Sustainability is a universal topic that has gained in significance during the last decade due to the increased risks for society as well as the environment itself. Therefore, a lot more attention is given to how companies disclose upon their impact on environment, society and governance. This paper aims to pick up on criticism to sustainability reporting regarding the variety of different frameworks surrounding this topic and investigate upon how companies use them to create their reports and if, in their opinion, unification can be reached in the nearby future. The second objective of this thesis is to explore upon and collect knowledge regarding the developing role of the new profession of the ESG/Sustainability controller. To reach the research objectives and collect sufficient data, semi-structured, qualitative interviews have been conducted with six companies and their respective sustainability reporting responsible. Previous research points out that the ‘arena’ of sustainability reporting frameworks has become too dense. This has led to companies firstly struggling to navigate through the enormous amount of regulations and guidelines, secondly adversely affected the implementation of harmonization within sustainability reporting and thirdly using their reports as marketing tools. These theoretical findings have been mostly supported by the results of this thesis. Almost all of the interviewed companies have adopted a common index, called GRI, that builds their sustainability disclosure base. However, the findings of this thesis point out that their efforts, to go beyond this reporting guideline, can be connected to motives that are either of external, operational, transparency or recruitment nature. Even though companies would wish for a common, unified reporting framework, such as the upcoming inclusion of CSRD in the future, and see potential advantages, there are some specific, current challenges that have to be overcome first regarding sustainability reporting. Nevertheless, from the data analyzed it is evident that companies are looking forward to this new, mandatory reporting regulation and prepare themselves adequately and intensively. The results of the qualitative study regarding the development of the new controller profession further suggests that the ESG/Sustainability controller has a broad post-graduate background, however, not only in business administration. One reason is that the tasks of this new profession vary by quite some margin from traditional controlling tasks and their responsibilities also go beyond merely preparing, analyzing financial reports and supporting management, but are dedicated to the sustainability reporting process and other sustainability projects.

Samhällets ökande medvetenhet om klimatförändringar, naturkatastrofer och miljösamhällsfrågor har medfört att det idag ställs större krav på att företag ska ta ett socialt ansvar. Genom att upprätta en hållbarhetsrapport kan företag visa på att de tar ett samhällsansvar och på ett lättare sätt kommunicera ut sitt sociala- och miljömässiga arbete till sina intressenter. I samband med att allt fler företag väljer att hållbarhetsrapportera så stärks också kraven på att rapporterna bör vara trovärdiga och tillförlitliga. Företag kan öka hållbarhetsrapportens trovärdighet och tillförlitlighet genom att anlita en externt oberoende part som granskar och bestyrker rapporten. Syftet med studien är att öka förståelsen för vad företag väljer att redovisa för hållbarhetsindikatorer utifrån GRIs riktlinjer samt hur revisorer och andra granskare går tillväga för att bestyrka redovisningen av dessa indikatorer. Denna undersökning gjordes utifrån en kvalitativ forskningsmetod som grundade sig på två delar. För att svara på studiens syfte utfördes dels en dokumentstudie om hållbarhetsindikatorer samt intervjuer om bestyrkande där fokus legat på revisorer och andra professionella bestyrkare. Teorin inleddes sedan med en allmän- och teoretisk referensram. I den allmänna referensramen redogjordes det för allmän bakgrundsfakta och i den teoretiska referensramen presenterades olika teorier som var av betydelse för det empiriska resultatet. Studiens resultat visade att företag ofta väljer att hållbarhetsrapportera då de känner påtryckningar från intressenterna att ta ett större samhällsansvar samt för att vinna legitimitet från samhället. Det framgick även att hållbarhetsrapporten bidrar till en mer heltäckande bild av hur företaget arbetar inom sociala, miljömässiga samt ekonomiska områden. En anledning till att företag väljer att anlita en externt oberoende part till att bestyrka sin hållbarhetsrapport är för att säkerställa hållbarhetsinformationen samt öka trovärdigheten och tillförlitligheten. Studien bygger på en deduktiv ansats och avslutas med en empiri- och analys del samt en fördjupad analys där teorin kopplas ihop med det empiriska materialet för att se hur dessa stämmer överens med varandra. Avslutningsvis diskuteras studiens resultat samt svaret på dess syfte. / Society’s increasing awareness of climate change, natural disasters and environment-society