Disclosure of Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance Information by Spanish Companies: A Compliance Analysis

Herenia Gutiérrez-Ponce,Nuria Arimany-Serrat,Julian Chamizo-González

doi:10.3390/su14063254

Herenia Gutiérrez-Ponce, Nuria Arimany-Serrat + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su14063254

Copy DOI

Abstract

The transposition of Directive 2014/95/EU to Spain through Law 11/2018 of December 28 requires companies to publish information on the impact of their environmental, social, and governance activities (ESG information) in management reports or in a “non-financial statement.” This study aims to assess the readiness of IBEX35 companies to submit ESG reports through their communication and web transparency and to determine whether such ESG information is related to these companies’ financial indicators. The study is pioneering in the analysis of the transparency of non-financial information on the websites of companies listed on the main Spanish stock market index (IBEX 35). It uses exploratory and descriptive analysis to determine whether the companies with the best economic efficiency indicators are also the most transparent in non-financial indicators (ESG) and to what extent these relationships explain the dependency between the two. The findings reveal that IBEX35 companies need to improve their web transparency by presenting solid non-financial reports with ESG sustainability parameters. The results show that companies with economic profitability in Return on Assets that use their debt levels wisely disclose higher levels of ESG information. In other words, financial performance and indebtedness contribute to improving levels of ESG disclosure on the IBEX35. Companies must also improve accessibility to ESG information, update it, and classify it in accordance with current regulations.

Highlights

The growing emphasis on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) worldwide [1–4] is significant, and organizations from different countries are disclosing detailed information on their economic, social, and environmental impacts [5]
In line with [42], a comparison of relevant indicators on energy and water consumption and polluting emissions for all IBEX35 companies revealed that company reports express data on environmental indicators in different units of measure
Appendix A breaks down the percentage of IBEX35 companies that disclose ESG information related to the 27 indicators analyzed through the web

Summary

Introduction

The growing emphasis on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) worldwide [1–4] is significant, and organizations from different countries are disclosing detailed information on their economic, social, and environmental impacts [5]. 2014/95/EU on Disclosure of Non-Financial Information (NFI) required public-interest entities (PIEs) with over 500 employees to present a non-financial report on environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) issues for the previous fiscal year. [5] indicated that UN Agenda 2030 and Directive 2014/95/EU [1] have promoted significant improvement in sustainability disclosure, especially for companies and larger groups. This study analyzes the impact of sustainability indicators together with the financial indicators from the main European indexes in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. In Spain, previous analyses of the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of companies have demonstrated the need to devote greater effort to managing sustainability in the business world [6]. 35 traded companies are part of the main selective

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion