Thesis (M.COM. (Accounting)) -- University of Limpopo, 2019 / This study examines the effect of board characteristics on environmental and social sustainability performance. Companies‟ sustainability performance is affected by many factors such as board composition of companies, lack of knowledge, policies and resources of companies, competition from other companies and market trends. The King IV Code of Corporate Governance recommends that the governing body should comprise a balance of diversity being race and gender and independence. Moreover, the Code states that the board of directors of companies should have a balance of both independent members and non-independent members who should act in the best interest of the companies. The study used a quantitative approach, and secondary data from Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), Socially Responsible Index (SRI) listed banking and retail companies for 11 years from 2007-2017. The study tests the relationship between board characteristics (the number of females on board of directors); firm size (market capitalisation); board independence; and environmental (energy usage) and social (skills development expenditure) sustainability of JSE SRI listed firms. Results show that there is a negative and insignificant relationship between females on board and energy usage. A positive and a significant relationship between energy usage and board independence a positive and an insignificant relationship between firm size (market capitalisation) and energy usage. There is also a positive but an insignificant relationship between skills development expenditure and female board members and a positive and significant relationship between skills development expenditure and board independence and a positive and an insignificant relationship between skills development and firm size (market capitalisation). The study suggests that for companies improve their sustainable business practices; they should consider increasing the number of v | P a ge females on their board since they have a positive influence on sustainability performance. / Risk and Vulnerability Science Centre of the University of Limpopo

La finalidad del presente trabajo radica en el desarrollo e implementación de un modelo de negocio disruptivo que busque la promoción de conductas en pro de la sostenibilidad medioambiental, así como la oferta de una experiencia de cultivo. Groots Cultiva en Casa busca incentivar el desarrollo de la sostenibilidad y sustentabilidad en cuanto a hierbas/especias aromáticas como prácticas comunes que puedan desarrollarse desde el hogar, nuestra propuesta de valor empoderada por la experiencia de cliente y el uso de materiales beneficiosos para el medio ambiente. El proyecto va dirigido a los ciudadanos de Lima Metropolitana del NSE A y B entre los 25 a 39 años de edad que presenten hábitos de gusto por la cocina, cuidado medioambiental e interés en la botánica y plantas. Para la ejecución del estudio de factibilidad, se han realizado experimentos que validen la existencia de un problema relacionado a la propuesta de valor y que genere beneficios económicos y sociales para los accionistas y demás stakeholders. Como parte del proceso de experimentación, se realizaron validaciones intención de compra a través del desarrollo de un e–commerce, ejercicio que dejo en evidencia la gran acogida por parte de nuestro target al ofertar una propuesta innovadora y con resaltes de prácticas de cuidado medioambiental. El valor actual neto de nuestro emprendimiento asciende en soles a una suma aproximada de 49,622.23 soles. El periodo de recupero de inversión está estimado en cuatro meses y dieciocho días para un horizonte de vida de tres años. / The purpose of this work lies in the development and implementation of a disruptive business model that seeks the promotion of behaviors for environmental sustainability, as well as the offer of a growing experience. Groots Cultiva en Casa seeks to encourage the development of sustainability and sustainability in terms of aromatic herbs/spices as common practices that can be developed from home, our value proposition empowered by customer experience and the use of materials beneficial to the environment. The project is aimed at the citizens of Lima Metropolitana del NSE A and B between the ages of 25 and 39 who have habits of taste for cooking, environmental care and interest in botany and plants. For the implementation of the feasibility study, experiments have been conducted that validate the existence of a problem related to the value proposition and that generates economic and social benefits for shareholders and other stakeholders. As part of the experimentation process, purchase intent validations were made through the development of an e-commerce, an exercise that highlighted the great reception of our target by offering an innovative proposal with highlights of environmental care practices. The net present value of our venture amounts in soles to an approximate sum of 49,622.23 soles. The investment recovery period is estimated at four months and eighteen days for a three-year life horizon. / Trabajo de investigación

