Ethics, Justice and the South African Environment

Exam paper for second semester: Ethics, Justice and the South African Environmen

Assessing the sustainability reporting of selected tourism companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE)

Abstract Implementing corporate sustainability reporting as part of companies' annual reports is a requirement in South Africa and throughout the world. The King III code strongly encourages Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) listed companies to integrate their environmental, social and economic practices into their annual reporting. The purpose of this study was to investigate the sustainability reporting practices of three selected tourism companies listed on the JSE namely: Sun International, City Lodge and Wilderness Holdings. Three evaluation frameworks were developed from 1) the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI: G3.1); 2) the JSE: Social Responsible Investment (SRI) Index criteria; and 3) the South African National Standard for Responsible Tourism (SANS 1162) criteria. The three evaluation frameworks were used as a tool to assess the tourism companies' annual reports. Using these frameworks provided a way of assessing the extent of sustainability reporting within annual reports and allowed for comparison across companies and years. Overall, the study provided an understanding of how the selected companies had been producing their annual reports from 2010 to 2012. The study also provided feedback on the companies' previous reporting practices in terms of the sustainability criteria and provided information on how these companies can improve their future sustainability reporting