sections set the foundation. The "About" section sets the factual foundation: rules, boundary, scope. The Chairman's Message sets the narrative foundation: tone, themes, ambition. Everything that follows builds on these two.
Key Takeaways
- 1The reporting boundary you set in the 'About the Report' section is binding for every data point in the entire report - confirm data availability before committing to a boundary
- 2If subsidiaries cannot provide data, exclude them from the boundary upfront and note the exclusion transparently rather than leaving gaps
- 3Cross-check all data against the BRSR and annual report - discrepancies between documents destroy credibility with analysts and rating agencies
- 4The Chairman or CEO Message should blend business performance with sustainability commitment - use the annual report as a source for business context, then layer on the sustainability narrative
- 5Draft the 'About' section early (it rarely changes) and the Chairman Message mid-engagement once you have enough substance - leadership approvals take time
- 6Avoid generic language in the Chairman Message - ground it in specifics, acknowledge challenges honestly, and keep it to one or two pages