issues has led to higher demands when it comes to companies taking social responsibility. By drawing up a sustainability report companies can show that they are taking social responsibility and can more easily communicate their social and environmental work to its stakeholders. As more and more companies choose to report on sustainability the requirements of the reports being credible and reliable are increased. Companies can increase the credibility and reliability of the sustainability report by engaging an external and independent party to review and certify the report. The aim of the study is to increase understanding of what companies chooses to report on sustainability indicators based on GRIs guidelines and also how accountants and other surveyors proceed to authenticate them. The survey was carried out using a qualitative research method based on two parts. In order to answer the aim of the study a document study of sustainability indicators as well as interviews regarding assurances were conducted, where focus has been on accountants and other professional vindicators. The theory was initiated with a general and a theoretical framework. In the general frame of reference the general background facts were accounted for and in the theoretical frame of reference different theories relevant to the empirical results were presented. The results of the study showed that companies often choose to report on sustainability when pressured by stakeholders to take greater social responsibility as well as to gain legitimacy from society. The results also showed that the sustainability report contributes to a more comprehensive picture of how the company works in the social, environmental and economic areas. One reason that companies choose to engage an external independent party to certify its sustainability report is to ensure the sustainability information as well as to increase the credibility and reliability. The study is based on a deductive approach and ends with an empiric and analysis part as well as a deeper analysis where the theory is linked to the empirical material in order to see how these two correlate. Finally the result of the study and the answer to its purpose are discussed.

In the lead-up to the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002, several documents were published by the mining industry declaring the important role that public sustainability reporting had to play in driving sustainable development and pointing to the Global Reporting Initiative???s (GRI) 2002 Sustainability Reporting Guidelines as a suitable vehicle for this. With the aim of finding ways to improve the quantity and quality of public sustainability reporting within the Australian coal mining industry, this study set out to investigate the current sustainability reporting practices of companies involved in the industry. A survey was conducted of the public financial and non-financial reporting practices of all companies with a significant interest in a New South Wales or Queensland coal mine. Three survey cycles were completed covering the 2001, 2002 and 2003 calendar years and the 2001/02, 2002/03 and 2003/04 financial years. The reporting practices were determined both in terms of frequency of report production and contents of reports. A GRI-based content analysis tool was used to measure the amount of sustainability information contained in the company reports. It was found that only around a quarter of companies produced a nonfinancial report and that almost half did not produce any public reports, with the number of unlisted companies publicly reporting particularly low. Whilst a wide range of reporting practices were observed with regard to content, the frequency of Economic, Environmental and Social Performance Indicators in reports was generally found to be low. An investigation of the regulatory reporting requirements on companies was then conducted to determine what sustainability information companies could report with data that they already had at hand. The same GRI-based content analysis tool was used to analyse a variety of regulatory documents. It was found that companies did not publicly disclose a significant amount of the environmental data that they are required to report to regulators. The study also evaluated the reporting capacity of non-reporters and found that, with the exception of Governance Structure and Management Systems elements, large unlisted companies had similar regulatory reporting requirements to listed companies. However, smaller unlisted companies had fewer requirements to report Profile and Economic elements. Finally, the influences of company ownership structure, non-financial reporting status, industrial sector, nationality and participation in voluntary initiatives on sustainability reporting practices were investigated. It was concluded that in order for public sustainability reporting to be a useful tool in driving sustainable development, focus needed to shift from ???best practice??? to ???common practice??? so that a critical mass of reporters is amassed to allow benchmarking of performance.

