Milhares de empresas ao redor do mundo publicam anualmente relatórios de sustentabilidade, documentos que divulgam o desempenho econômico, ambiental, social e de governança da organização. Segundo dados de 2014, do relatório Spotlight on corporate transparency: Insights from GLOBE 2014, da empresa de auditoria KPMG, mais de 5.000 empresas em 88 países elaboram esses relatórios seguindo as diretrizes GRI Global Reporting Initiative (KPMG, 2014, p. 4). Frequentemente, tais relatórios são elaborados na língua oficial do país em que as empresas estão instaladas (língua de partida) e traduzidos para o inglês (língua de chegada). O objetivo desta pesquisa é analisar a linguagem da tradução presente em relatórios de sustentabilidade que seguem o padrão GRI para identificar os principais traços típicos da tradução, tais como explicitação, simplificação e normalização, seguindo o arcabouço teórico de Baker (1993, 1995, 1996). Como objetivo secundário visamos identificar os principais termos e expressões desse modelo de relatório em português e seus equivalentes em inglês, para a compilação de uma proposta de glossário bilíngue na direção português-inglês. O estudo foi feito principalmente por meio dos Estudos da Tradução Baseados em Corpus e da Linguística de Corpus, utilizando um corpus paralelo, com 10 documentos coletados da internet em português com as respectivas traduções para o inglês, e dois corpora comparáveis bilíngues, com um total de 30 documentos em português e outros 30 escritos em inglês. Em relação ao objetivo principal, notamos que, embora os documentos originais e as traduções do corpus de estudo sejam bastante semelhantes, isto é, apresentem o mesmo número de páginas, o mesmo layout e, aparentemente, o mesmo conteúdo em cada página, foi possível notar traços de explicitação, simplificação e normalização na linguagem traduzida. / Thousands of companies around the world annually publish sustainability reports, documents that disclose the organization\'s economic, environmental, social and governance performance. According to data from 2014 report Spotlight on Corporate Transparency: Insights from GLOBE 2014, published by auditing company KPMG, more than 5,000 companies in 88 countries compile these reports following the GRI Global Reporting Initiative guidelines (KPMG, 2014, p.4). Such reports are often produced in the official language of the country where the companies are established (the source language) and translated into English (the target language). The aim of this research is to analyze the translation language present in sustainability reports that follow the GRI standard to identify the main typical features of translation, such as explicitation, simplification and normalization, following the theoretical framework of Baker (1993, 1995, 1996). As a secondary goal we aim to identify the main terms and expressions of this model of report in Portuguese and their English equivalents, for the compilation of a proposal of a bilingual glossary in the Portuguese-English direction. The study was carried out mainly through Corpus-Based Translation Studies and Corpus Linguistics, using a parallel corpus, with 10 documents collected from the Internet in Portuguese with the respective English translations, and two comparable bilingual corpora with a total of 30 documents in Portuguese and other 30 documents written in English. In relation to the main objective, we noticed that, although the original documents and the translations of the study corpus are very similar, that is, they present the same number of pages, the same layout and, apparently, the same content in each page, it was possible to note traces of explicitation, simplification and normalization in the translated language.

Fokus på hållbarhet i företag ökat kraftigt på senare år. Ett resultat av denna hållbarhetsutveckling är GRI (Global Reporting Initiative), en organisation som utvecklar ramverk och ger vägledning för innehållet i företagens hållbarhetsredovisningar. Svenska Regeringen på initiativ av Maud Olofsson var först i världen med att kräva att alla svenska statliga företag, från och med räkenskapsåret 2008, ska upprätta en externt granskad hållbarhetsredovisning i enighet med GRI:s riktlinjer G3.  Den här studien syftar till att undersöka hur de svenska statliga företagen har påverkats av regeringens nya krav.   Studien innefattar en undersökning av sju statliga företag som idag redovisar hållbarhet i enighet med GRI:s riktlinjer. En kvalitativ fallstudie har använts för undersökningen. Efter intervjuer med företagen kan det fastslås att det nya regeringskravet till viss del är en kostsam process. Det kan även konstateras att redovisning enligt GRI:s riktlinjer medför positiva förändringar i företagens interna processer. Företagen har även blivit mer medvetna om vilken påverkan de har på den hållbara utvecklingen. / Focus on sustainability in companies has increased sharply the last couple of years. A result of this development in sustainability is GRI (Global Reporting Initiative), an organization that develops frames and gives guidance for sustainability reports in the companies. The Swedish government on the initiative of Minister Maud Olofsson was first in the world to demand that all Swedish state-owned companies, from the fiscal year 2008, shall establish an externally audited sustainability reports in agreement with the GRI guidelines G3. This study aims to examine how the Swedish state-owned companies have been affected by the new government requirements.   The study includes an examination of seven state-owned companies, which today reports sustainability in agreement with GRI guidelines. A qualitative case study has been used for the thesis. After interviews with companies it can be stated that the new governmental requirement in some extent is a costly process. It can also be noted that accounting in accordance to GRI guidelines leads to positive changes in the companies internal processes. The companies have also become more aware of the impact they have on sustainable development.

