The current state of sustainability reporting: Evidence from publicly listed financial institutions

Abstract

In compliance with the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sustainability reporting guidelines, this paper aims to determine the financial institutions’ reporting formats, standards, and frameworks for sustainability reporting. It explores how they prioritize the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) and contribute to the specific UN SDGs (Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission, 2019; United Nations [UN], 2015). The annual and sustainability reports were gathered from the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) and companies’ websites of 30 publicly listed financial institutions from 2019 to 2021. Using a descriptive research design, this study found that the SEC sustainability reporting template and standalone report are the most common reporting formats. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards are the most widely used by Philippine publicly listed financial institutions. Although they support all 17 UN SDGs, the study denotes that SDG 1, no poverty, and SDG 8, decent work and economic growth, are the most important goals aligned with their business activities. This indicates that they comply with the requirements set by the Philippine SEC sustainability reporting guidelines. Their sustainability achievements show their commitment to the UN SDGs. The guidelines drive them to assess and manage their organization’s economic, environmental, and social aspects, encouraging transparency and accountability through public disclosures.