Assessing non-financial reports according to the Global Reporting Initiative guidelines: evidence from Greece

Skouloudis, Antonis; Evangelinos, Konstantinos; Kourmousis, Fotis

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2009.11.015

Cited by 128 publications

(93 citation statements)

References 69 publications

(75 reference statements)

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“…In attempting to explain the motives of corporate sustainability reporting, and drawing from prior literature (Morhardt, 2002), Skouloudis et al underline four main reasons (Skouloudis, Evangelinos, & Kourmousis, 2009); namely (i) reduction of operating costs; (ii) promotion of stakeholder relations; (iii) the perceived environmental visibility of the firm, and (iv) the notion that reporting on such issues can yield competitive advantages.…”

Section: Background Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Does GRI Reporting Impact Environmental Sustainability? An Industry-Specific Analysis of CO2 Emissions Performance between Reporting and Non-Reporting Companies

Bernard¹,

Abdelgadir²

2015

JSD

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The stated goal of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) reporting framework is two-fold: to make it easier for organizations to communicate their sustainability performance to stakeholders, and to drive companies to become more sustainable. Our aim in this paper is to assess if GRI-reporting has any direct and positive impact on sustainability performance, and more specifically on CO 2 emissions of the reporting companies. This study is the first that attempts to answer this question in a quantitative and systematic manner. We analyze the CO 2 emissions data from 40 A-level GRI-reporting companies, over a period of six years and across five industry sectors, comparing them with a control group of 24 non-reporting companies, to assess any direct impact of reporting on emissions. We perform an industry-specific analysis of the CO 2 emissions of both reporting and non-reporting companies for each industry sector. We find that amongst all reporting companies and industries, only the Utilities industry exhibits a dramatic decrease in emission intensity between 2007-2012, while the others show only minimal reductions, while the overall absolute emissions levels have grown significantly for both sets of companies. On the more qualitative side, we also note, based on our own experience in undertaking this study, that the GRI reports are not conducive to providing stakeholders with a coherent, user-friendly or transparent structure of a company's sustainability performance in general, or improvement thereof, concluding that neither of the GRI stated goals are currently attained. Finally, we provide constructive recommendations on how the GRI reporting process could better achieve its stated purpose. Academics, investors and analysts alike might find the review, the analysis as well as the recommendations of this paper useful, as they directly address the core objectives of the GRI reporting process and how it could be improved to have the desirable impact.

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Section: Background Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Does GRI Reporting Impact Environmental Sustainability? An Industry-Specific Analysis of CO2 Emissions Performance between Reporting and Non-Reporting Companies

Bernard¹,

Abdelgadir²

2015

JSD

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“…Olsthoorn et al (2001, p. 456) point out that the study of environmental indicators especially, although relatively "new", «[…] is already highly diversified with approaches based on LCA, economics, management accounting, ecology and a physical gate-to-gate analysis». Other studies have extended the analysis to the three types of GRI indicators, but analyse them within the scope of broader research covering the full content of responsibility reports, as well as the "quality" and level of compliance to GRI Guidelines and/or environmental standards (Morhardt et al, 2002;Guthrie & Farneti, 2008;Skouloudis & Evangelinos, 2009;Skouloudis et al, 2010;Asif et al, 2013;Romolini et al, 2014). …”

Section: Background and Prior Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Study of the Economic and Non-Financial Performance Indicators in Corporate Sustainability Reports

Raucci¹,

Tarquinio²

2015

JSD

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The purpose of this paper is to identify the performance indicators disclosed in corporate sustainability reports. To perform this study we examined Italian Listed companies that produced a sustainability report in 2012. The indicators were identified using a content analysis. We analysed the core and additional indicators disclosed in sustainability reports as well as all the indicators required by sector supplements adopted by companies. Our results show that indicators are widely disclosed in Italian sustainability reports. Social indicators are on average the most commonly used indicators, particularly those concerning labour practices, followed by the economic and then the environmental indicators. The Oil and Gas and Utilities industry sectors disclosed a superior amount of indicators compared to all other sectors. These industry sectors also show a more homogeneous behaviour, also as regards disclosure of core and additional indicators.This study provides one of the first detailed analyses of the different category of GRI indicators used by Italian companies producing sustainability reports.

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“…Instability and concentration as two indicators of GRI distribution in different sectors of activity were analyzed by these scientists. The evaluation of the quality and inclusiveness of triple reports based on the non-financial reporting system and guidelines is presented in the analysis of non-financial reporting at the country level (Skouloudis, et al, 2010). The Global Reporting Initiative as the basis for voluntary reporting of companies in the field of sustainable development is used to analyze discursive, material and charismatic types of tactics (Brown et al, 2009).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reporting in the area of sustainable development with information technology application

Ibatova¹,

Sitdikov²,

Klychova³

2018

10.5267/j.msl

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The aim of the present article is substantiation of theoretical provisions and development of practical recommendations for reporting in the field of sustainable development formation in compliance with the international standard "Guidelines for sustainability reporting" elaborated within the scope of Global Reporting Initiative. The research objectives are to study the content of non-financial reporting generated in compliance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines and to offer new methodological approaches towards sustainability reporting formation. Using such general scientific methods as systematic approach, comparison, method of systematization and generalization of data, the research work revealed the essence, content, principles of formation and reporting structure in the field of sustainable development. The work contains recommendations on social activity accounting organization with the use of information technology, such as: supplementary invoices application for accounting, and development of forms for reports containing information of social character.

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Assessing non-financial reports according to the Global Reporting Initiative guidelines: evidence from Greece

Cited by 128 publications

References 69 publications

Does GRI Reporting Impact Environmental Sustainability? An Industry-Specific Analysis of CO2 Emissions Performance between Reporting and Non-Reporting Companies

Does GRI Reporting Impact Environmental Sustainability? An Industry-Specific Analysis of CO2 Emissions Performance between Reporting and Non-Reporting Companies

A Study of the Economic and Non-Financial Performance Indicators in Corporate Sustainability Reports

Reporting in the area of sustainable development with information technology application

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