Evaluating Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Climate Mitigation Goals of the Global Food and Beverage Sector

The dramatic increase in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by humans over the past century and a half has created an urgency for monitoring, reporting, and verifying GHG emissions as a first step toward mitigating the effects of climate change. Fifteen percent of global GHG emissions come from agriculture, and companies in the food and beverage industry are starting to set climate goals. We examined the GHG emissions reporting practices and climate goals of the top 100 global food and beverage companies (as ranked by Food Engineering) and determined whether their goals are aligned with the science of keeping climate warming well below a 2°C increase. Using publicly disclosed data in CDP Climate reports and company sustainability reports, we found that about two thirds of the top 100 global food and beverage companies disclose at least part of their total company emissions and set some sort of climate goal that includes scope 1 and 2 emissions. However, only about half have measured, disclosed, and set goals for scope 3 emissions, which often encompass about 88% of a company's emissions across the entire value chain on average. We also determined that companies, despite setting scope 1, 2, and 3 emission goals, may be missing the mark on whether their goals are significantly reducing global emissions. Our results present the current disclosure and emission goals of the top 100 global food and beverage companies and highlight an urgent need to begin and continue to set truly ambitious, science-aligned climate goals.

Are The Banks on The Way of Sustainability Reporting Practices: From A Developing Country Perspective?

<p class="Imar-Abstract"><em>This study examines the extent and nature of social, economic, and environmental reporting practices of Bangladeshi-listed banks. Using content analysis technique, Information was gathered from the available annual reports of 25 banks from 2014 to 2019. Findings revealed that overall reporting of environmental information has increased by 47% from 2014 to 2019, whereas overall social reporting has increased by 30% from 2014 to 2019. Again, we tried to explore sustainability reporting practices of these banks considering 26 categories too, where the first 12 categories are used to identify environmental accounting and reporting practices and the rest 14 for social and economic reporting. The findings of 26 categories of sustainability reporting reflect that social, economic, and environmental reporting has increased greatly by 74.90% in 2019. Most of the banks disclosed mostly about energy consumption (D6) from environmental reporting while economic social (D16), education, and training (D18), health and safety (D19) and culture (D20) from social perspectives and least about activities undertaken for tree plantation (D3) from an environmental perspective. This study has great implications for the policymakers of the corporate sector and government.</em></p><p class="Imar-Abstract"> </p>

The non-financial reporting practices of Hungarian listed public interest entities considering the 2014/95/EU Directive

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the non-financial reporting (NFR) practices of Hungarian listed public interest entities for 2016–2018 in terms of the required disclosure content based on the 2014/95/EU Directive (ED).Design/methodology/approach The authors apply content analysis methodology on Hungarian firms subject to mandatory reporting under the ED. The target variable in the multivariate model is the reporting quality (Qi) measured by a combined index.Findings The authors find that the ED had a moderate impact on Hungary's reporting quality because the overall disclosure of the sample only increased from low to medium level. The authors found that the value of intangible assets is a determinant of the reporting quality before and after the implementation of the ED. The findings support the effect of coercive isomorphism on Hungarian NFR practices.Research limitations/implications The limitation of the research is the number of firms examined. However, the authors covered the entire (non-bank) community of the Hungarian firms subject to the ED.Practical implications The authors suggest that reporting entities build upon the synergy between intellectual capital disclosure and NFR when elaborating their reporting strategies. The authors recommend the integration of ethical matters into corporate strategies and policies. Policymakers may consider the revision of the Hungarian regulations. The authors suggest academics embrace these topics in teaching.Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that investigates the impact of ED in the context of Hungary. The authors contribute to the existing literature by adding the results of the ridge regression model, highlighting the importance of intangible assets.

Water Use Characteristics of Weeds: A Global Review, Best Practices, and Future Directions

Weeds usually penalize crop yields by competing for resources, such as water, light, nutrients, and space. Most of the studies on the crop-weed competition domain are limited to assessing crop-yield losses due to weed pressure and other crop-weed interactions, overlooking the significant uptake of soil-water by weeds that exacerbates global water constraints and threatens the productivity and profitability. The objective of this review was to synthesize globally available quantitative data on weed water use (WU) sourced from 23 peer-reviewed publications (filtered from 233 publications via a multi-step protocol of inclusion criteria) with experimental investigations across space (3 continents), time (1927–2018), weed species (27 broadleaf and 7 grasses) and characteristics, cropping systems (5), soil types (ranging from coarse-textured sand to fine-textured clay soils), determination techniques, experimental factors (environment, management, resource availability, and competition), and aridity regimes (ranging from semi-arid to humid climate). Distributions of weed WU data reported via eight different metrics were assessed for variability and mean WU. A lack of the best experimental and reporting practices in weed WU research was identified that undermined the robustness, transferability, and application of the WU data. Mandatory protocols and the best practices typically followed in the agricultural water management research were described and recommended for weed scientists to avoid pitfalls in quantifying and presenting weed WU. A model of mixed plant community evapotranspiration (ET) was adapted to model weed-crop-soil system evaporation and transpiration in a crop canopy infested with multiple (n) weed species. Finally, potential cross-disciplinary questions across the domains of crop science, weed science, agricultural water management, irrigation science and engineering, and environmental changes were proposed to direct and prioritize future research efforts in the crop-weed-water arena.

