Sustainability report in the newsletter

Let's start with the promised report. This is a report of a fictional Ordinary Company, prepared in full compliance with VSME, and I have tried not to omit any mandatory disclosures.

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Sustainability Report of Zwykła Spółka Sp. z o.o.

B1

Report compliant with the VSME standard, option A (basic module only). The report covers the period from January 1, 2024, to December 31, 2024.

Ordinary limited liability company, NACE 6311, balance sheet total EUR 1,274,283, turnover EUR 4,185,396, 37 employees. The business is conducted in Poland, in a rented office at Plac Defilad 1, 00-901 Warsaw, coordinates: 52.231946, 21.005500.

B2

The Ordinary Company does not implement any practices, policies, or future initiatives related to sustainable development, nor does it set any goals in this area.

B3

Energy consumption: 29.3 MWh. GHG emissions in scope 1: 0 t CO₂e. Scope 2 GHG emissions: 17 t CO₂e. Total GHG emissions: 17 t CO₂e. GHG emission intensity: 4.06 t CO₂e / EUR 1 million.

B5

Number of Ordinary Company locations in or near areas sensitive in terms of biodiversity: 0. Location area: 0 ha.

B6

Water intake: 93 m³.

B7

The ordinary company does not apply circular economy principles. Annual amount of hazardous waste: 0.002 tons. Annual amount of non-hazardous waste: 0.317 tons. Annual amount of waste sent for recycling or reuse: 0 tons.

B8

Number of employees on permanent contracts: 35, on temporary contracts: 2. Number of female employees: 17, male employees: 18.

B9

In 2024, there were 0 reportable work-related accidents.

B10

All employees of Zwykła Spółka receive remuneration exceeding the minimum wage. 0% employees are covered by collective labor agreements. Average number of training hours per year per woman: 12, per man: 11.

B11

Number of convictions and fines for violations of anti-corruption and anti-bribery laws: 0.

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The end 😊 The entire report has 256 words and 1,739 characters with spaces. How long did it take me to prepare it? I measured the time with a stopwatch, and it took exactly 37 minutes. This included repeatedly checking the VSME content to make sure I hadn't forgotten anything, as well as coming up with fictitious data. I expect that if I had to extract this data from documents (e.g., electricity bills), it would take, say, twice as long. What skills are needed to prepare such a report? None that are specialized. Virtually any employee of the company who knows how to use Word and add, multiply, and divide on a calculator can do it. The cost of preparing the report? As you can see, minimal.

And what is the usefulness of such a report? Unfortunately, it is minimal. In fact, the only information that we would not find in the financial statements or guess based on our knowledge of the industry in which it operates (NACE code 6311 is website management) is energy consumption and the resulting greenhouse gas emissions. We also have information on the number of training hours per employee, but this information is of little use without additional context.

From this short exercise, I draw the following conclusions:

• Since VSME was created as an educational tool to help SMEs that have never reported on sustainability issues before take their first steps in this area, it should serve this purpose. It is not worth pretending that VSME (especially when limited to the basic module) is suitable for anything more. If we want to repair the latest laptop model, we first need a screwdriver to open its case. But let's not kid ourselves that this screwdriver is enough to repair the computer.
• The basic VSME module is really intended for micro-enterprises. Larger companies that would like to limit themselves to this module should simply give up and not pretend that they intend to produce any reports.
• If adopted in the form proposed by the European Commission, the Omnibus could lead to many companies voluntarily publishing reports similar to the one above, possibly slightly longer, also containing disclosures from the comprehensive module. Unfortunately, they will then face the frustration of their business partners, who will expect more detailed data and information. Frustration will also grow within the companies themselves, because „we did this report, and everyone is still dissatisfied.” This is especially true for companies with, for example, 900 employees and several hundred million zlotys in revenue.

Despite all the above criticism, VSME can be a useful set of guidelines. It just needs to be treated in accordance with the purpose for which it was created. It is a tool that should only be used by micro, small, and medium-sized companies. VSME can also be used as a basic framework on which to build a range of other sustainability disclosures. It all depends on whether the company using VSME actively manages sustainability issues. If so, there will be no problem in creating a valuable report filled with solid disclosures.