<p>Fokus på hållbarhet i företag ökat kraftigt på senare år. Ett resultat av denna hållbarhetsutveckling är GRI (Global Reporting Initiative), en organisation som utvecklar ramverk och ger vägledning för innehållet i företagens hållbarhetsredovisningar. Svenska Regeringen på initiativ av Maud Olofsson var först i världen med att kräva att alla svenska statliga företag, från och med räkenskapsåret 2008, ska upprätta en externt granskad hållbarhetsredovisning i enighet med GRI:s riktlinjer G3.  Den här studien syftar till att undersöka hur de svenska statliga företagen har påverkats av regeringens nya krav.</p><p> </p><p>Studien innefattar en undersökning av sju statliga företag som idag redovisar hållbarhet i enighet med GRI:s riktlinjer. En kvalitativ fallstudie har använts för undersökningen. Efter intervjuer med företagen kan det fastslås att det nya regeringskravet till viss del är en kostsam process. Det kan även konstateras att redovisning enligt GRI:s riktlinjer medför positiva förändringar i företagens interna processer. Företagen har även blivit mer medvetna om vilken påverkan de har på den hållbara utvecklingen.</p> / <p>Focus on sustainability in companies has increased sharply the last couple of years. A result of this development in sustainability is GRI (Global Reporting Initiative), an organization that develops frames and gives guidance for sustainability reports in the companies. The Swedish government on the initiative of Minister Maud Olofsson was first in the world to demand that all Swedish state-owned companies, from the fiscal year 2008, shall establish an externally audited sustainability reports in agreement with the GRI guidelines G3. This study aims to examine how the Swedish state-owned companies have been affected by the new government requirements.</p><p> </p><p>The study includes an examination of seven state-owned companies, which today reports sustainability in agreement with GRI guidelines. A qualitative case study has been used for the thesis. After interviews with companies it can be stated that the new governmental requirement in some extent is a costly process. It can also be noted that accounting in accordance to GRI guidelines leads to positive changes in the companies internal processes. The companies have also become more aware of the impact they have on sustainable development.</p>

