Idag förekommer det ett ökat tryck på företag att ta ett socialt ansvar, Corporate social responsibility (CSR). För att företag ska uppfattas som legitima måste de överensstämma med samhällets sociala normer, värderingar och förväntningar, vilket enligt legitimitetsteorin tros vara en stark drivkraft till att företag ökar sin omfattning kring frivilliga CSR-upplysningar. Begreppet CSR är nära relaterat till företagens ansvar i samhället som kan delas in i tre områden ekonomiskt-, miljömässigt- och socialt ansvarstagande. Gamerschlag, Möller och Verbeeten (2011) är några av många forskare som har studera varför tyska företag frivilligt ökar omfattningen på hållbarhetsredovisning i sina offentliga rapporter. Genom en kvantitativ undersökning på svenska börsnoterade företag är syftet att undersöka huruvida olika företagsfaktorer påverkar mängden CSR-upplysningar. För att beräkna mängden CSR-upplysningar har antalet nyckelord i företagens hållbarhetsrapportera räknats. Sambandet för den insamlade datan analyserades med en korrelationsanalys och en multipel regressionsanalys. De oberoende variablerna som undersöktes var lönsamhet, synlighet, ägarstruktur samt kontrollvariablerna storlek och branschtillhörighet. I den multipla regressionsanalysen finner vi ett signifikant positivt samband mellan mängden CSR-upplysningar och företagets synlighet samt ägarstrukturen. Denna studie kan inte tillstyrka att lönsamhet har något samband med mängden CSR-upplysningar. / Today there is an increasing amount of pressure on companies to take more social responsibility, often called Corporate social responsibility (CSR). In order for companies to be considered legitimate, they must comply with society's social norms, values ​​and expectations, which, according to the legitimacy theory, is believed to be a strong driving force for companies to increase their scope for voluntary CSR disclosures. The term CSR is closely related to corporate responsibility in society, which can be divided into three areas of economic, environmental and social responsibility. Gamerschlag, Möller and Verbeeten (2011) are some of the many researchers who have studied why German companies voluntarily increase the scope of sustainability reporting in their public reports. Through a quantitative survey of Swedish publicly traded companies, the purpose of this study is to investigate whether different business determinants affect the amount of CSR information. To calculate the amount of CSR information, the number of keywords in the companies sustainability reports has been counted. All the collected data was analyzed by a correlation analysis and a multiple regression analysis. The independent variables investigated were profitability, visibility, ownership structure, and for control variables the study used size and industrial sector. The multiple regression analysis shows a significant positive correlation between the amount of CSR disclosures and the company's visibility as well as the ownership structure. This study can not assure that profitability is related to the amount of CSR information.

Este estudo realizou um exame crítico sobre os relatórios de sustentabilidade, com base na Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), elaborados pelas empresas do setor de geração de energia elétrica por hidroeletricidade no Brasil e avaliou a significância destes documentos em prestar informações claras sobre a eficácia do desempenho socioambiental. Os estudos acadêmicos relacionados com os relatórios de sustentabilidade, e especificamente com os relatórios da GRI, demonstram que há problemas na qualidade da informação com relação à completeza, padronização e credibilidade do conteúdo, porém sem aprofundar nas causas potenciais. Trata-se de um estudo com abordagem quali-quantitativa, com o emprego de pesquisa do tipo descritiva e a utilização de procedimentos bibliográfico e documental, por meio de análise de conteúdo. A quantificação das evidências foi desenvolvida com base nas informações contidas nos relatórios de sustentabilidade das empresas CPFL, EDP e Tractebel, que possuíam o nível mais alto de aplicação da GRI, associadas com as informações de seus desempenhos socioambientais disponíveis por outras fontes de consulta independentes. Os resultados da análise de conteúdo dos relatórios de sustentabilidade demonstraram que nenhuma das empresas atingiu o atendimento pleno de evidência da informação solicitada nas Unidades de Informação avaliadas. Esta constatação indica que todas as empresas avaliadas apresentaram falhas na validação das informações antes do início da elaboração propriamente dita do relatório, como determina a etapa de validação da GRI, sugerindo que os testes disponíveis nos princípios da GRI, provavelmente, não foram empregados ou foram adotados sem eficácia, afetando a qualidade da informação com relação à completeza e credibilidade do conteúdo. Questões que merecem ser aprofundadas em futuros trabalhos são: a influência dos limites da auditoria independente no resultado da verificação do relatório e a extensão da pesquisa de análise de conteúdo para outros setores industriais formados por grandes empresas e com elevado impacto ambiental potencial. O estudo contribui para o aumento de conhecimento sobre o tema, em destaque