Sustainability reporting aims to inform stakeholders of the companies’ activities within environmental, social and economic issues. The reporting is a tool to increase transparency and it shows the company’s effort to take responsibility and account for its actions. Assurance of sustainability reports is an increasing trend that strengthens the credibility of the reports. There is a risk, however, of management taking control over the assurance process. In order to improve the quality of the sustainability report and its usefulness for the stakeholders, reporting and assurance standards have evolved. The purpose of the study is to describe and analyse the assurance statements of sustainability reports of public listed companies in Sweden. The findings allow the evaluation of how the assurance process influences accountability and transparency. The study is a content analysis of eleven assurance statements from 2010. The findings are categorized and analysed by assurance provider: accountants and consultants. The difference between the assurance statements were mainly due to the assurance standard used. The assurance statements provided by the consultants were more descriptive and stakeholder oriented compared to the accountants. We highlight the importance of the assurance process’ usefulness and discuss the limited level of assurance applied in the engagements. We argue that, an open and standardized assurance process increases transparency that enables stakeholders to make own judgements whether the company takes responsibility and accounts for its actions. Transparency also creates incentives for the reporting company to be accountable. To increase transparency and accountability, it is essential to involve stakeholders in the assurance process.

In the lead-up to the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002, several documents were published by the mining industry declaring the important role that public sustainability reporting had to play in driving sustainable development and pointing to the Global Reporting Initiative???s (GRI) 2002 Sustainability Reporting Guidelines as a suitable vehicle for this. With the aim of finding ways to improve the quantity and quality of public sustainability reporting within the Australian coal mining industry, this study set out to investigate the current sustainability reporting practices of companies involved in the industry. A survey was conducted of the public financial and non-financial reporting practices of all companies with a significant interest in a New South Wales or Queensland coal mine. Three survey cycles were completed covering the 2001, 2002 and 2003 calendar years and the 2001/02, 2002/03 and 2003/04 financial years. The reporting practices were determined both in terms of frequency of report production and contents of reports. A GRI-based content analysis tool was used to measure the amount of sustainability information contained in the company reports. It was found that only around a quarter of companies produced a nonfinancial report and that almost half did not produce any public reports, with the number of unlisted companies publicly reporting particularly low. Whilst a wide range of reporting practices were observed with regard to content, the frequency of Economic, Environmental and Social Performance Indicators in reports was generally found to be low. An investigation of the regulatory reporting requirements on companies was then conducted to determine what sustainability information companies could report with data that they already had at hand. The same GRI-based content analysis tool was used to analyse a variety of regulatory documents. It was found that companies did not publicly disclose a significant amount of the environmental data that they are required to report to regulators. The study also evaluated the reporting capacity of non-reporters and found that, with the exception of Governance Structure and Management Systems elements, large unlisted companies had similar regulatory reporting requirements to listed companies. However, smaller unlisted companies had fewer requirements to report Profile and Economic elements. Finally, the influences of company ownership structure, non-financial reporting status, industrial sector, nationality and participation in voluntary initiatives on sustainability reporting practices were investigated. It was concluded that in order for public sustainability reporting to be a useful tool in driving sustainable development, focus needed to shift from ???best practice??? to ???common practice??? so that a critical mass of reporters is amassed to allow benchmarking of performance.

Sammanfattning I och med ökat antal globala kriser och ökad intressentmedvetenhet kring företagens samhällspåverkan har hållbar utveckling blivit en central och viktig fråga både för företag och enskilda individer. Till följd av detta har företag ett ansvar att arbeta hållbart och ta miljö- och socialhänsyn, genom att hållbarhetsredovisa försöker företag tillgodose samhällets behov och erhålla legitimitet. Vad en väsentlig hållbarhetsfråga är kan variera från en bransch till en annan, att studera och förstå likheter och skillnader mellan företags val av väsentlighetsaspekter är en viktig fråga som tidigare forskning inte har undersökts i större utsträckning. Syftet med denna studie att öka förståelse för väsenlighetsaspekter som offentliggörs i företagens hållbarhetsredovisningar utifrån Global Reporting Initiatives (GRI) riktlinjer. Det regelverk som ligger till grund för studien är GRI:s (G4) riktlinjer tillsammans med teorier såsom intressentteorin och