Global Reporting Initiative Database Research Articles

Exploring sustainable development goals reporting practices: From symbolic to substantive approaches—Evidence from the energy sector

AbstractBased on the legitimacy theory, the study enhances the understanding of disclosure practices of European companies operating in the energy sector regarding the adherence to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Toward this end, the study analyses how SDGs reporting is evolving and what are the most addressed SDGs in the context of European energy sector companies. The paper's ultimate contribution is to dive deep into how such companies disclose their contributions to the SDGs to determine whether they adopt a substantive or merely symbolic approach to corporate legitimacy. To address the research objectives, a content analysis has been performed on non‐financial reports published by a sample of 15 European energy sector companies included in the Global Reporting Initiative database as SDGs reporters for the period 2017–2019. Our findings suggest that while SDGs are becoming an integral part of corporate disclosure, symbolic rather than substantial changes appear to prevail, calling for actions from legislators and policy‐makers.

The signalling role of voluntary ESG assurance

The aim of this study is to examine the role of independent third-party environment, social, and governance (ESG) assurance in signalling higher ESG performance. While testing the hypothesis, a liner regression is applied using data from Thomson Reuters ESG scores and global reporting initiative database from a sample of 645 unique European firms over the period of 2012-2017. Firms with third-party assurance are found to have a significantly higher ESG performance than firms with no assurance. This study offers new evidence on the signalling value of an independent third party ESG assurance in differentiating ESG performances and confirms the incentive that high performing firms could use to separate from their counterparts with poor performance in a separating equilibrium.

Stakeholder engagement practices and impression management

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to assess the substantiveness of stakeholder engagement by examining voluntary disclosures tied to the engagement process. The objective is to draw a portrait of stakeholder engagement practices and determine whether they genuinely contribute to informing stakeholders or whether they are simply intended to manage stakeholders’ impressions.Design/methodology/approachThe authors performed an exploratory content analysis on 113 sustainability reports published in 2018 in the Global Reporting Initiative database. The authors investigated disclosures tied to consulted stakeholders, communication modes and material issues resulting from the engagement process. The authors then assessed the substantiveness of these disclosures to determine the extent of the impression management tactics deployed in the stakeholder engagement disclosures made by Canadian companies.FindingsData analysis showed that more than a third of Canadian firms tend to make generic disclosures on their stakeholders’ engagement. As well, almost half the engagement modes disclosed are unidirectional and fewer than 33% of Canadian companies disclose on relevant sustainability issues. Furthermore, only 26% of the sample seek assurance on the information disclosed. Overall, the authors note an important trend in impression management used in sustainability reporting and underscore a potentially significant sectoral effect in the tactics used.Originality/valueThese data provide new insight into stakeholder engagement processes and highlight the strategies used by Canadian companies to manage their stakeholders’ impressions rather than their expectations. The study also contributes to a better understanding of the underexplored stakeholder engagement process and provides regulatory organisations with deepened insights to better frame stakeholder engagement disclosures.

Assessment of the waste management reporting in the electricity sector

The urban advances of the last decades have enabled the expansion of the electric sector globally, hence increasing the waste generated by such activities. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards have been adopted worldwide by the electricity sector and corroborate for sustainable planning of these companies. However, a gap in studies that specifically address the waste management strategies in such sustainability reports for this sector can be highlighted. Therefore, the present study aimed at identifying and analyzing quantities, typologies, and disposal options for waste generated in the electricity sector through declared information of a sample of companies worldwide in GRI reports from 2017 to 2019, besides discussing the results under the sustainability and circularity approaches. The adopted methodology considered the selection of the electricity sector's companies in the GRI database and the evaluation, according to sustainability criteria, of the collected data related to waste management. The results pointed to 26 holding companies, 15 of them reported waste management, but, in general, nonstandard. During the analyzed period, approximately 51.2 ​Mt of waste were declared, 99.2% of which refer to non-hazardous waste, and a fraction of 55% of the total generated waste sent to landfills, even though a large part of it was recyclable. Nonetheless, the sample pointed to a 17% reduction in the total waste generation and a decrease of 56% on landfilling in the two-year analysis, which might constitute a trend in internal policies for increasing the sustainability and circularity levels in the electricity sector concerning waste management. This study innovated by highlighting the current practices on waste management and its evolution towards more sustainable patterns in the electricity sector, which are, to the best of our knowledge, still incipient themes discussed by the recent literature.