This dissertation consists of three journal articles that explored the effectiveness of a digital game, called EnerCities, in producing pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors by using a mixed-methods study approach. The first study was conducted as a quasi-experimental study among undergraduate students in the United States. Based on the Attitudinal Learning Instrument (ALI), this study found that the attitudinal learning gained from EnerCities influenced participants’ pro-environmental behavioral intentions significantly. This learning was retained until five weeks after game play according to the qualitative results of the study. The second study, conducted in India, used EnerCities to study the differences in attitudinal learning among high school students who played the game collaboratively or individually, using the ALI and Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). Results showed that the attitudinal learning and its effect on pro-environmental behavioral intentions between collaborative and individual players was similar. This study also showed that EnerCities had significantly impacted the environmental attitudes and behaviors of the game players when compared to students who did not play any game, although all students had studied environmental studies through traditional instructional methods since elementary school. The third study, conducted among high school students in India, compared the environmental attitudes between game players and students who did not play any game based on the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) scale. Both the unidimensional and multi-dimensional properties of the NEP were considered. It was found that EnerCities had impacted game players’ environmental attitudes significantly. All the three studies showed that digital games are more effective in promoting attitudinal (cognitive, affective, behavioral and social) learning compared to traditional instructional methods. This supports the implementation of digital games as a pedagogical tool in influencing environmental attitudes and behaviors.

Environmental sustainability has grown to become a widely discussed topic in today's society, putting great pressure on companies to limit their climate impact. Still, companies continue to use International Business Air Travel for strategic benefits, in an era where concepts such as “flight shame” are emerging. Hence, the balance of attaining the advantages of IBAT, while simultaneously increasing the focus on Corporate Environmental Sustainability, is a challenge faced by companies today. The main purpose of this study is to investigate how Swedish it-companies work with Corporate Environmental Sustainability in the different strategic phases of International Business Air Travel.

The project studies environmental and social sustainability of alternative food networks (AFNs) in Jönköping County, Sweden by investigating the development of alternative food networks as part of a pre-study for Region Jönköping’s Län project Återtag av livsmedel från Naturbruksskolorna i länet till sjukhusrestaurangerna. The purpose of the study was to identify challenges and opportunities of implementing AFNs and to determine suggestions for overcoming these challenges. The purpose was achieved by investigating Region Jönköping Län's project to implement meat and vegetables produced by Jönköping County's agricultural high schools into the kitchens of the regional hospitals to become meals for patients and visitors.

Background: The business-to-business (B2B) industry stands for a significant portion of the environmental issue, yet the customer is still having price, quality, and service as major determinants for the choice of suppliers. The difficulty on how to evaluate environmental factors is hence increasingly demanding. One common and simple way for businesses to present their efforts towards sustainability is to certify their Environmental Management System with an ISO 14001 certification. Nonetheless, the question remains of the value of this premise in Sweden in our contemporary world. This study thereby investigates the value of working with environmentally sustainable business partners in the B2B market in Sweden. Purpose: This paper aims to explore the cost and benefits of working with environmentally sustainable business partners, using ISO 14001 as a reference point, within the Swedish B2B market.  Method: This study adheres to the interpretivist paradigm, with a qualitative approach. Nine semi-structured interviews with six B2B companies in Sweden were conducted and analysed via thematic analysis, using codes and emerging themes.  Conclusion: There are severe gaps in the ISO 14001 framework, and that one cannot trust it as much regarding the environment as intended or as much as firms do today. The real value for environmental sustainability is created when sustainable B2B firms start selecting suppliers based on their own sustainable values, not on time efficiency or costs. For a shared responsibility, firms have to evaluate suppliers based on actual and not perceived environmentally sustainable efforts.

