Green Bridge Sustainability Seminar: Transparency Create Values–Corporate Environmental and Social Disclosure in China

Sustainability and CSR reporting, is a fairly recent trend which has expanded over the last twenty years. Many companies now produce an annual sustainability report and there are a wide array of ratings and standards around. There are a variety of reasons that companies choose to produce these reports, but at their core they are intended to be “vessels of transparency and accountability”. Since 2007, SynTao has been working with Oxfam Hong Kong on a yearly research publication, A Journey to Discover Values, on the level of disclosure in China’s corporate sustainability reports (or Corporate Social Responsibility Reports). As the first study to discuss sustainability reports in China, the series of publications have been focusing on corporate sustainability reporting and transparency issues in China, which have been widely circulated. In the seminar, Dr. Guo will introduce the key findings of the study in the past four years and the analysis of Chinese companies' sustainability reporting quality and sector-specific comparisons. He will also share his views on future trend of sustainability reporting in China. Q & A session is provided for open questions.

Dr. Guo Peiyuan is the co-founder and General Manager of SynTao Co. Ltd, a leading consulting firm specialized in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) in China. He has extensive experiences in CSR, sustainable financing and corporate environmental management. He has served clients ranging from private businesses to state-owned enterprises and multinational corporations. As an active advocator and insightful scholar of CSR and SRI, Dr. Guo has been invited to speak at international conferences at home and abroad in the past few years. He was also invited to join the jury committee for some CSR award events in China, including the CSR Award by China Newsweek, and the Golden Bee Award by WTO Tribune Magazine. Dr. Guo is also experienced in sustainability reporting, and is the lead author of the high-profile research “China Sustainability Reporting Study”. He had led CSR reporting projects for LENOVO and NIKE (China). Dr. Guo was invited to sit in the evaluation panel for the reports publicized by the Southern China Grid and China Steel. He was also a key speaker at the Petro China CSR report launch event. In addition, Dr.Guo was just invited to be a senior advisor to DNV China CR Assurance Technical Committee.  
Dr. Guo holds the first degree in Environmental Engineering and Ph.D in Public Policy both from Tsinghua University.

SynTao is a Beijing-based CSR consulting firm that provides services to business clients as well as international organizations. It was founded in 2005, and its expertise areas cover CSR management, CSR reporting, philanthropic strategy, and SRI. SynTao is a GRI-certified training partner. Dr. Guo is a member of GRI Stakeholder Council. C