Sustainability reporting challenges in developing countries: towards management perceptions research evidence-based practices

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is threefold. First, it aims to identify managerial perceptions-based research determinants of sustainability reporting. Second, it sets out to evaluate the impact of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) efforts in increasing SR in developing countries. Third, the researcher argues for the adoption of management perceptions research evidence-based practices (EBP) to address SR challenges in developing countries.Design/methodology/approachThe study was undertaken using a desk-based review of management perceptions-based research literature on the determinants of SR. The impact of GRI efforts in increasing adoption of SR was undertaken through both desk-based research and descriptive analysis of data obtained from the GRI database from 2014 to 2019 relating to 107 developing countries. The call for the adoption of management perceptions research EBP is based on a critical analysis of both the management perceptions of the determinants of SR research and evaluation the impact of GRI efforts to increase SR in developing countries.FindingsTraining, legislation, issuing of guidance, stakeholder pressure, awareness campaigns, market and public pressure were identified as some of the determinants of SR. The evaluation of the impact of GRI efforts shows they had limited impact on increasing SR in developing countries. Research needed to adopt management perceptions research EBP is identified.Research limitations/implicationsThis study is conceptual. Management perceptions-based research is needed in more developing countries to better understand the determinants of SR and identify the most effective policies or practices to address related challenges.Originality/valueThe findings contribute to the calls to make academic research more relevant to policy formulation. In particular, the proposal for research needed to inform EBP adoption to address SR challenges in developing countries is new.

Assessment of the environmental responsibility of industrial enterprises in the region

The article discusses the problems of accessibility of information about the impact of enterprises on environmental components for stakeholders. Assessing the environmental component of non-financial reports allows to analyse the environmental activities of any company and draw appropriate conclusions about the effectiveness of the policies of enterprises. Russian companies, unlike foreign ones, have lower trends to disclose environmentally significant information, but there is a positive trend in placing such information in the public domain. The study analyzed the trend of non-financial reporting following the international recommendations of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). In the period June-November 2019, the number of Russian companies reports presented in the international GRI database increased by 10%, with a global dynamics of 1.7%. According to the National Register of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, 80% of non-financial reporting is the reports of sustainable development field, the most open are the enterprises of the oil and gas industry and the electric power industry. The study covered 107 negative impact facilities of the 1st category, high and significant risk category, located in the Volgograd region. To assess the openness of regional enterprises, we analyzed their official websites and databases of the rating of environmental business performance. Official sites identified for 72% of facilities demonstrate the predominance of environmentally significant declarative information, it is 87% of analyzed sites. A study of companies’ readiness to disclose data on anthropogenic impact for stakeholders used copyright checks and showed the commitment of less than 10% of respondents. Regional companies did not support the initiative on the openness of environmentally significant information, which less than 2% of enterprises publish in the open access, and are not ready to prepare reports on sustainable development following international criteria. Since 2018, the exclusion of quantitative data on the negative impact on specific enterprises as a mandatory component of regional reports on the state of the environment has exacerbated the identified trend.

THE HARMONIZATION OF ECO-EFFICIENCY STANDARDS: AN ANALYSIS ON THE ENERGY ENTERPRISES OF THE G7 GROUP AND THE EMERGING E7 COUNTRIES

Attempts are being made to harmonize the many standards of business practice that exist outside of financial reporting, but they are limited either to a single industry or to the views of individual researchers. In this article we have harmonized international standards of eco-efficiency, compiled on the basis of multi-stakeholder approach and tested the set of indicators developed for the energy companies of the Group of Seven (G7) and the Emerging Seven (E7). We analyzed the non-financial reports of 56 companies from the global reporting initiative database for the period 2015-2016 and plotted the decoupling of value added and environmental pollution. The study found that G7 energy companies do not adhere to the concept of sustainable development, while for E7 companies there is an absolute decoupling except for greenhouse gas emissions. We come to conclusion that socially responsible companies are able to gain competitive advantages in the framework of sustainable development, provided the transparency of business.

Public Sector (Un)Sustainability: a study of GRI adherence and sustainability reporting disclosure standards in Public Institutions and State-Owned Companies of the Public Agency Sector

This study aims to analyze the GRI adherence and disclosure standards of sustainability reports of public and state institutions in the public agency sector. The Global Reporting Initiative Database (GRI) is used for the period 2011-2017, with a sample composed by 177 public agencies. The results show that there is an evolution in the publication of GRI sustainability reports by the public agencies analyzed. However, they represent only 1.8% of the total of all organizations. In addition, a large part does not correspond to the category of integrated reports, received no external assurance, and did not formalize any input or feedback on the report provided by a panel of stakeholders or expert(s), resulting in reports with poor quality and reliability.

