05/00404 Corporate environmental reporting: survey and empirical evidence: von Ahsen, A. et al. International Journal of Environment and Sustainable Development, 2004, 3, (1), 5–17

Abstract

This paper presents an empirical study addressing current tendencies in corporate environmental reporting released to the public. On the one hand, we survey British and German environmental statements according to the 'European Eco-Management and Audit Scheme'. On the other hand, we explore why companies desist from participating in EMAS and thereby from publishing environmental statements. For this purpose, we have conducted a telephone survey with those companies in Northrhine - Westfalia, Germany, which have participated in EMAS twice but have dropped out afterwards. In doing so, the survey also intends to explore whether other types of corporate environmental reporting are increasingly employed in place of environmental statements. All in all, the goal of our study is to derive assumptions about future developments of corporate environmental reporting.