BP, BHP Billiton and Shell have all made the shortlist of winners for Association of Chartered Certified Accountants annual UK Sustainability Reporting Awards.

The event which is in its 17th year has now broadened to include 20 countries worldwide such as Australia and Europe.

Rachel Jackson, head of social and environmental issues at ACCA said: 'As the economic climate continues to turn ever-more gloomy, it is now more important than ever for organisations to be accountable for their impacts, and to ensure that corporate social responsibility remains at the forefront of everybody’s business strategy.'

The judging panel includes Paul Burke, Senior Partner, Acona Ltd; John Hill, Independent Sustainable Business Advisor; Mike Kelly, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility, KPMG Europe LLP; Professor Dave Owen, Professor of Social and Environmental Accounting, Nottingham Business School and Paul Scott, Director, CorporateRegister.com.

BT will have to defend their title as last years winners and Vodafone are competing to win back their title having nabbed the accolade in 2006. Thames Water and Body Shop did not make the shortlist this despite appearing in it last year.

The shortlist is:

Large Corporations

Anglo American - provides financing services to the mining industry

BAT – British American Tobacco

BHP Billiton – Resources company including aluminum, diamonds, oil & gas

BP – Oil and gas exploration

BT – British Telecom – telecommunications

Camelot – Operator of the national lottery

GSK – GlaxoSmithKline, pharmaceuticals company

Shell - Oil and gas exploration

The Co-operative Group – Mutual retailer

Unilever – Food, drink and goods manufacturer

Vodafone – Mobile communications company

Xstrata – Mining company

Small and Medium Sized Enterprise (SMEs)

REAP – Sustainable development charity

Traidcraft – Fair traders