How can you report on your clients' EMS environmental performance?

1 Know your audience

Before you start writing your EMS report, you need to identify and understand your audience. Who will read your report and what are their expectations, needs, and interests? Depending on your client's industry, size, and goals, your audience may include internal stakeholders, such as managers, employees, and shareholders, or external stakeholders, such as customers, suppliers, regulators, and the public. You need to tailor your report to suit your audience's level of knowledge, language, and format preferences. For example, you may need to provide more background information, definitions, and explanations for a general audience than for a technical one. You may also need to use different channels and formats to reach different audiences, such as online platforms, print media, or presentations.

3 Choose the indicators

When creating an EMS report, selecting the right indicators is essential for measuring and communicating your client's environmental performance. Indicators are quantitative or qualitative measures that reflect the environmental aspects, impacts, and objectives of your client's EMS. They can help you monitor, evaluate, and improve your client's EMS over time and across different areas. However, choosing the right indicators can be difficult due to the many options and factors to consider. You must select indicators that are relevant, meaningful, and feasible for your client's EMS while also balancing the number and type of indicators to avoid overwhelming or confusing your audience. Some common types of indicators include input indicators which measure resources and materials used such as energy, water, and raw materials; output indicators which measure emissions and wastes generated such as greenhouse gases, air pollutants, and hazardous wastes; outcome indicators which measure effects on the environment and society such as biodiversity, health, and climate change; and management indicators which measure actions taken to implement and improve its EMS such as audits, training, and certification.

4 Analyze the data

Once you have collected and verified the data for your indicators, you need to analyze and interpret the data to draw meaningful conclusions and recommendations for your client's EMS performance. You need to use appropriate methods and tools to process and present the data, such as tables, charts, graphs, and maps. You also need to use clear and concise language to explain the data, highlight the trends, patterns, and changes, and compare the results with the targets, benchmarks, and standards. You need to avoid bias, distortion, and manipulation of the data and acknowledge the limitations, uncertainties, and assumptions of your analysis. You also need to provide context and background information to help your audience understand the data and its implications.