na atualidade, seja pelos esforços de normalização mundial do relatório de sustentabilidade GRI, e, principalmente, com a recomendação para o fomento destes relatórios incluída no documento final The Future We Want- O Futuro que Queremos da Conferência das Nações Unidas sobre Desenvolvimento Sustentável (Rio+20), no parágrafo 47, com potencial regulamentação brasileira compulsória dos mesmos. / This study undertook a critical examination on the sustainability reports, based on the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), prepared by companies in the sector of electric power generation by hydropower in Brazil and assessed the significance of these documents provide clear information on the effectiveness of the social and environmental performance. Academic studies relating to sustainability reports, and specifically with the GRI reports, show that there are problems in the quality of information regarding the completeness, standardization and credibility of the content, but without deepening the potential causes. This is a study with qualiquantitative approach, with the use of descriptive research and use of bibliographic and documentary procedures, through content analysis. The quantification of the evidence was developed on the basis of the information contained in the sustainability reports of CPFL, EDP and Tractebel, which had the highest level of application of GRI, associated with the socio-environmental performance information available in other independent reference sources. The results of the content analysis of sustainability reports have shown that none of the companies has reached the full service of evidence of information requested in the Information evaluated. This finding indicates that all companies assessed failed validation of the information before the start of the preparation of the report itself, as determines the validation step of GRI, suggesting that the tests available in the GRI principles probably were not employed or have been adopted without effectiveness, affecting the quality of information regarding the completeness and credibility of the content. Issues that deserve to be deepened in futures studies are: the influence of the limits of independent audit on the result of the verification of the report and the extent of content analysis research for others industrial sectors formed by large companies with potential high environmental impact. The study contributes to the increase of knowledge on the subject, highlighted today, either by the world standardization efforts of GRI sustainability report, and, mainly, with the recommendation for the promotion of these reports included in the final document "The Future We Want" of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio + 20), paragraph 47, with potential brazilian regulations compulsory.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-12-01T19:18:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 118386.pdf: 3562637 bytes, checksum: 59c7c675fdfe946b54e6371b25a6b7ed (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-04-23 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The aim of this study was to analyze the principles and environmental indicators presented by the generation of electricity from Santa Catarina companies in their sustainability reports and that they meet the requirements of GRI. Initially we sought to know the GRI and its environmental indicators. Then, companies generating electricity type HPP (HPP) to participate in the research were selected. Depending on the selection criteria used, only four remained in the study sustainability reports for the following companies: Tractebel Energia, CELESC, BAESA and Machadinho Consortium and Maesa. Next, we determined whether the principles established by the GRI were present in sustainability reports of companies. For this, we used the set of tests relevant factors proposed by the GRI. To process the data collected adopted the methodology of content analysis and to assist in analyzing the Atlas.ti software was chosen. Subsequently, we sought to identify the level of compliance by enterprises to key environmental indicators of the GRI. Initially, there was a comparison of what the company informed about the environmental performance indicator of what the GRI protocol provided for that indicator. Then calculate the extent of the essential GRI indicators using a formula developed by Dias. Siqueira e Rossi. (2006. The results showed that the reports of the companies surveyed have snippets corresponding to most relevant factors related to the GRI principles, the principles of both the content and quality text. Other findings show that the level of application of the Reporting Framework influence at the principles and stages of maturity in relation to the use of indicators reflected in the use of the principles. The degree of compliance, it was found that Tractebel Energia was ranked first in the ranking of the core environmental indicators GRI, followed by CELESC, BAESA and Machadinho Consortium and Maesa grip. Based on these, we conclude that the applicability of the GRI reporting framework still needs to evolve enough so that stakeholders can have access to the actual level of economic, social and environmental responsibility of