The effective practices of mobile phone producers' green supply chain management in reducing GHG emissions

AbstractThe aim of this study is to identify management practices that effectively reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions with regard to the green supply chain adopted by mobile phone producers. Six cases were surveyed (Apple, Samsung, LG, Huawei, Nokia, and ZTE). The main source of data was sustainability reports, which were retrieved from the Global Reporting Initiative database. A special data analysis technique called rank analysis was adopted. The results revealed that the effective practices to reduce GHG 1 emissions were related to production process and business travel; those that were effective for reducing GHG 2 emissions were related to facilities accreditation and energy saving; and those effective in reducing GHG 3 emissions were related to logistics and customer practices. No effective actions related to the management of relationships with suppliers were identified by this study. Indicative models for the relationship between actions and GHG emissions were developed, as was a value‐stream map. The previous studies reporting the effective practices in other industries reported results for reducing GHG 1 or GHG 3, or overall GHG emissions, without discriminating among the actions taken to reduce such emissions, although some limited actions were reported. This study describes the effective practices along the whole supply chain—both upstream and downstream—and it also lists the actions related to addressing all the emissions, whether GHG 1, 2, or 3.

A Cross-Country Investigation of Corporate Governance and Corporate Sustainability Disclosure: A Signaling Theory Perspective

There is a dearth of research on corporate governance and total sustainability disclosure (economic, environmental, and social) in developing, particularly South Asian, countries. This is unique cross-country research on South Asian countries’ corporate governance elements and total sustainability disclosure practices. The study considers a set of insightful theories, namely, the signaling and agency theories of understanding the motives and drivers of sustainability reporting. Based on data from the Global Reporting Initiative database, the study analyzes Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. We have collected annual report and sustainability reports from the GRI database for the period between 2009 and 2016. Based on the signaling and agency theories, the study investigates how board and shareholding structures convey signals to the market and different stakeholders. Our empirical results find that total sustainability disclosure has a positive and significant relationship with foreign shareholding, institutional shareholding, board independence, and board size. On the other hand, we document that director shareholding is negatively but significantly associated with total sustainability disclosure. Therefore, we conclude that corporate governance elements have very strong influential power to send positive signals to the market that lead to reduced information asymmetry and ensuring honest signals from different stakeholders.

Environmental Information Disclosure in the Hotel Sector: Global Reporting Initiative Application

The purpose of this study is to identify core Environmental Information Disclosure (EID) contents and to evaluate the current level of EID proactiveness of the hotel companies on the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) database. We confirmed 38 reports as a sample from 2008 to 2014. Utilising content analysis and a case study approach, we comprehensively investigated the quality and extent of what is being reported and evaluated in respect to each hotel’s EID proactiveness. Six core EID categories which had received significant attention from the hotels were identified, and we found the sampled hotels emphasised cost reduction activities of their operations in their EID. EID proactiveness was addressed and there was significant difference between the EID proactiveness groups (top, middle, bottom) in terms of property, quality and quantity. This study provides an overview of the current level of EID proactiveness of the hotels in the GRI database and also provides a measure for EID proactiveness for the hotel sector.

Corporate Sustainability Reporting in the BIST Sustainability Index

<p>In recent years, there is a growing focus on corporate operations especially since the publication of the first environmental reports in 1989. Companies have started to publish information about its environmental, social and sustainability policies. The study examines the sustainability reporting elements of Borsa Istanbul Sustainability Index (BIST) in Turkey and to evaluate which elements is most vital in this context. This study will begin with the sustainability reporting that will be examined under the roof of corporation sustainability and end with the examination of sustainability reports of 15 firms, which are included in the BIST Sustainability Index in Turkey, and a content analysis. The reports of companies under study were taken from special web site and GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) database of companies. Being the first study in examining the sustainability report of companies in BIST Sustainability Index, it is expected to contribute in literature about sustainability reporting recently started to gain importance in Turkey. Overall our findings suggest that the sustainability index established in Turkey is still in development stage, but the enterprises in the endeavor are working day by day to develop the sustainability qualities.</p>

Corporate responsibility reporting according to Global Reporting Initiative: an international comparison

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is an organization that has managed to impose its reporting practices on corporate responsibility among large transnational companies. The model proposed by GRI is based on the supposed convergence between the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. This convergence can be presumed at macroeconomic level, but at the level of enterprises, the three dimensions are often divergent. By analyzing the structure of reports included in the GRI database, our article aims to identify the factors that impact on company’s behavior in the corporate responsibility reporting process. In addition, our research invites to answer the following question: is it not possible that these reports attempt to exaggerate company environmental and social performance, rather than to cause a change in their conduct?

