Scoring corporate environmental and sustainability reports using GRI 2000, ISO 14031 and other criteria

Morhardt, J. Emil; Baird, Sarah; Freeman, Kelly

doi:10.1002/csr.26

Cited by 273 publications

(232 citation statements)

References 79 publications

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“…The credibility and reliability of these reports have been associated with the use of recognized standards, notably the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) which has been adopted in around 80 % of reports from large organizations (KPMG 2013). The GRI is generally considered to be the most reliable and detailed reporting framework (Daub 2007;Morhardt et al 2002). This framework proposes detailed information on a large array of indicators on different aspects of sustainability, such as the economy, the environment, labor practices and decent work, human rights, society, and product responsibility (GRI 2006).…”

Section: The Gri: Toward Better Transparency On Biodiversity?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Accounting for the Unaccountable: Biodiversity Reporting and Impression Management

2014

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This paper explores the strategies organizations use to demonstrate their accountability for biodiversity and legitimize their impact in this area through the use of techniques of neutralization. Neutralization aims to manage stakeholder impressions on very socially sensitive issues. Based on the content analysis of 148 sustainability reports from mining organizations, the study sheds light on the successful use of rhetoric in reports on nonmeasurable and potentially unaccountable issues. Specifically, the study shows that mining organizations use four main techniques of neutralization when they explain their impact on biodiversity. When they address stakeholders, they defend their social legitimacy and environmental responsiveness using one of the four techniques: they claim of a net positive or neutral impact on biodiversity, they deny that they have a significant impact, they distance themselves from the impact of their actions, and they play down their responsibilities. The study contributes to the literature on corporate sustainability and accounting for stakeholders. It focuses on under-researched issues such as the management of biodiversity and the tactics used to rationalize negative impacts. The study also bridges the gap between theories about organizational legitimacy, impression management, and techniques of neutralization.

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Section: The Gri: Toward Better Transparency On Biodiversity?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Accounting for the Unaccountable: Biodiversity Reporting and Impression Management

2014

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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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“…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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Scoring corporate environmental and sustainability reports using GRI 2000, ISO 14031 and other criteria

Cited by 273 publications

References 79 publications

Accounting for the Unaccountable: Biodiversity Reporting and Impression Management

Accounting for the Unaccountable: Biodiversity Reporting and Impression Management

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

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