organizations. / O objetivo deste estudo foi analisar os princípios e os indicadores ambientais apresentados pelas empresas de geração de energia elétrica de Santa Catarina nos seus relatórios de sustentabilidade em relação aos requisitos da GRI. Inicialmente buscou-se conhecer a GRI e os seus indicadores ambientais. Em seguida, foram selecionadas as empresas de geração de energia elétrica do tipo UHE (Usina Hidrelétrica) que participariam da pesquisa. Em função dos critérios de seleção utilizados, permaneceram no estudo somente quatro relatórios de sustentabilidade, referentes às seguintes empresas: Tractebel Energia, Celesc, BAESA e Consórcio Machadinho e Maesa. Posteriormente, foi verificado se os princípios estabelecidos pela GRI estavam presentes nos relatórios de sustentabilidade das empresas. Para isso, utilizou-se o conjunto de testes com fatores de relevância propostos pela própria GRI. Para tratar os dados coletados adotou-se a metodologia da Análise de Conteúdo e para auxiliar na análise o software Atlas. ti foi escolhido. Após, buscou-se identificar o grau de aderência das empresas aos indicadores ambientais essenciais da GRI. Inicialmente, fez-se uma comparação do que a empresa informou sobre o indicador de desempenho ambiental da GRI com o que o protocolo da GRI previa para aquele indicador. Em seguida, fez-se o cálculo do grau de aderência aos indicadores essenciais da GRI utilizando-se uma fórmula desenvolvida por Dias, Siqueira e Rossi (2006). A análise dos resultados demonstrou que os relatórios das empresas pesquisadas apresentam trechos de texto correspondentes à maioria dos fatores de relevância vinculados aos princípios da GRI, tanto aos princípios de conteúdo quanto aos de qualidade. Outras constatações demonstram que o nível de aplicação da Estrutura de Relatórios influencia no atendimento aos princípios e que as fases de amadurecimento em relação ao uso dos indicadores refletem-se no uso dos princípios. Quanto ao grau de aderência, verificou-se que a Tractebel Energia foi classificada como a primeira no ranking de aderência aos indicadores ambientais essenciais da GRI, seguida pela Celesc, BAESA e Consórcio Machadinho e Maesa. Frente ao exposto, conclui-se que a aplicabilidade da estrutura de relatório da GRI ainda precisa evoluir bastante para que os stakeholders possam ter acesso ao real nível de responsabilidade econômica e socioambiental das organizações.

Este estudo realizou um exame crítico sobre os relatórios de sustentabilidade, com base na Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), elaborados pelas empresas do setor de geração de energia elétrica por hidroeletricidade no Brasil e avaliou a significância destes documentos em prestar informações claras sobre a eficácia do desempenho socioambiental. Os estudos acadêmicos relacionados com os relatórios de sustentabilidade, e especificamente com os relatórios da GRI, demonstram que há problemas na qualidade da informação com relação à completeza, padronização e credibilidade do conteúdo, porém sem aprofundar nas causas potenciais. Trata-se de um estudo com abordagem quali-quantitativa, com o emprego de pesquisa do tipo descritiva e a utilização de procedimentos bibliográfico e documental, por meio de análise de conteúdo. A quantificação das evidências foi desenvolvida com base nas informações contidas nos relatórios de sustentabilidade das empresas CPFL, EDP e Tractebel, que possuíam o nível mais alto de aplicação da GRI, associadas com as informações de seus desempenhos socioambientais disponíveis por outras fontes de consulta independentes. Os resultados da análise de conteúdo dos relatórios de sustentabilidade demonstraram que nenhuma das empresas atingiu o atendimento pleno de evidência da informação solicitada nas Unidades de Informação avaliadas. Esta constatação indica que todas as empresas avaliadas apresentaram falhas na validação das informações antes do início da elaboração propriamente dita do relatório, como determina a etapa de validação da GRI, sugerindo que os testes disponíveis nos princípios da GRI, provavelmente, não foram empregados ou foram adotados sem eficácia, afetando a qualidade da informação com relação à completeza e credibilidade do conteúdo. Questões que merecem ser aprofundadas em futuros trabalhos são: a influência dos limites da auditoria independente no resultado da verificação do relatório e a extensão da pesquisa de análise de conteúdo para outros setores industriais formados por grandes empresas e com elevado impacto ambiental potencial. O estudo contribui para o aumento de conhecimento sobre o tema, em destaque na atualidade, seja pelos esforços de normalização mundial do relatório de sustentabilidade GRI, e, principalmente, com a recomendação para o fomento destes relatórios incluída no documento final The Future We Want- O Futuro que Queremos da Conferência das Nações Unidas sobre Desenvolvimento Sustentável (Rio+20), no parágrafo 47, com potencial regulamentação brasileira compulsória dos mesmos. / This study undertook a critical examination on the sustainability reports, based on the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), prepared by companies in the sector of electric power generation by hydropower in Brazil and assessed the significance of these documents provide