Abstract
Sustainability reporting is at the core of designing corporate sustainability environment. The study has been conducted on Indian banking sector to examine the extent of sustainability reporting by the banks operating in India. Sustainability report, corporate social responsibility report, business responsibility report and annual report (FY 2015–16 & 2016–17) of the banks were analysed and coded using content analysis technique against sustainability indicators derived from review of literature, GRI G4 guidelines, and National Voluntary Guidelines on responsible business conduct.This is one of the first studies to examine the extent of sustainability reporting by the commercial banks in India in line with major sustainability-related standards & guidelines. The result of the study shows that the banks in India are much slower in adopting sustainability reporting practices. It was found that sustainability issues which are of the highest priorities for the banks are directly related to their business operations like financial inclusion, financial literacy, energy efficient technology etc. The environmental consideration indicators are relatively unaddressed by most of the banks in India. The results of the study also show that there is a significant difference in the disclosure of environmental and internal socio-environmental indicators between public and private sector banks in India. This study is expected to contribute to banking sector and all the stakeholders in understanding more about the limitations in implementing sustainable reporting in India.
Highlights
Sustainability forms the core of corporate sustainability and is of utmost concern to all the stakeholders
This study examines whether sustainability reporting by public sector banks (PSBs) and private sector banks in India consider the major indicators provided in sustainability-related disclosure guidelines such as Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G4 guidelines, and National Voluntary Guidelines (NVGs)
This study provides insights into the extent of sustainability reporting by the banks in India vis-a-vis prominent sustainability disclosure standards like GRI and NVGs
Summary
Sustainability forms the core of corporate sustainability and is of utmost concern to all the stakeholders. There has been a growing awareness among the corporates to address environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues to contribute towards sustainable development. The development of sustainable organisations by improving environmental and social performance has become a global challenge for businesses around the world (Marrewijk 2003). There have been many studies addressing the need for incorporating sustainability into core business strategy (Dyllick and Hockerts 2002; Salzmann et al 2005; Weber et al 2008). Banking sector plays a crucial role in promoting sustainable development as it acts as an intermediary in the development of economy (Jeucken and Bouma 1999; Scholtens 2009). Prior literature shows that initially sustainable practices of the banks were confined to internal environmental management practices for energy efficiency, less resource consumption, and low carbon
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