CEEQUAL är ett klassningssystem utvecklad av ICE, den brittiska Institutionen för Civilingenjörer, för att bättra på anläggningsbranschens sociala, ekonomiska och miljömässiga hållbarhetsarbete. Systemet utvecklades år 2003 och användes fram till år 2011 endast i Storbritannien och Irland. År 2011 utvecklades en internationell version för organisationer som är intresserade av att certifiera projekt i andra delar av världen. Syftet med rapporten är att utvärdera konsekvenser för ett projekt som skall miljöcertifieras. Detta sker med hjälp av tre fallstudier från Skanska Sverige AB: Projekt Skarplöt, exploatering av en åkermark i Västerhaninge. Projekt Folkparksvägen, ombyggnation av en 1500 meter vägsträcka. Projekt Tyresövägen-Simvägen, en avsmalning av Tyresövägen från  motorvägsstandard till stadsväg.           Målet med rapporten är att: Identifiera förbättringsåtgärder för att främja hållbarhet och resurseffektivitet i produktion. Uppskatta vilka resurser förbättringsåtgärderna för certifiering kräver. Resultat från fallstudierna visar att Skanska har väl inarbetade rutiner i företagets ledningssystem, dock finns det förbättringspotential som kan uppnås med integrering av CEEQUALs krav i dagens arbetssätt. Merkostnaden av förbättringsåtgärderna består mestadels av tjänstemannatid för ett utökat samhällsengagemang, planering och bevakning av åtgärder som främjar hållbarhet samt insamling av bevismaterial för certifiering. Ändringar som uppkommer i arbetssättet är projektberoende och belyses i produktionsplaneringsskedet i varje enskilt projekt med hjälp av den extra planeringen som en CEEQUAL certifiering kräver. Rekommendationer för Skanska är att integrera en del av CEEQUALs krav i ledningssystemet och att skapa färdiga mallar som är anpassade till CEEQUALs frågeställningar med avsikt att effektivisera framställning av bevisdokumentationen i varje enskilt projekt. / CEEQUAL is an assessment and award scheme developed by ICE, The Institution of Civil Engineers in Great Britain, in order to improve the Civil engineering industry´s social, economic and environmental sustainability. The system was developed in 2003 and it was only used in the UK and Ireland until 2011. Year 2011, was an international version developed for organizations that are interested in certifying projects in other parts of the world. The report aims to evaluate the consequences for a project that is going to be assessed. This is done by using three case studies from Skanska Sverige AB: Project Skarplöt, exploitation of previous farming land in Västerhaninge. Project Folkparksvägen, refurbishment of a 1500 meter stretch of road. Project Tyresövägen - Simvägen, a narrowing of Tyresövägen from motorway standard to a city road with cycle lanes. The objective of this report is to: Identify improvement measures to promote sustainability and resource efficiency under production. Estimate the resources that such improvements and the works associated with the certification requires. Results of case studies show that Skanska has well-established work practices, however, there is potential for improvement that can be achieved with the integration of CEEQUALs requirements in the company’s management system. The additional cost of the improvement measures consist mostly of extra working time needed to administrate, plan and monitor measures that promote sustainability as well as gather evidence for certification. Adjustments to the production process that arises in the planning stages of the sustainability measures cannot be generalised and depend mostly on the project prerequisites. Recommendations to Skanska are to integrate CEEQUALs requirements in their management system and to create pre-designed templates for the required documentation and procedures in order to streamline planning and monitoring in each individual project that is going to be certified.

Flertalet tidigare studier inriktar sig på vilka bakomliggande faktorer och motiv som påverkar upprättandet av ett ESG-betyg. Det är sedan tidigare konstaterat att faktorer som land, bransch och lönsamhet kan påverka graden av hållbarhetsrapportering. För att bidra ytterligare till detta resonemang väljer studien att kategorisera fyra variabler som tänkbara hållbarhetsstrategier. Tidigare forskning styrker resonemanget att företag väljer att CSR-redovisa baserat på fler faktorer än miljömedvetenhet. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hållbarhetsstrategiers potentiella implementering efter miljökontroverser samt dess effekter på ESG-betygets miljödimension. / Most previous studies focus on the underlying factors and motives that influence the establishment of an ESG score. It has previously been established that factors such as country, industry and profitability can affect the degree of sustainability reporting. To further contribute to this reasoning, the study chooses to categorize four variables as possible sustainability strategies. Previous research supports the reasoning that companies choose to report CSR based on more factors than environmental awareness. The purpose of this study is to investigate the potential implementation of sustainability strategies after environmental controversies and their effects on the environmental dimension of the ESG rating.