clear information on the effectiveness of the social and environmental performance. Academic studies relating to sustainability reports, and specifically with the GRI reports, show that there are problems in the quality of information regarding the completeness, standardization and credibility of the content, but without deepening the potential causes. This is a study with qualiquantitative approach, with the use of descriptive research and use of bibliographic and documentary procedures, through content analysis. The quantification of the evidence was developed on the basis of the information contained in the sustainability reports of CPFL, EDP and Tractebel, which had the highest level of application of GRI, associated with the socio-environmental performance information available in other independent reference sources. The results of the content analysis of sustainability reports have shown that none of the companies has reached the full service of evidence of information requested in the Information evaluated. This finding indicates that all companies assessed failed validation of the information before the start of the preparation of the report itself, as determines the validation step of GRI, suggesting that the tests available in the GRI principles probably were not employed or have been adopted without effectiveness, affecting the quality of information regarding the completeness and credibility of the content. Issues that deserve to be deepened in futures studies are: the influence of the limits of independent audit on the result of the verification of the report and the extent of content analysis research for others industrial sectors formed by large companies with potential high environmental impact. The study contributes to the increase of knowledge on the subject, highlighted today, either by the world standardization efforts of GRI sustainability report, and, mainly, with the recommendation for the promotion of these reports included in the final document "The Future We Want" of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio + 20), paragraph 47, with potential brazilian regulations compulsory.

Bakgrunden till denna uppsats handlar om högre utbildning och dess viktiga roll i relation till hållbar utveckling. Forskning visar att högre utbildning ligger efter i implementering av hållbarhetsredovisning och det var därför intressant att studera svensk högre utbildning utifrån detta.Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka, beskriva och skapa en djupare förståelse kring hur högre utbildning redovisar arbetet med att främja hållbar utveckling i den egna organisa-tionen. Syftet var också att beskriva eventuella skillnader i hållbarhetsredovisning mellan lärosäten.Den metod som användes för studien var en kombinerad kvalitativ och kvantitativ innehålls-analys. Utifrån ett stratifierat sannolikhetsurval undersöktes årsredovisningar för åtta lärosäten avseende hållbarhetsredovisning. Global Reporting Initiatives ramverk och riktlinjer användes som utgångspunkt för den analysmodell som utvecklades för att bättre passa den sektor som studerades, högre utbildning.Resultatet visar att det pågår ett omfattande arbete med att främja hållbar utveckling i den egna organisationen inom svensk högre utbildning. Lärosätenas hållbarhetsredovisning utifrån den sociala dimensionen pekar tydligt på detta, medan den ekologiska dimensionen har ett begränsat utrymme i årsredovisningarna. Resultatet visar också att det finns skillnader mellan lärosäten avseende både innehåll och omfattning av hållbarhetsredovisning. Enskilda utbildningsanordnare redovisar klart mest följt av universiteten, högskolorna och konstnärliga högskolor. / The background to this essay is the important role higher education hold in relation to sustainable development. Research shows that higher education is at an early stage regarding implementation of sustainability reporting and it is therefore interesting to study Swedish higher education based on this.The purpose of this study was to investigate, describe and create a deeper understanding of how higher education is reporting its work to promote sustainable development in its own organization. The purpose was also to describe possible differences in sustainability reporting between institutions.The method used for the study was a combined qualitative and quantitative content analysis. Based on a stratified probability survey, annual reports for eight institutions were examined regarding sustainability reporting. The Global Reporting Initiative framework and guidelines were used as a basis for the analysis and a model was developed to better fit the sector studied, higher education.The findings show that there is extensive work going on in promoting sustainable develop-ment in the own organization within Swedish higher education. Sustainability reporting in higher education institutions based on the social dimension clearly points to this, while the ecological dimension has limited scope in the annual reports. The findings also show that there are differences between the institutions regarding content and scope of sustainability reporting. Private institutions clearly reports the most followed by universities, colleges and artistic colleges.This paper is written in Swedish.

