The 2011 version of the Tomorrow’s Value Rating (TVR) builds upon the original TVR, which was first launched in 2009, and its predecessor rating, the Accountability Rating, which ran from 2004 to 2008.

Accountability Rating

Launched in 2004 and run annually by Two Tomorrows in association with the international think-tank AccountAbility, the Accountability Rating evaluated and benchmarked companies on their commitment and ability to manage social and environmental issues responsibly.

Headline results from the global application of the Rating were published in Fortune magazine. In addition, ratings of the largest companies in a particular country were carried out by partner companies in countries including Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, Italy, Greece, Spain and Portugal.

The Accountability Rating drew on a number of international frameworks for corporate responsibility:

• The AA1000 Series, including the AA1000 Assurance Standard and the AA1000 Stakeholder Engagement Standard.
• The United Nations Global Compact, which challenges business leaders to apply universal standards in their operations worldwide.
• The GRI Sustainability Reporting Guidelines, a set of principles and indicators for reporting on sustainability performance, accompanied by a range of technical and sector-specific guidance notes and supplements.

Tomorrow's Value Rating

In the five years following the launch of the Accountability Rating, the practices it assessed became increasingly common in the world’s largest companies. At the same time, other rating initiatives such as the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and the FTSE4Good index integrated several criteria similar to those in the Accountability Rating. The founding partners therefore concluded in early 2009 that the mission of the Accountability Rating had been successfully completed.

The Tomorrow’s Value Rating was the next logical step in the journey. Launched in 2009, it was used initially to assess the largest companies in a range of important industry sectors. It sought to assess and advance the areas of sustainability performance that had the most scope for improvement among the majority of companies.

For 2011, we have widened the scope of the TVR to cover almost 100 companies from across all sectors. We have also refined the methodology to focus closely on the systems and practices that underlie corporate sustainability performance. In doing so, we are assessing companies' ability to deliver on their potential to be sustainable in terms of environmental and socio-economic risks and opportunities. For more, see methodology.