legitimitetsteorin, samt en beskrivning av olika koncept bland annat Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Tripple Bottom Line (TBL), hållbar utveckling och hållbarhetsredovisning. För uppnå studiens syfte har en kvalitativ innehållsanalys används som metod, där tolv företags hållbarhetsredovisningar från konfektion- och skogsbranschen har granskats. I studiens empiri presenteras företagens väsentlighetsanalys som redogör för hur företagen identifierar sina väsentlighetsaspekter, vidare beskrivs deras val av väsentlighetsaspekter utifrån miljö- och socialkategorin. I analysen framförs vilka likheter och skillnader som finns mellan företagens val av väsentlighetsaspekter utifrån branschtillhörighet. Studiens slutsats är att det finns både likheter och skillnader mellan konfektion- och skogsföretagens val av väsentlighetsaspekter. Betydelsefulla och återkommande aspekter hos både branscherna var bland annat utsläpp, avlopp och avfall och mångfald och jämställdhet. Vidare visar resultatet att aspekterna både ur miljö- och socialkategorin redovisas i större utsträckning av företagen inom skogsbranschen. En förklaring till detta kan vara att branscher som har större miljöpåverkan såsom skogsbranschen redovisar flera aspekter inom båda kategorierna. Slutligen visar studien att konfektionsbranschen offentliggör mer information om verksamhetens sociala påverkan, en förklaring till detta kan vara att konfektionsbranschen har större socialpåverkan i jämförelse till miljöpåverkan. / Abstract   Due to increased global crises and increased stakeholder awareness about business’ societal impacts sustainable development has become a central and important issue both for businesses and individuals. As a result of this companies have a responsibility to work sustainably, taking society and environment into consideration, through sustainability reporting companies try to satisfy the expectations of society and obtain legitimacy. The materiality of sustainability issues differ across one branch to another, to study and understand similarities and differences between companies’ selection of material aspects is an important question which previous research has not investigated to a greater extent. The purpose of this study is to increase understanding of the material aspects which is disclosed in companies’ sustainability reports based on Global Reporting Initiave’s (G4) guidelines. The guidelines used in this study is based on GRI’s (G4) framework, along with theories such as stakeholder and legitimacy theory and also a description of different concepts such as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Tripple Bottom Line (TBL), sustainable development and sustainability reporting. In order to fulfill the purpose of the study, a qualitative content analysis has been used as a method for reviewing twelve companies' sustainability reports from the apparel and forestry sectors. The empirical section of the study presents the company's materiality analysis, which describes how companies identify their materiality aspects and also gives a further description of companies’ selection of material aspects from the environmental category and social category. The analysis identifies the similarities and differences between the companies' choice of material aspects based on sector affiliation. The study's conclusion is that there are both similarities and differences in the selection of material aspects between the companies in apparel and forestry sectors. Significant and recurring aspects for both sectors: emission, effluents and waste, diversity and equal opportunity. Furthermore, the result shows that the aspects from both the environmental and social categories are more widely reported by companies in the forestry sector. An explanation for this could be that sectors with greater environmental impact, such as the forestry sector report more aspects in both categories. Finally, the study shows that the apparel sector publishes more information about the social impact of the business. An explanation for this could be that the apparel sector has greater social impact in comparison to environmental impact.

Introduktion: Hållbarhet har blivit en naturlig del av företagens rapportering, därredovisningen i Sverige idag tillämpas som en frivilligrapportering. Tidigare studier presenterar skillnader avseende hur hållbarhet redovisas, men även att det finns branschspecifika överrensstämmelser. Konfektionsbranschen är av intresse att studera då tillverkningen inte alltid ger uppsyn över de hållbarhetsrelaterade aspekterna samtidigt som branschen har en stor mängd intressenter att bemöta. Genom att studera över tid erhålls en ökad förståelse för hur hållbarhetsredovisningen har utvecklats. Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats är att utforska vad konfektionsbranschen redovisat om hållbarhet samt kartlägga mönster över hur detta har förändrats över tid. Metod: En kvalitativ studie som tillämpar en deduktiv ansats med induktiva inslag. Studien utformas som en longitudinell fallstudie där analysenheterna Björn Borg, H&M, KappAhl och Odd Molly utgör konfektionsbranschen noterad på Nasdaq Stockholm mellan åren 2007-2014. Insamling av data består av årsredovisningar och hållbarhetsrapporter. Slutsats: Studien har urskilt ekonomi, socialt/etiskt, miljö och adaption som branschspecifika faktorer i hållbarhetsredovisningen. Vidare har utvecklingen över vad som redovisas inom dessa faktorer indikerat processer som driver utvecklingen av hållbarhetsredovisningen. Det har medfört en branschspecifik modell som illustrerar utvecklingen av hållbarhetsredovisningen över den studerade perioden mellan åren 2007-2014. / Introduction: Sustainability has become an integral part of corporate reporting and is applied as a voluntary reporting in Sweden. Previous studies show differences both regarding how sustainability is reported but also between industries. The clothing industry is interesting to study since the production does not always give a direct supervision of the sustainability-related aspects even though the industry has a large number of interested parties to consider. By studying sustainability reporting over time a better understanding of its development is obtained. