Sustainability Reporting : A case study of challenges and future challenges with sustainability reporting methods

Abstract: Challenges on how to approach global sustainability issues are increasing along with the growing global warming. This entails an increasing pressure on firms to manage sustainability- related issues, both deriving from governance regulations as well as a from a growing consciousness from public institutions. Sustainability reporting is further both required within EU legislation and also expected from current societal values. However, sustainability reporting has been criticised for lacking comparability, reliability and thus legitimacy. Legitimation is a necessity for organisations to gain social acceptance. The field of sustainability reporting is rapidly developing which highlights the importance for organisations to stay updated on coming regulations and trends. The overarching aim of this thesis is to explore, advance and compile the understanding of challenges with current sustainability reporting methods. A further aim is to conduct a qualitative forecast analysis of what sustainability reporting will require in the future to gain legitimacy and identify potential upcoming challenges connected to this forecast. Literature within the sustainability reporting and accounting field have been reviewed as well as legitimacy and institutional theory. Interviews with experts within the studied field have been conducted, along with participant observations through a case company study. The study has concluded several challenges with sustainability reporting methods, among others that voluntary disclosure requirements contribute to the lack of standardisation, comparability, and reliability, and therefore also a lack of legitimacy. For the future, the new CSR directive is expected as new legislation for sustainability reporting within a few years and is expected to entail more extensive regulations and requirements on external auditing. The most commonly used reporting standard currently, the GRI, will not completely cover the future requirements and more focus of the entire supply chain can be expected. This study has contributed to the existing research field of sustainability reporting and accounting by compiling, exploring and analysing challenges from the papers´ perspective, which lead to a lack of legitimacy in sustainability reports. The study has, besides this, contributed to knowledge on the potential future of sustainability reporting based on statements and opinions from insightful interviewees together with the identified current challenges.