En stor bidragande faktor till klimatförändringarna uppges vara transportsektorn och sektorns utsläpp av växthusgaser. På grund av detta är det viktigt att transportsektorn arbetar för att bli mer hållbar. Generellt sett uppges företagen i samhället vara särskilt viktiga aktörer gällande hållbarhetsarbetet. Vad begreppet hållbarhet betyder råder det däremot delade meningar om, vilket vidare kan ses bidra till att förutsättningarna för företagen att kunna arbeta hållbart minskar.  Syftet med denna undersökning är att belysa hur olika transportföretag prioriterar hållbarhet och hur transportföretagen ser på sina förutsättningar att kunna prioritera hållbarhet. Studien baseras på tre olika sorters transportföretag och deras företrädares tankar och åsikter kring ämnet. Semistrukturerade intervjuer har använts som datainsamlingsmetod. Materialet från intervjuerna har analyserats genom en kvalitativ innehållsanalys och ställs i relation till tidigare forskning och teori. De teoretiska perspektiv som ingår i studien är den nyinstitutionella teorin och förväntansteorin.  Resultatet visar att transportföretagen främst prioriterar ekonomisk hållbarhet. Detta eftersom det är denna typ av hållbarhet som anses bidra till högst tillfredställelse. Andra typer av hållbarhet, så som miljömässig hållbarhet och social hållbarhet riskerar att prioriteras bort om de konkurrerar med den ekonomiska hållbarheten. Förutsättningarna att arbeta hållbart i praktiken framställs olika bland företagen. Däremot finns det en gemensam uppfattning om att de är begränsade. / A major contributing factor to climate change is said to be the transport sector and the sector's greenhouse gas emissions. Because of this, it is important that the transport sector works to become more sustainable. In general, companies in society are said to be particularly important actors in terms of sustainability work. On the other hand, there are divided opinions about what the term sustainability means, which can also be seen as contributing to impaired conditions for companies to be able to work sustainably.  The purpose of this study is to examine how different transport companies prioritize sustainability and how transport companies view their ability to prioritize sustainability. The study is based on three different types of transport companies and their representatives' thoughts and opinions on the subject. Semi-structured interviews have been used as a data collection method. The material from the interviews has been analyzed through a qualitative content analysis and is put in relation to previous research and theory. The theoretical perspectives included in the study are the neo-institutional theory and the theory of expectations.  The results show that transport companies primarily prioritize economic sustainability. This is because it is this type of sustainability that is considered to contribute to the highest satisfaction. Other types of sustainability, such as environmental sustainability and social sustainability, run the risk of being marginalized if they compete with economic sustainability. The conditions for working sustainably in practice are presented differently among companies. However, there is a common perception that they are limited.

Improved production and reduced consumption of beef is often highlighted as key aspects for tackling sustainability issues of the food system because the environmental impact of beef is ~100 times higher than plant-based foods. Both scientist and civil society organisations argue that eating “less but better” beef is important for sustainability. Better quality can encompass better eating quality as well as improved sustainability, but despite the two being very important for overall quality, very little research on interactions between them exists. No tools, applicable in Sweden, allowing for joint assessment have been developed. This study investigates the synergies and trade-offs between eating quality and environmental sustainability by using Swedish beef production as a case study. It reviews peer reviewed literature on factors that contribute to eating quality (flavour, tenderness and juiciness), and four factors that contribute to environmental sustainability (climate, biodiversity, feed/food competition and animal welfare). Based on the findings, an indicator-based sustainability assessment framework and a meat quality grading scheme differentiating Premium and Standard eating quality is developed, aimed to be practical tools for Swedish beef assessments. The study provides a systems-based understanding of synergies and trade-offs that may occur when “less but better” is presented as a strategy for tackling the environmental impact of beef. Results show that there are synergies between eating quality and biodiversity, animal welfare and with the right choices of feed, feed/food competition but with consequent trade-offs with climate impact. The discussion addresses the potential of enhanced eating quality to increase the profitability of Swedish beef production without consequent substantial negative impact on sustainability. The suggested methods have the potential to facilitate a shift from quantity- to quality-based consumption, but further empirical studies are required.