Informasi Akuntansi Lingkungan: Apa yang Memotivasi Perusahaan untuk Mengungkapkan?

Over the years, there has been an increase in corporate initiatives in the area of environmental reporting practices. The study is conducted to analyze the factors that influence the disclosure of environmental accounting in companies in Indonesia. The sample in this study are 44 entities listed on the IDX from 2016-2020 which are collected by purposive sampling method. The data analysis technique used is panel data regression which is tested with SPSS and Eviews. The results show that firm size, auditor independence and public ownership do not affect environmental disclosure. Profitability affects environmental disclosure negatively. Leverage, listing period and company reputation positively affect environmental disclosure.

Intellectual capital and sustainability reporting practices in Uganda

PurposeThe objective of the study is to investigate the association between intellectual capital (IC) and sustainability reporting practices in Uganda. The study further examines how individual IC elements (human, structural and relational capital) affect sustainability reporting practices.Design/methodology/approachThis study employs a questionnaire to collect data. Data are analyzed using multiple regression analysis.FindingsResults indicate that IC is significantly associated with sustainability reporting practices. The study also found that human capital and relational capital elements have a positive effect on sustainability reporting practices while structural capital element does not have a significant effect.Originality/valueThis study is one of the few studies that examine sustainability reporting by financial services firms in a country where the capital markets are still in their infancy and the major source of external financing are the banks. Its major contribution lies in its focus on how the key IC components explain variations in sustainability reporting practices among financial service firms in Uganda.

Ethical environment, accountability, and sustainability reporting: What is the connection in the hospitality and tourism industry?

Drawing on institutional theory, this study tests how the ethical behaviors of firms, in interaction with public officials and through the strength of accountability regulations, influence sustainability reporting practices in the hospitality and tourism (H&T) sector. The results indicate that firms operating in a highly ethical business environment are less likely than those in a less ethical environment to disclose a sustainability report. However, accountability yields the opposite result; firms established in environments characterized by high accountability are more likely than low accountability environments to issue a sustainability report, which implies a complementary effect between the strength of the accountability and the firms’ sustainability disclosures. This verifies that the weakness or strength of informal and formal institutional forces exert considerable influence on firms’ desire to carry out sustainability reporting. However, this influence is not true of the acquisition of external assurance statements and following Global Reporting Initiative guidelines, with which accountability has a negative and insignificant association, respectively.

Water-related sustainability reporting practices amongst South African mining and non-mining corporations

Globally, water resource management has emerged as an important research area and is acknowledged as a crucial factor in achieving sustainable development goals. Despite its significance, water-related sustainability disclosures regarding water and water-related risks among companies are alarmingly weak. Many companies are not effectively measuring, managing, and disclosing their water-related risks. Hence, this paper aims to analyze water-related reporting and disclosure requirements of a sample of ten South African mining and non-mining companies with a high water profile, listed on the JSE Socially Responsible Investment Index. The companies’ level of compliance on water disclosure was assessed based on their reporting in the integrated and or annual reports. The findings revealed that sampled five mining companies performed poorly in terms of disclosure across the frameworks of awareness, disclosure, management, and leadership. On the other hand, the selection of five non-mining companies grasped the severe effect of the water crisis on their businesses and performed better in all the framework categories. The average score for the selection of mining companies was 65% compared to the 93% for the non-mining companies. Stakeholders need to focus on water governance processes that require improvement to enable the stakeholders to make better decisions on water management; subsequently, this is an area that needs to be addressed in future research.

Biodiversity reporting practices of the South African national parks

Purpose This paper aims to explore the biodiversity reporting by a state-owned entity responsible for conserving and protecting biodiversity assets in South Africa, the South African National Parks (SANParks) (SOC) Limited. Design/methodology/approach This study uses content analysis to explore and investigate the disclosure themes in the SANParks reports for the period 2013–2017. The frequency of substantive disclosures is also evaluated over a five-year period. The data are presented graphically in frequency charts and supported by descriptive statistics and univariate correlations for non-normal data. This provides insights into the amount of information being disclosed and the interconnections among biodiversity reporting themes. Findings SANParks has increased its reporting on biodiversity over time. Disclosures are interconnected and deal with a range of issues, including species at risk of extinction, operational considerations, risk management practices and how SANParks evaluates its environmental performance. The information is detailed and included in different parts of the organisation’s annual reports suggesting a genuine commitment to protecting biodiversity. There are areas for improvement but SANParks frames biodiversity as a central part of its strategy, operations and assurance processes something which would not occur if the disclosures were only about managing impressions. Originality/value The study is among the first to explore biodiversity disclosure themes in a state-owned entity in Africa, responsible for the conservation. While the study deals with a specific case entity, the findings are broadly applicable for other organisations keen on constructing a biodiversity account.