Intresset för företags ekonomiska prestationer har sedan länge varit stort. På senare år har även intresset för företagens sociala och miljömässiga prestationer ökat. För att möta detta ökade intresse publicerar ett stort antal av världens företag hållbarhetsrapporter där det rapporteras om detta. Ett flertal organisationer har skapat riktlinjer för att standardisera dessa rapporter för att underlätta jämförelser mellan företag. Riktlinjerna upprättade av Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) är de mest frekvent använda. Det ökade intresset för sociala och miljömässiga prestationer har även fått EU att upprätta ett direktiv som kräver att alla större företag ska upprätta hållbarhetsrapporter i enlighet med GRI:s riktlinjer.På grund av den stora produktionen av hållbarhetsrapporter som även kan tänkas öka i och med EU:s direktiv är det av intresse att veta vilken nytta intressenter har av dessa rapporter. En av dessa intressenter är aktieägare. Tidigare studier har visat att information som är användbar för aktieägarnas investeringsbeslut kommer att påverka aktiekursen. Denna studie undersökte vilken nytta aktieägare har av hållbarhetsrapporter upprättade i enlighet medGRI:s riktlinjer. För att undersöka detta studerades sambandet mellan företagens hållbarhetsrapportering och aktiekursen genom regressionsanalyser och t-test.Resultatet av studien visar att de företag som upprättat hållbarhetsrapporter har en högre aktiekurs än de som inte upprättat hållbarhetsrapporter. Detta tyder alltså på att aktieägare använder hållbarhetsrapporter vid sina investeringsbeslut och att dessa rapporter därmed är av nytta för denna typ av intressenter. Omfattningen av hållbarhetsrapporten tycks däremot intepåverka aktiekursen positivt medan kvaliteten på hållbarhetsrapporten tycks ha en positiv påverkan på aktiekursen. / The economic performance of businesses has for a long time been of great interest. Lately the interest of businesses’ social and environmental performance have increased. To meet this increased interest a large amount of the world’s businesses publishes sustainability reports in which social and environmental performance is presented. Several organizations have createdguidelines to standardize these reports in order to make it easier to compare different business performance. The guidelines established by Global reporting initiative (GRI) is the most commonly used. The increased interest in the social and environmental performance has also led EU to draw up a directive that requires all of the large companies to create sustainability reports in accordance with GRI’s guidelines. This great production of sustainability reports raises the question of the usefulness of these reports. One of the stakeholders that uses business information is the shareholders. Several studies have shown that information that the shareholders finds useful will affect the share price. This study has examined shareholders’ usefulness of sustainability reports prepared in accordance with GRI’s guidelines. To examine this the relationship between the share price and the business sustainability reports has been investigated trough regression analysis and t-test.The results of the studies were that businesses which have published sustainability reports prepared in accordance with GRI’s guidelines in general have a higher share price than businesses that do not have published this reports. These results indicate that shareholders value the sustainability reports when investments are made. Therefore the sustainabilityreports seems to be useful to shareholders. The study also indicates that the shareholders do not value the quantity of the report but the quality.

