With guidelines published on 2 September, the State Treasury encourages all central government organisations to use open responsibility reporting to share information to society about their role in enabling sustainable development. Responsibility reporting is a way to make sustainable development work carried out in ministries, agencies, and institutions more visible. In addition, a uniform reporting framework helps to create an overall idea of the work that central government organisations do for sustainable development.
– A reporting framework shared by the entire central government makes it possible to obtain commensurate and cumulative information on the responsibility of the activities. The aim of the guideline issued by the State Treasury is to help and support agencies and institutions in developing their responsibility reporting”, says Timo Laitinen, Director General of the State Treasury.
The State Treasury encourages ministries, agencies, and institutions to begin reporting by examining their activities in 2021 with the help of a shared central government reporting framework. The aim is to publish the reports by the end of April in 2022. Responsibility reporting will take place separately from the preparation of accounting units’ financial statements. The guideline will replace the previous guideline on sustainability reporting published in November 2020.
The reporting framework is based on the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals and the 2030 Agenda. The reports provide instructions for describing the impact of the organization’s activities on the most important objectives of the action plan promoted through its own activities. The reports also call for a description of the direct negative impacts of the activities on the operating environment and the measures taken to reduce these impacts both now and in the future.
See the guidelines (in Finnish) >
Further information of responsibility reporting >
Due to technical problems with the State Treasury’s website the guidance was not published until 16 September 2021, but was signed on 2 September 2021.
Further information:
vastuullisuusraportointi(at)valtiokonttori.fi
Katri Kanerva, tel. +358 (0)295 503 364, katri.kanerva(at)valtiokonttori.fi
Henni Purtonen, tel. +358 (0)295 502 017, henni.purtonen(at)valtiokonttori.fi