Hållbarhetsredovisning speglar företagens samhällsansvar vilket inom näringslivet idag benämns som Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Företagens samhällsansvar berör ekonomiska, miljömässiga och sociala aspekter. En ledande organisation som upprättar ramverk för hållbarhetsredovisning är Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). G3.1 är deras tredje version av riktlinjer som består av både redovisningsprinciper och vägledning samt standardupplysningar som ska anges i hållbarhetsrapporter. Standardupplysningarna omfattar företags strategi och profil, hållbarhetsstyrning och resultatindikatorer. GRI:s riktlinjer är inte lagstadgade utan endast rekommendationer som företag kan välja att tillämpa. Detta är en av många orsaker till att företags hållbarhetsrapporter kan skilja sig från varandra. Tidigare forskning har visat på att det finns internationella skillnader inom traditionell redovisning varav vissa kan kopplas till anglosaxisk respektive kontinental redovisningstradition. Denna studie inkluderar därför företag från länder tillhörande respektive redovisningstradition.Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka vilka internationella skillnader som förekommer inom hållbarhetsrapportering. En avsikt är att studera företags rapporterade resultat-indikatorer. Ytterligare en avsikt är att undersöka ett antal aspekter i hållbarhetsrapporterna på en djupare nivå, detta för att studera hur företagen delger information.Studien omfattar hållbarhetsrapporter utgivna av två amerikanska och två tyska företag inom bilsektorn. Hållbarhetsrapporterna är upprättade enligt G3.1 och utgivna för år 2012. Undersökningen genomfördes med innehållsanalys som tillvägagångssätt och inleds med en kvantitativ del där främst företagens rapporterade resultatindikatorer jämförs. Därefter presenteras en kvalitativ undersökning som berör hur informationen i hållbarhetsrapporterna är delgiven.Studiens resultat visar att det finns skillnader mellan de tyska och amerikanska företagens hållbarhetsrapporter. Resultatet i den kvantitativa undersökningen tyder på att de amerikanska företagen har en social inriktning i sina hållbarhetsrapporter då de fokuserar på samhälls- och anställningsfrågor framför andra frågor. För både de tyska och amerikanska företagen var området med flest rapporterade resultatindikatorer den miljömässiga aspekten, detta är dock en naturlig följd av att indikatorkategorin miljömässig påverkan omfattar flest resultat-indikatorer. Inom ekonomisk påverkan kunde ingen anmärkningsvärd skillnad utläsas bland de tyska och amerikanska företagens fördelning av indikatorkategorier. Den kvantitativa undersökningen visar vidare att de tyska företagen redovisar en större bredd av fullständigt redovisade aspekter inom samtliga kategorier av resultatindikatorer.Den mest utmärkande skillnaden som framkom i den kvalitativa undersökningen var att de tyska företagens hållbarhetsrapporter präglas av intressentmodellen medan fokus fanns på aktieägarna i de amerikanska företagens hållbarhetsrapporter. I undersökningen av hur företagen delger information i sina hållbarhetsrapporter framkom att de amerikanska företagen använde sig av mer finansiell information än de tyska vilket kan tänkas vara en följd av att de söker legitimitet hos aktieägarna. De tyska företagen å andra sidan vänder sig till en bredare intressentgrupp vilket framkommer av att de redovisar mer övergripande information. De amerikanska företagen i studien redovisar således en högre detaljnivå än de tyska företagen, som istället i sina hållbarhetsrapporter redovisar mindre detaljerat men om fler områden. / Sustainability reporting reflects the corporate commitments which are commonly known as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The corporate commitments include economic, environmental and social aspects. Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is a prominent organization which establishes frameworks for sustainability reporting. Their third version is called G3.1 and consists of guidelines regarding reporting principles and guidance, and standard disclosures. The standard disclosures are divided in the company´s strategy and profile, management approach, and performance indicators. A consequence of the framework from GRI not being statutory, but just optional for companies to use, is that the sustainability reports will differ from each other. Previously research has shown that international differences within traditional accounting exist, and it has to some extent been linked with the Anglo-Saxon and continental European accounting tradition. Therefore, this study includes companies from countries originating from correspondingly accounting tradition.This study aims to examine what international differences occur within sustainability reporting. One purpose is to compare companies´ reported performance indicators. Another intension is to do an in-depth examination of a number of aspects in the sustainability reports, with the ambition to find out how the companies communicate the information.The study includes sustainability reports from two North American and two German companies. The sustainability reports are all prepared regarding to G3.1 and published for the year of 2012. The examination was conducted with a content analysis and begins with a quantitative part, where the primarily objective is a comparison with the companies reported performance indicators. A qualitative inquiry about how the information in the sustainability reports is communicated is thereafter presented.The result of the study shows that differences exist between the American and the German companies´ sustainability reports. The quantitative examination indicates a social orientation among the American companies which emphasizes areas regarding community and employment conditions, in their reports. Environmental aspects are the ones most reported in both the American and German companies´ reports; an expected consequence considering that the environmental performance indicators are the most comprehensive area. No perceptible variations between the companies could be found for the economic performance indicators. Finally, the quantitative examination discloses that the German companies report a greater width of completely reported indicators in all categories of performance indicators.The most distinctive difference revealed in the qualitative examination was the presence of a stakeholder model within the sustainability reports from the German companies, while the American reports are affected by a shareholder model. It was discovered that the American companies use more financial information than the German ones, which may be due to a need of legitimization from the shareholders. Since the German companies reaches for a wider group of stakeholders, they present more general information. To conclude the qualitative examination, the American companies in this study report a higher level of details and depth in their reports compared to the German companies, who instead has less details but reports about more areas.(This thesis is written in Swedish)

In this day and age sustainability is gaining increasing importance seeing as this is of utmost importance to stakeholders. Yet, very few people are aware of the true meaning of sustainability. Stakeholders, also being the users of the annual report, need to be aware of the impact a company has on the environment and the society as well as their financial performance in order, among others, to make informed decisions regarding investments. For all financial years ending on or after 1 March 2010, all companies listed on the JSE have to report on sustainability (this is a JSE listing requirement). Yet, no statutory requirement for adherence to reporting standards relating to sustainability exists. This creates the risk that sustainability reports will omit negative impacts or be otherwise misleading, yet the company is still seen as adhering to listing and thus statutory requirements. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) developed their Sustainability Reporting Framework in order to serve as a benchmark for measuring sustainability. This Framework includes the Sustainability Reporting Guidelines (including basic principles and standard disclosures that need to be included in the report), Sector Supplements (including sector specific issues) as well as the Technical Protocol (which guides the entity in defining the content of the report). This is currently the only formal guideline available and is widely used around the world. Given the importance of the mining industry in South Africa, this article considers the quality of integrated reporting of the South African mining industry. This is done by undertaking a quantitative, applied, descriptive methodology in order to answer the research questions. Thus compliance with the globally accepted GRI Sustainability Framework has been evaluated and analysed. Using a sample of 13 of the mining companies included in the JSE Top 40 companies, the results show that these companies use the GRI G3.1 Guidelines in producing their sustainability report and that adherence improves annually. Some companies, however, do not apply the Sector Supplements which was designed to include industry-specific impacts. / Thesis (MCom (Management Accountancy))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