Bakgrund & Problemdiskussion: Hållbarhet är ett aktuellt och omdiskuterat ämne i det moderna samhället. I den hållbara utvecklingen bär företag ett stort ansvar där energibranschen har uppmärksammats för dess betydande inverkan på miljön. Företag tillhandahåller hållbarhetsredovisningar för att kommunicera hur de arbetar för att bidra till den hållbara utvecklingen. En intressentgrupp som efterfrågar information om detta är investerare då de är i behov av att kunna jämföra företags redovisningar vid investeringsbeslut. Trots tillämpning av samma riktlinjer förekommer det skillnader mellan företagens hållbarhetsredovisningar, vilket hämmar jämförbarheten. Tidigare forskning har visat att det är vanligt att företag upprättar hållbarhetsredovisningar enligt Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) vars riktlinjer och standarder skall främja både mätbarhet och jämförbarhet.  Syfte: Utifrån det institutionella begreppet isomorfism bör företag som tillämpar samma riktlinjer bli mer jämförbara. Därav syftar denna studie till att undersöka hur jämförbarheten mellan svenska energiföretags hållbarhetsredovisningar har utvecklats över tid vid tillämpning av GRI.  Metod: Studien har en kvalitativ ansats men omfattas även av kvantitativa inslag. En komparativ forskningsdesign har tillämpats då studien ämnar till att undersöka hur jämförbarheten mellan energiföretags hållbarhetsredovisningar har utvecklats över tid. Primärdata i form av hållbarhetsredovisningar för åren 2016 och 2019 har samlats in från sju energiföretag som följer GRI. Innehållet i hållbarhetsredovisningarna har analyserats utifrån en innehållsanalys som går under benämningen Consolidate Narrivate Interogation (CONI). Slutsats: Studiens resultat visar att jämförbarheten mellan hållbarhetsredovisningar av svenska energiföretag som följer GRI har ökat över tid. Däremot förekommer det skillnader gällande hur detaljerad information som tillhandahålls samt vad de anser är viktigast att informera om. Detta påvisar att även om jämförbarheten har ökat är företagens hållbarhetsredovisningar fortfarande inte jämförbara. / Background & Problem: Sustainability is a current and debated topic in modern society. Companies are held responsible to carry out the development of their goods and services in a sustainable way. The energy sector has been noticed for its considerable impact on the climate and the environment. Companies are providing sustainability reports to communicate their work to contribute to a more sustainable future. Investors are requesting sustainability reports to be able to compare the sustainable work within companies before making decisions regarding investments. There are guidelines to follow but despite that it is hard to compare the sustainability reports between companies. Research has found that it is common that the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines are used by companies and the guidelines aim to make the comparison between companies easier. Purpose: Companies using the same guidelines should be more comparable according to the institutional concept of isomorphism. The purpose of this study is to investigate if Swedish companies within the energy sector who use the GRI guidelines have become more comparable over time. Method: The study has a qualitative approach but do also contain qualitative elements. A comparative research design has been applied as the study aims to investigate how the comparability between energy companies’ sustainability reports have developed over time. Sustainability reports for the years 2016 and 2019 have been collected as the primary data from seven companies that follow the GRI guidelines within the energy sector. The content of the sustainability reports has been analysed based on a content analysis model called Consolidate Narrivate Interogation (CONI).  Conclusion: The comparability between the companies sustainability reports have increased over time according to the findings of the study. There is still a difference though in the level of details provided and which topic that is the most important to provide information about. The conclusion of the study is that the companies are not comparable even if the comparability has increased over time.

