Sustainability Report of Portuguese Municipalities: The Three Pillars of Sustainable Development

Abstract

AbstractStudies regarding the economic, social, and environmental impacts of sustainable policies and practices in the public sector are scarce. This is an important gap, as the public sector is oftentimes one of the largest, if not the largest, employer in a region or a country. The current study characterizes the sustainability reporting of the Portuguese municipalities in terms of their most recent sustainability report published online, aiming to better understand the pillars of sustainability. The research is based on secondary data publicly available. Results show that only 28 municipalities (out of 308) published a sustainability report, and that most information are focused on showing a balance between environmental and economic data; the results also show that there is a lack of social information, and that only a few reports show an alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals.