The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and ING – a 2010 Conference sponsor - today announced the winners of “The Big Five Competition” in which small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) competed for one of up to five booths worth €13,000 at this year’s Conference Market Place.

With this competition GRI and ING aim to enhance the profile of small and medium sized sustainable organizations and provide them opportunities to present themselves at the GRI conference, the world’s largest gathering of sustainability reporting and transparency experts. Ms. Dailah Nihot, ING’s Head of Corporate Responsibility, said, "Given the global challenges in today’s world, it is clear we need more innovative sustainable solutions. The business community is an important factor in driving innovation and bringing it to the market. We co-launched this competition with GRI in an effort to encourage some of the sustainable forerunners and support them in building their businesses for the future."

GRI received over 50 applications from nearly two dozen countries around the world. The jury, consisting of Eric Bouwmeester, Wilbert Lek, Nancy Kamp-Roelands, Jonatan Pinkse, and Giuseppe van der Helm evaluated the applications and their contribution to sustainability. The five winning organizations from The Netherlands, France, Canada, the U.S. and the UK not only receive a free booth, but also two free conference registrations to attend all conference sessions and network with conference participants. “Participating in the 2010 Conference Market Place [will] give us an incredible opportunity to showcase our technology and the results our customers have been able to achieve, said Big Five winner Pierre-François Thaler of EcoVadis. “Attending the Conference will give us an opportunity to replicate in other geographic regions what we have been able to do so far in Europe.”

Participants of the 2010 Amsterdam Global Conference can look forward to engaging with the innovative Big Five Competition Winners throughout the two and a half day Conference. For further information on both the Conference and the Market Place, visit GRI’s Conference website at www.amsterdamgriconference.org. 

Big Five Competition Winners 

EcoVadis, Paris, France
EcoVadis operates the first collaborative platform that allows companies to assess the environmental and social performance of their global suppliers using GRI indicators. EcoVadis delivers to clients simple and reliable suppliers scorecards that cover 150 purchasing categories and 21 CSR indicators. Their ratings help businesses reduce risks and drive performance and innovation in their supply chain.

PRé Consultants BV, Amersfoort, The Netherlands
PRé Consultants are experts in life cycle analysis (LCA). Their core competence is understanding the sustainability aspects in supply chains as well as in usage and disposal phases. PRé Consultants provide the leading LCA tool through a global partner network in 21 countries.

Maplecroft, Bath, United Kingdom
Maplecroft analyses over 100 global risks to provide a comprehensive portfolio of indices, interactive maps, scorecards and in-depth reports. These products are complimented by an award-winning reporting service and customized risk tools designed to index and rate country risk, corporate risk exposures, risk management competence and innovation. By focusing on country, issue and sector risk, Maplecroft provides companies and investors with solutions to the most pressing environmental, political, economic and social risks affecting global business today.

Stakeware Inc., San Francisco, USA 
Stakeware specializes in the management of qualitative data. Stakeware has an innovative software approach that uses Evidence Based Modeling (EBM) as a framework to improve decisions on assessing materiality, defining report content, and setting boundaries with stakeholders across time. This is accomplished using an OLAP type data transformation. This system combines qualitative and quantitative data enabling more transparency and inclusivity of stakeholders.

Greenomics Corporation, Vancouver, Canada
Greenomics provides businesses with consultative services and interactive workshops that help them find solutions for moving towards sustainability profitably. A core element of these workshops includes “Greenomics the Game.” The Game is an exciting board game in which 2-5 players fight to build Sustainable Global Corporate Empires. Set in a world threatened by climate change, growing human population and severe pollution, players must compete for dwindling resources and changing social demands.


Big Five Competition Judging Panel:

Mr. Eric Bouwmeester, Board of Directors, MVO Nederland

Mr. Wilbert Lek, Director Financial Services, ING Group

Dr. Nancy Kamp-Roelands, Global Climate Change and Sustainability Reporting Coordinator Director CSR, Ernst & Young

Dr. Jonatan Pinkse, Assistant Professor, Universiteit van Amsterdam Business School

Mr. Giuseppe van der Helm, Executive Director, VBDO