Trajnostno poročanje podjetij: priložnosti in izzivi

Abstract

The aim of our study was to research corporate sustainability reporting in Slovenia, namely, the volume and type of informa­tion on sustainable development published on corporate websites and in corporate reports available online. In our study, we discuss the content of corporate sustainability reports by considering a series of indicators covering both environmental and social issues. To this end, we designed a model consisting of 85 indicators which were adapted to the content and charac­teristics of Slovenian corporate sustainability reporting. Also, we aimed to identify the eventual relationship between the ISO 14001 (environmental standard) or the obligation to report under the IPPC Directive and sustainability reporting. The final sample consisted of 71 major Slovenian companies from 14 industries, all members of the Slovenian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. We have examined their websites and annual or sustainability reports (if published online). We processed the data in the period from June to October 2009. Our study found that Slovenian corporate sustainability reporting is still in an initial stage. Similarly as indicated by the international study of corporate social responsibility reporting (KPMG, 2008), the majority of Slovenian corporate business reports fail to provide any environmental and social information; only 25% in our study. According to our research, specific environmental reports are being published by as little as 16% of the companies. A comparison of environmental and social reporting shows that in all industries companies tend to report social information more extensively, considering that their number is several times the number of environmental information. Companies give the impression that they fail to recognize environmental issues, in contrast to sports, culture, humanitarian activities, and educa­tion (areas where corporate reporting is most extensive and detailed), as an opportunity to improve their public reputation. Furthermore, our study results show that the awarded ISO 14001 environmental standard encourages a more extensive cor­porate sustainability reporting. Also, companies that are major polluters (operators obliged to report under the IPPC Directive) provide more extensive sustainability information which they publish on the web or in their annual reports. With such poor reporting by companies on their environmental protection activities, doubts arise as to the sufficiency of their environmental efforts in practice.Namen naše raziskave je bil raziskati trajnostno poročanje podjetij v Sloveniji in sicer koliko in kakšne vrste informacij o trajnostnem razvoju imajo podjetja objavljena na svojih spletnih straneh in na spletu dosegljivih poročilih. Raziskava obrav­nava vsebino trajnostnega poročanja podjetji s pomočjo vrste indikatorjev, ki vsebinsko pokrivajo tako okoljsko kot družbeno problematiko. V ta namen smo oblikovali model 85-ih indikatorjev, ki so prilagojeni vsebinam in karakteristikam trajnostnega poročanja slovenskih podjetij. Ugotavljali smo tudi ali obstaja povezava med okoljskim standardom ISO 14001 oz. IPPC zavezanostjo in trajnostnim poročanjem. V končni vzorec sestavlja 71 velikih podjetij, članic Gospodarske zbornice Slovenije iz 14-ih različnih panožnih skupin, katerim smo pregledali njihove spletne strani in letna oz. trajnostna poročila, če so bila le-ta objavljena na spletu. Podatke smo pregledovali v času od junija do oktobra 2009. Naša raziskava ugotavlja, da je trajnostno poročanje slovenskih podjetij še v zametkih. Podobno kot navaja mednarodna študija o družbeno odgovornem poročanju korporacij KPMG (2008), tudi v slovenskem prostoru večina podjetij v svojih poslovnih poročilih nima nobenih okoljskih in družbenih informacij, v naši raziskavi le 25%. Specifična okoljska poročila pa po naši raziskavi objavlja le 16 % podjetij. Primerjava okoljskega in družbenega vidika poročanja kaže, da podjetja vseh panog veliko bolj velikodušno predstavljajo informacije z družbenega področja, saj jih je kar nekajkrat več kot okoljskih. Podjetja tako nakazujejo, da okoljske problema­tike ne sprejemajo kot enakovredne priložnosti za izboljšanje ugleda v javnosti katero vidijo v športu, kulturi, humanitarni dejavnosti in izobraževanju, kjer podjetja najobsežneje objavljajo podatke. Rezultati naše raziskave pa kažejo tudi na to, da osvojen okoljski standard ISO 14001 spodbudno vpliva na podjetja, da obsežneje trajnostno poročajo. Prav tako podjetja, ki spadajo med onesnaževalce večjega obsega (IPPC zavezanci), na spletu oz. v letnih poročilih objavljajo obsežnejša trajnost­na poročila. Ob zelo revnem poročanju podjetij o svojih aktivnostih do varovanja okolja pa se porajajo tudi dvomi o zadostnosti njihovega okoljskega prizadevanja v praksi