In this day and age sustainability is gaining increasing importance seeing as this is of utmost importance to stakeholders. Yet, very few people are aware of the true meaning of sustainability. Stakeholders, also being the users of the annual report, need to be aware of the impact a company has on the environment and the society as well as their financial performance in order, among others, to make informed decisions regarding investments. For all financial years ending on or after 1 March 2010, all companies listed on the JSE have to report on sustainability (this is a JSE listing requirement). Yet, no statutory requirement for adherence to reporting standards relating to sustainability exists. This creates the risk that sustainability reports will omit negative impacts or be otherwise misleading, yet the company is still seen as adhering to listing and thus statutory requirements. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) developed their Sustainability Reporting Framework in order to serve as a benchmark for measuring sustainability. This Framework includes the Sustainability Reporting Guidelines (including basic principles and standard disclosures that need to be included in the report), Sector Supplements (including sector specific issues) as well as the Technical Protocol (which guides the entity in defining the content of the report). This is currently the only formal guideline available and is widely used around the world. Given the importance of the mining industry in South Africa, this article considers the quality of integrated reporting of the South African mining industry. This is done by undertaking a quantitative, applied, descriptive methodology in order to answer the research questions. Thus compliance with the globally accepted GRI Sustainability Framework has been evaluated and analysed. Using a sample of 13 of the mining companies included in the JSE Top 40 companies, the results show that these companies use the GRI G3.1 Guidelines in producing their sustainability report and that adherence improves annually. Some companies, however, do not apply the Sector Supplements which was designed to include industry-specific impacts. / Thesis (MCom (Management Accountancy))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

Företags intressenter ställer allt högre krav på företagens hållbarhetsarbete, där de miljömässiga, sociala och ekonomiska aspekterna är i centrum. För att företag ska kunna visa att de fullföljer ansvaret kring arbetet med hållbarhet, upprättar företagen en hållbarhetsredovisning, där främst riktlinjer från Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) används. I GRI är en av principerna intressentinkludering, som innebär att företag ska föra en dialog med intressenter, för att på så sätt få ta del av intressenters åsikter och genom detta bidra till en mer användbar och trovärdig hållbarhetsredovisning. Med utgångspunkt i företags intressentdialog och vad som tidigare studier behandlar inom ämnet, har denna studie förklarat hur svenska börsnoterade företag identifierar, prioriterar och involverar intressenter i hållbarhetsredovisningen, samt hur företagens intressenter inverkar på hållbarhetsredovisningar.   För att uppfylla studiens syfte samt besvara dess problemformuleringar har studien utförts med hjälp av en kvalitativ metod, i form av intervjuer, där sju svenska börsnoterade företag har intervjuats som hållbarhetsredovisar enligt GRI. Resultaten av studien visar att de undersökta svenska börsnoterade företagen identifierar och prioriterar intressenter, där de identifierade intressenterna är de intressenter som påverkar eller påverkas av företagen. De prioriterade intressenterna anses enligt de undersökta företagen vara de som i högre grad påverkar eller som i högre grad påverkas av företagens verksamheter. Intressenterna blir även av de undersökta svenska börsnoterade företagen involverade, detta via olika dialogmetoder som beror på vilken intressentgrupp det berör. Slutligen visar studien att intressenter till de undersökta svenska börsnoterade företagen även inverkar på företagens hållbarhetsredovisningar, där det kan ses att en del intressenter har mer inflytande än andra. / Corporate stakeholders place increasingly high demands on companies regarding the sustainability work, where the environmental, social and economic aspects are at the center. In order for companies to demonstrate that they are in charge of the sustainability work, companies establish a sustainability report, primarily using Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines. In GRI one of the principles is stakeholder inclusiveness, which means that companies should engage in dialogue with stakeholders in order to gain access to stakeholders' views, and thereby contribute to a more useful and credible sustainability report. Based on the company's stakeholder dialogue and what previous research deal with within the subject, the study has explained how Swedish listed companies identify, prioritize and involve stakeholders in the sustainability report, as well as how companies' stakeholders influence the sustainability reports.   In order to fulfill the purpose of the study and answer its problem formulations, the study has been conducted using a qualitative method, in the form of interviews, in which seven Swedish listed companies have been interviewed, who are using GRI guidelines when they are establishing the sustainability reports. The results of the study show that the surveyed Swedish listed companies identify and prioritize stakeholders, where the identified stakeholders are the stakeholders that affect or are influenced by the companies. Priority stakeholders are, according to the companies surveyed, considered to be those that increasingly influence or are increasingly affected by business activities. The stakeholders will also be involved in the surveyed Swedish listed companies, through different dialogue methods depending on which stakeholder group it concerns. Finally, the study shows that stakeholders of the Swedish listed companies surveyed also in some way affect the companies' sustainability reports, where it can be seen that some stakeholders have more influence than others.

