The third edition of the oil and gas industry guidance on voluntary sustainability reporting is now available for companies to use for their 2015 reporting cycles. The Guidance provides a reporting process together with a set of performance indicators for sustainability issues in the industry, covering environmental, health and safety, and social and economic issues. It is a production of IPIECA (the global oil and gas industry association for environmental and social issues), the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (IOGP).

Key changes within the 2015 update include:

• New guidance on strategic reporting for the industry's most common sustainability issues. This is to help companies report information on management approach and strategies - beyond the key performance indicators
• A new issue area on water, with comprehensive updates to two water indicators
• A new indicator covering planning and execution of decommissioning activities
• Alignment of the social and economic issues area with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
• Upgrade of a range of reporting elements (common, supplemental and other) reflecting improved maturity and consistency of reporting by companies
• Additional or improved reporting elements for nine of the existing indicators.

The Guidance is applicable across the entire spectrum of the oil and gas industry’s activities, from extraction and transformation of natural resources to supply of energy and other essential products to customers globally.

Used feedback from industry experts

The third edition addresses feedback from subject matter experts, as well as improvements in reporting practices. External feedback was received from a panel of independent stakeholders with expertise in sustainability practices relating to the oil and gas industry, as well as from a public consultation process.

Recent years have been characterized by an evolution in existing frameworks on voluntary sustainability reporting, the emergence of new voluntary initiatives and mandatory sustainability reporting requirements in some countries. These varying expectations and different definitions of how and what companies should report have led to challenges for many oil and gas companies. For this reason, IPIECA, API and IOGP believe that it is essential to continue providing this robust industry-developed framework to help companies shape the structure and content of their sustainability reporting.

Download the guidance.