Mit der zunehmenden Berichterstattung der Unternehmen erfolgt ein ebenso rasant ansteigender Trend die eigene Nachhaltigkeitsberichterstattung durch externe Dritte bestätigen zu lassen. Untersucht wird der Stand der Prüfung der Nachhaltigkeitsberichterstattung mittels Zusammenführung und Diskussion von 29 thematisch relevanten Studien aus dem Zeitraum 1996 bis 2009. Neben den Fragen nach Treibern und Hemmnissen der Entscheidung für eine Prüfung der Berichterstattung werden die Bedeutung und der Nutzen sowie die Charakterisierung der Prüfung (Prüfungstiefe, Prüfungsstandards, Prüfungsvermerk) und die Einflussfaktoren (Branche, Land, Prüfungsanbieter, Unternehmensgröße) auf die Prüfung eruiert. Frage-stellungen und Implikationen aus dem empirischen Forschungsstand finden Eingang in die empirische Untersuchung. Geleitet wird die Analyse von 86 Nachhaltigkeitsberichten des Energiesektors aus der GRI-Online-Berichtsdatenbank von der Fragestellung, ob die externe Prüfung der Berichterstattung einen Einfluss auf die qualitative und quantitative Ausgestaltung des Nachhaltigkeitsberichts ausübt und sie als Qualitätssignal für die Stakeholder relevant ist. Bewertet wird der Stand der Berichterstattung der ökologischen Umweltleistungsin-dikatoren mittels des GRI-basierten Bewertungsschemas des LEHRSTUHLS FÜR BETRIEBLICHE UMWELTÖKONOMIE der TU DRESDEN. Die Unterschiede in der Berichtsqualität und –quantität zwischen verifizierten und nicht verifizierten Nachhaltigkeitsberichten werden anhand der Varianzanalyse als signifikant und praktische bedeutsam geprüft. Verifizierte Nachhaltigkeitsberichte weisen eine bessere Performance auf als nicht verifizierte Berichte.

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka skillnaden i hållbarhetsredovisningens väsentlighet över tid innan hållbarhetsredovisning var obligatorisk (2013) och efter att den blev obligatorisk (2020). De tio valda hållbarhetsredovisningarna återfinns bland de fem största företagen i den svenska skogsindustrin. Den teoretiska ram som valts för att undersöka denna studie är legitimitetsteorin och intressentteorin. För att utforska rapporterna har vi använt oss av innehållsanalys med kategorisering. Kategoriseringen baseras på obligatorisk information och icke-obligatorisk information, baserad på CSR-terminologi. Resultatet presenteras som procentandelen av den totala rapporten. En kvalitativ metod användes för att tolka resultatet och analysera andelen väsentlig information i rapporterna. Resultatet av denna studie indikerar att en del av informationen har ökat och annan information har minskat i omfattning sedan lagstiftningen. Det innebär också att det är avgörande att företag använder riktlinjer för att sammanställa en hållbarhetsrapport. Studien indikerar också att företagen bedömde samma områden som väsentliga under samma jämförda år. / The aim of this study is to explore the difference in the materiality of sustainability reports over time, before sustainability reporting was mandatory (in 2013) and during (in 2020). The ten sustainability reports analyzed are found among the five biggest companies in the Swedish forest industry. The theoretical framework chosen to investigate this study is the Legitimacy Theory and the Stakeholder Theory. To explore the reports, we have used Content analysis with categorization. The categorization is based on mandatory information and non-mandatory information, based on CSR terminology. The result is presented as a percentage share of the total report. A qualitative approach was used in order to interpret the result and analyze the share of material information in the reports. The result of this study indicates that some of the information has increased, and other information has decreased since the law regulation. It also implies that it is crucial that companies use guidelines in order to assemble a sustainability report. The study also indicates that the companies assessed the same areas as material during the same compared years.

South Africa is facing a water crisis in terms of the scarcity and the quality of its water. Considering this water-constrained future it is evident that companies in South Africa should pay attention to the pristine management of this scarce resource. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the reporting and disclosure requirements of water of Socially Responsible Investment-indexed (SRI) JSE-listed companies. The disclosure requirements of the integrated report, King III, the Global Reporting Initiative and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, provided the theoretical background to develop a water disclosure index. Content analysis was used as the research method to analyse the integrated and sustainability reports of a selected group of SRI indexed JSE-listed companies. The results were analysed in terms of the disclosure on items such as materiality, governance, corporate policies, environmental management systems, risk assessments and key performance indicators. The findings of the study include that most of the companies illustrate commitment towards water stewardship by reporting on water-related aspects. The mining sector rated the highest on disclosure and reporting of water-related aspects by providing the most detailed descriptions by indicating that they clearly understand the context of their operations and the associated risks. In the process of analysing the integrated and sustainability reports with specific reference to the key performance indicators, it was evident that companies lack comparability and consistency in their disclosure. It is recommended that companies improve the relevance, depth and clarity of their disclosure on water. / MCom (Management Accountancy), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015