Hållbarhet har varit föremål för debatt de senaste decennierna. Företag har i olika stor utsträckning hängt med och anpassat sig till utvecklingen, fler och fler väljer att hållbarhetsrapportera. Med tiden kommer alltfler krav från samhället som företagen anpassar sig efter och en relativt ny trend som går att urskilja är den om extern granskning av hållbarhetsrapporter. Plötsligt räcker det inte längre med att enbart hållbarhetsrapportera utan det ska dessutom finnas en tredjepartsgranskning. Det vi kan se är att allt fler börsnoterade bolag låter hållbarhetsrapporten granskas av en extern part. Syftet med denna studie är att studera varför börsnoterade bolag på OMX Nasdaq Stockholm, som hållbarhetsrapporterar enligt GRI, låter sina hållbarhetsrapporter bli granskade av en extern part. Studien är av kvalitativ karaktär och består av åtta semistrukturerade intervjuer. Respondenterna valdes ut med utgångspunkt i att de ska vara ansvariga för hållbarhetsrapporteringen i bolagen vilken har utvecklats i enlighet med GRI:s riktlinjer. Studien visar att legitimitetsteorin, intressentteorin och den institutionella teorin kan förklara varför de börsnoterade bolagen i studien låter hållbarhetsrapporten granskas av en extern part. De svar som respondenterna har givit har bekräftats av teorierna. I studien kunde vi se att majoriteten av bolagen motiverar den externa granskningen på liknande vis. Trovärdighet, transparens och kvalitet är de faktorer som framstår som de största anledningarna till extern granskning. En annan slutsats som kan dras är att många av de studerade bolagen motiverar den externa granskningen med att intressenter värdesätter detta vilket leder till att många bolag väljer tredjepartsgranskning. Avslutningsvis framkommer det även att den externa granskningen av hållbarhetsrapporten inte enbart bidrar med något externt utan även internt i form av interna förbättringsområden, vilket motiverar börsnoterade bolag i denna studien till att låta hållbarhetsrapporten granskas av en extern part. / Sustainability has been the subject of debate in recent decades. Many companies have more or less been involved in the development, and we have increasingly seen companies begin with sustainability reporting. Companies have more or less adapted to the development. More and more companies choose to report for sustainability. The demands from the society are increasing with time. Companies adapt to these demands and a relatively new trend that can be seen is the external review of sustainability reports. Suddenly, it is no longer sufficient to solely report sustainability, but there is also a need for a third party review. What we can see is that more and more listed companies allow their sustainability report to be reviewed by an external party. The aim of this study is to examine why listed companies on OMX Nasdaq Stockholm, of which report for sustainability in accordance with GRI, let their sustainability reports be externally reviewed by an external party. The study is qualitative in nature and contains eight semi-structured interviews. Respondents were selected on the basis that they should be responsible for sustainability reporting in the companies, of which has been developed in accordance with GRI guidelines. The study shows that legitimacy theory, stakeholder theory and institutional theory can explain why the listed companies in this study let their sustainability report be reviewed by an external party. The answers that the respondents have given have been confirmed by the theories. The study shows that the majority of companies motivate the external review in a similar manner. Credibility, transparency and quality are the factors that appear to be the main reasons for external reviewing. Another conclusion that can be drawn is that many companies motivate the external review with saying that stakeholders value it, which leads to many companies choosing third party review. Finally, it is also found that the external review of the sustainability report not only contributes with something externally but also internally in terms of internal improvement areas, which motivates the listed companies in this study to allow the sustainability report to be reviewed by an external party.

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.

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.