Abstract
The industrial sector plays a vital role in economic development; therefore, there is a necessity to integrate sustainability into industrial development to maintain the economy and avoid any degradation impacts on the environment, and thereafter on society. Thus, do Bahraini companies have sustainability reports and if so, are these reports based on GRI guidelines? Has the status of their sustainability reports been analyzed? This research aims to examine the sustainability reports of companies by analyzing the status of sustainability aspects in their materiality matrices to assist in identifying and prioritizing the most significant sustainability issues for advancement in their future reporting and to improve their environmental performance. This study employs a content analysis approach and analyzes 11 reports from the period 2016–2020 for three companies in Bahrain’s large industrial sector. The study reveals that the companies using materiality analysis in their reporting benefit from better monitoring and measuring of their environmental performance, and from implementing SDGs. Furthermore, the study indicates that the utilization of a materiality matrix as a reporting tool can define and improve report contents by considering stakeholders’ views, consequently, improving the quality of the sustainability reports. The study concludes by proposing a set of recommendations.
Highlights
The industrial sector is a major part of the business sector, and it is more inclined to have negative sustainability effects due to its direct or indirect impact on the environment.This raises concerns about attaining environmental sustainability for industrial-based development; it is essential to develop strategies based on an industrial perspective for enhancing the performance and implementation of the sharing economy [1,2,3]
A report on the materiality matrix is optional for the companies, and the results clearly showed an increase in information on how a company identifies its related stakeholders and how its continuous reporting on materiality reflects its seriousness in addressing significant aspects by complying with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards
FurFurthermore, it is interesting to note that the results show that the aspect of human rights is thermore, it is of interesting note the results that theindicate aspect that of human rights is at the forefront awarenesstoby thethat industrial sector.show
Summary
The industrial sector is a major part of the business sector, and it is more inclined to have negative sustainability effects due to its direct or indirect impact on the environment.This raises concerns about attaining environmental sustainability for industrial-based development; it is essential to develop strategies based on an industrial perspective for enhancing the performance and implementation of the sharing economy [1,2,3]. Conflicts have arisen between the economic consequences that have led to industrialization and the dangerous negative impacts of the devastation and consumption of natural resources and severe pollution [4,5]. In this regard, Kopnina stated that when economic gains are placed above environmental protection, economic development goals are likely to outweigh environmental concerns [6]. Dahlmann et al showed that the “purpose ecosystem” consists of various actors seeking to broadly improve private sector aims and encourage the sector to shift from seeing sustainability as a side issue, being part of “business as usual” and profitability, to focusing on including sustainability considerations in their business strategies [8]
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