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore what the clothing industry account for sustainability and to identify patterns of how this has affected the sustainability reporting over time. Method: This study applies a deductive approach with inductive elements. The study is designed as a longitudinal case study in which analysis units Bjorn Borg, H&M, KappAhl and Odd Molly, represent the clothing industry listed on Nasdaq Stockholm between the years 2007-2014. Collection of data consists of annual reports and sustainability reports. Conclusion: The study has identified economics, social/ethical, environmental and adaptation to industry-specific factors in the sustainability report. Furthermore, the evolution of what is reported in these factors indicated processes that drive the development of the sustainability report. This has resulted in an industry-specific model that illustrates the evolution of sustainability reporting over the period 2007-2014.

Sustainability reporting by companies can serve as a communication tool with potential to build trust, influence the attitudes and perceptions of stakeholders. However, reporting without adding value and meeting the needs of the targeted stakeholders has been labelled a fad or meaningless by some scholars. The objective of this research was therefore to understand from a stakeholder‟s perspective; if indeed sustainability reporting is meeting their needs and creating value for them. A qualitative approach was used to illicit perspectives of multiple stakeholder groups on the value of sustainability reporting by two companies belonging to the mining sector. A total of sixteen different stakeholders belonging to different stakeholder groups and two sustainability experts from the two companies were interviewed to compare the company perspectives on value created with that of other stakeholders. The results highlighted that the relationship between the company and a stakeholder group, influences how that particular stakeholder group is prioritised and engaged. Stakeholder groups that are economically powerful, have higher saliency and those with potential to influence the business were prioritised and effectively engaged compared to those with low economic power and low legitimate claim over the company. The perceived benefit of sustainability reporting varied per stakeholder group and the company perspective of value differed from stakeholder perspective for some stakeholder groups. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability have been rising topics in the contemporary business environment over the recent years and disclosing on sustainability have become increasingly important. While some countries have legislation mandating companies to report CSR, other countries leave the decision of reporting to the companies themselves. There are numerous ways of reporting and communicating on sustainability activity and the quality of the reports can deviate heavily between companies. Theories such as stakeholder theory and legitimacy theory suggest that entities reporting comprehensive responsibility information can achieve better financial results than their non-reporting peers. There has been a myriad of studies conducted on the relationship between corporate social responsibility and corporate financial performance. Despite the great number of research, there have been only a few studies that have investigated the true effect of CSR disclosure. The best way for a company to communicate their sustainable agenda is to disclose it for their stakeholders. Therefore, we took it upon ourselves to fill this research gap by investigating if level of CSR disclosure has a substantial impact on corporate financial performance. We approach CSR reporting from a stakeholder perspective, which to our knowledge have not been done before.  This study examines 189 Finnish companies that are selected from a list of the 500 largest companies in Finland. These companies are divided into the subgroups GRI, CSR, and non-CSR, depending on their level of CSR disclosure. The financial information used in this study are comprised from the time period 2015-2019 and gathered from the database Orbis by Bureu van Dijk. This study investigates if there exists a relationship between level of sustainability reporting and the financial performance ratios ROA, ROE, Sales growth, and Profit margin. We find that there exists a strong positive relationship between the subgroup GRI and ROA and ROE, which implies that companies see a clear financial benefit from providing comprehensive CSR reports. Contrary, we find an increasingly negative relationship with sales growth as level of reporting increases, which suggest that CSR implementations stagnates growth. Profit margin showed a neutral behavior across all three groups. Overall, we conclude that there exists a relationship between the level of CSR reporting and financial performance, but that the results are mixed.

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