Diffusion of sustainability reporting in universities: current situation and future perspectives

Universities play a key role in the development of society, and their involvement in sustainable development will be crucial in changing current practices in society towards sustainable development. Thus, information about the measures and actions taken towards sustainable development needs to be communicated to all university stakeholders. Sustainability reporting is a voluntary tool for disclosing efforts towards sustainable development, but little research has analysed the diffusion of sustainability reporting among universities. This study uses a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods to explain the worldwide diffusion of sustainability reporting in universities. At the macro level, regressions using logistic curves showed the stage of diffusion regarding sustainability reporting for different regions around the world. At the micro level, two types of data were analysed to assess the sustainable practices used among universities: (i) data from the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) sustainability reporting database and (ii) sustainability reports from the GRI database. The results indicate that the diffusion of sustainability reporting is still at an early stage in universities, and no massive diffusion is expected based on the current data, despite the increasing concerns about sustainability in young people and other university stakeholders. Some actions need to be taken to persuade universities to adopt reporting standards and to highlight the benefits and necessity of sustainability reporting. Some European universities, which are the most active universities in providing sustainability reports, have improved their visibility by adopting the GRI, thus increasing their endowments and facilitating their ability to raise funds for future sustainability activities.

Defining the Content of Sustainability Reports in Nonprofit Organizations: Do Stakeholders Really Matter?

The aim of the article is to investigate the role of stakeholder engagement and participation in nonprofit organizations’ sustainability reporting, according to the literature on third sector and stakeholder theory. To verify the levels of involvement, the authors conducted an empirical survey, using content analysis, on a sample of 54 sustainability reports of nonprofit organizations included in the Global Reporting Initiative database as of September 1, 2012. In order to strengthen the results obtained from the content analysis, the authors shared their findings with the organizations of the sample. The survey showed that there were some criticisms regarding stakeholder participation in the targeted research field. These are considered in the conclusions. Questions for the future included whether stakeholder engagement is moving from being simply a way to consult and influence stakeholders to being an effective instrument for involving them in nonprofit organizations’ reporting and decision-making processes, through mutual commitment.

Third-party Assurance of Global Reporting Initiative Sustainability Reports – a Signal of Quality?

There are increasing disclosures of environmental information due to the pressure from various stakeholders like investors, the public and customers. Most of these environmental disclosures are provided voluntarily by companies and the amount of information is increasing. Due to this flood of information stakeholders call for independent assurance of these reports (Solomon, 2000; UNEP, 2002; Hasan, 2003; KPMG, 2008; Manetti and Toccafondi, 2012). This paper applies institutional theory and investigates whether the assurance of Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) sustainability reports increases the quality and quantity of the reported information. The purpose of the study is to evaluate whether third-party assured sustainability reports of the energy and utilities sector are better in terms of comprehensiveness and compliance with GRI G3 guidelines. The sample comprises 86 sustainability reports from the GRI database of companies from the energy and utilities sectors. The study uses a two-step method for evaluating the content of the reports and applies an analysis of variance (ANOVA) between the two groups of assured and non-assured sustainability reports to identify significant differences between them. The results indicate that the quality and quantity of the disclosed information is better for assured reports than for non-assured reports. However, the absolute level of disclosed environmental information is not sufficient. The study implies that companies can benefit from assurance services by improving their sustainability reports in comprehensiveness and compliance with GRI G3 reporting guidelines. Stakeholders can assume that assured reports contain more relevant environmental information according to GRI G3 guidelines and that third-party assurance of sustainability reports enhances credibility of environmental reports. We contribute to the literature by examining the relationship between assured and non-assured sustainability reports and their comprehensiveness and compliance with GRI G3 guidelines. We do not use an index or score for assessing environmental disclosures. Rather, we examine the separate environmental performance indicators from GRI because they reflect very different environmental aspects that cannot be aggregated. This innovative approach to environmental disclosure is unique as recent papers on environmental performance also confirm that measures must be separated according to environmental aspects (Bhattacharyya and Cummings, 2013; Trumpp et al., 2013).