Lost in the forest

I got lost in the forest last week.

It wasn’t my first time there by a long chalk. I’ve walked those woods dozens and dozens of times in recent years. It’s my go-to spot when I need to stretch my legs (and brain). And, thanks to years of orienteering in my teens, I’ve got a pretty keen sense of direction.

So, what happened?

Firstly, the trees had just shed their leaves, as they tend to do in the autumn, covering the path and carpeting the forest floor in brown foliage.

Secondly, the coloured diamonds and arrows that usually point the way had been removed from the trees as the route is being redesigned.

Without a clear path and a blazed trail, I quickly lost my bearings.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the importance of signposts ever since I stumbled back to the road a couple of hours later.

As I wrap up my first sustainability report of the 2022/23 season and prepare to embark on writing the second, I’ve also been in the process of updating my credential as a GRI Certified Sustainability Professional to reflect the 2021 standards.

It dawned on me that standards, like those currently offered by the GRI and soon to come from the ISSB and EFRAG, also help chart a clear path. When companies report in accordance with the GRI and other standards, investors know that they will find specific information about their environmental, social and governance performance. Now, with the addition of more requirements relating to human rights and impact statements, readers have even more signs to spot, showing them the direction in which a company or organization is headed.

And as I found out, more signs are better than, well, none.

I was back in the forest again today.

New diamonds have been tacked onto the tree trunks. The trail map has been updated. And the squirrels were happily stashing away nuts for the winter as a cold front moved through.