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Sustainability reporting in Norway – an assessment of performance in the context of legal demands and socio‐political drivers

Sustainability reporting in Norway – an assessment of performance in the context of legal demands... This article explores the influence of societal, political and regulatory characteristics and developments on the quality of corporate sustainability disclosures in Norway. The paper presents an assessment both of mandatory reporting under the Norwegian Accounting Act, and of voluntary reporting in annual and separate non‐financial reports, by the 100 largest firms in Norway. Our results reveal that only 10% of the companies comply with the legal requirements on environmental reporting, while only half of the firms comply with the legal reporting provisions on working environment and gender equality. The vast majority of firms also report unsatisfactorily on non‐financial issues in the voluntary disclosures assessed. Analysing the causes of these results, we contend that the situation is characterized by (1) an apparent lack of political and social drivers for sustainability reporting in Norway and (2) an absence of sufficient monitoring and enforcement of the environmental reporting legislation on the part of Norwegian authorities. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Business Strategy and the Environment Wiley

Sustainability reporting in Norway – an assessment of performance in the context of legal demands and socio‐political drivers

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References (23)

Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. and ERP Environment
ISSN
0964-4733
eISSN
1099-0836
DOI
10.1002/bse.560
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

This article explores the influence of societal, political and regulatory characteristics and developments on the quality of corporate sustainability disclosures in Norway. The paper presents an assessment both of mandatory reporting under the Norwegian Accounting Act, and of voluntary reporting in annual and separate non‐financial reports, by the 100 largest firms in Norway. Our results reveal that only 10% of the companies comply with the legal requirements on environmental reporting, while only half of the firms comply with the legal reporting provisions on working environment and gender equality. The vast majority of firms also report unsatisfactorily on non‐financial issues in the voluntary disclosures assessed. Analysing the causes of these results, we contend that the situation is characterized by (1) an apparent lack of political and social drivers for sustainability reporting in Norway and (2) an absence of sufficient monitoring and enforcement of the environmental reporting legislation on the part of Norwegian authorities. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Journal

Business Strategy and the EnvironmentWiley

Published: May 1, 2009

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