VBDO has assessed whether 68 Dutch stock listed companies have a policy and/or project in place to calculate the externalities of its business practices, or a part thereof. 10% of the companies within scope do. Examples are True Price’s partners AzkoNobel, DSM, BAM and Philips. True Price works with these companies in a number of different projects, on research and knowledge dissemination. The findings were presented in the report ‘Sustainability performance of Dutch stock listed companies’. This report provides insight into the status quo of sustainability performance of the largest Dutch stock-listed companies, focusing on VBDO’s priority themes and a number of other indicators. One of the indicators is looking at integrating externalities.
From the report: “’hidden’ costs, or ‘negative externalities’, are costs of land use, carbon emissions, underpayment or child labor relating to the value chain of products and services. These costs often remain unpaid for and are invisible to consumers. The “True Price” is the price of a product or service, in which social and environmental externalities are integrated. Providing insight in these externalities enables consumers, investors and producers to make a more balanced choice for a product or service, in which all economic, social and environmental costs are integrated”. Read more here.