Providing Assurance for Sustainability Reports: An Instructional Case

2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 95-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veena Looknanan Brown ◽  
Mark J. Kohlbeck
Keyword(s):  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Auditor Independence ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Class Discussion ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Assurance Services ◽  
Group Basis ◽  
Sustainability Reports ◽  
Sustainability Report

ABSTRACT Due to increased interest in sustainability from non-governmental organizations (NGO), investors, and other stakeholders, many companies prepare sustainability reports, sometimes with third-party assurance as to the veracity of their claims. This instructional case provides a challenging and enriching experience for students in which the provision of assurance services on nonfinancial sustainability reporting is addressed. The case involves determining the procedures necessary to provide assurance on a sustainability report where procedures are non-standard and may vary substantially from client to client. To arrive at a solution, students are required to familiarize themselves with sustainability reporting in general and use judgment in deciding the most appropriate type of assurance and related procedures to provide. Students are also asked to discuss a number of related topics including the need for assurance in this area and auditor independence issues. This instructional resource provides students with an opportunity to gain an understanding of sustainability reporting and assurance. The case is appropriate for upper-division undergraduate and graduate auditing courses in which assurance services other than audits are discussed and can be assigned on an individual or group basis for out-of-class preparation, followed by in-class discussion.

scholarly journals GRI Sustainability Reporting by INGOs: A Way Forward for Improving Accountability?

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 1294-1310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albert Anton Traxler ◽  
Dorothea Greiling ◽  
Hannah Hebesberger
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Critical Evaluation ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Global Reporting Initiative ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Reporting Practice ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Sustainability Reports ◽  
The Empirical Analysis ◽  
Accountability Initiatives

AbstractConsidering that the members of the International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGO) Accountability Charter played a prominent role in initiating the first sector supplement of the Global Reporting Initiative for non-governmental organizations (NGO), the purpose of the paper is to investigate their sustainability reporting (SR) practices in order to evaluate to what extent INGO Charter members comply with this voluntary accountability standard for SR. The empirical analysis is based on a content analysis of sustainability reports. The findings indicate that most of the INGO Charter members are far away from a comprehensive reporting practice. Hence, critical voices could assert that their reporting behavior seems to be more in line with facade building than the idea of providing a comprehensive account. By adapting a multiperspective theoretical discourse about the potential and shortcomings of SR to the NGO context, the study contributes to a field-specific theory-based pluralistic critical evaluation of SR as a major cross-sectoral innovation in voluntary accountability initiatives.

The Association between Sustainability Governance Characteristics and the Assurance of Corporate Sustainability Reports

2014 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 163-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary F. Peters ◽  
Andrea M. Romi
Keyword(s):  
Value Relevance ◽  
Corporate Sustainability ◽  
Accounting Firms ◽  
Internal Auditors ◽  
Corporate Governance Mechanisms ◽  
Assurance Services ◽  
The Board Of Directors ◽  
Contextual Characteristics ◽  
Sustainability Reports ◽  
Sustainability Report

SUMMARY This study provides evidence on whether sustainability-oriented corporate governance mechanisms impact the voluntary assurance of corporate sustainability reports. Specifically, we consider the presence and characteristics of environmental committees on the Board of Directors and a Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) among the management team. When examining assurance services, we make a distinction between those services performed by professional accountants, consultants, and internal auditors. We find that the presence of a CSO is positively associated with corporate sustainability report assurance services, and this association increases when the CSO has sustainability expertise. Supporting the position that some firms establish sustainability-related governance merely to conform to socially desired behavior, we find that only those environmental committees containing directors with related expertise influence the likelihood of adopting sustainability assurance. Presently, environmental committees with greater expertise appear to prefer the higher-quality assurance services of professional accounting firms. Expert CSOs, on the other hand, prefer assurance services from their peers with sustainability expertise, as evidenced by their choice to employ consultants. When analyzing firms' environmental contextual characteristics, we find that firms employing a CSO and exhibiting poor environmental performance, relative to other firms in their industry, prefer to report sustainability results without assurance. While we do find that larger firms in the U.S. are significantly less likely to employ assurance, this result decreases over time. Further, we provide initial evidence that the value-relevance of sustainability assurance is increasing with time.

Exploring the Influence of NGOs in Corporate Sustainability Adoption: Institutional-Legitimacy Perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-147
Author(s):  
Lamin B. Ceesay
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Corporate Sustainability ◽  
Stakeholder Involvement ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Institutional Legitimacy ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Social And Environmental Performance ◽  
Power And Influence

This review seeks to examine the power and influence of Non-Governmental Organizations in the course of corporate sustainability adoption (i.e., sustainability reporting). Using the institutional-legitimacy and governance theories, our findings suggest that non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have great potentials in sustainability discourse through two salient actions, namely (a) collaborative partnership, and (b) confrontational tactics. While the former promotes stakeholder involvement in corporate decision-making through dialogue, joint-projects on corporate social responsibility, and sustainability reporting, the latter, however, is the last resort—involving “naming and shaming” corporations for poor social and environmental performance. The objective of such action is to cause reputational damage to businesses. Finally, it is also observed that crucial to NGO power and influence is the collaboration with government and civil society organizations in the fight for environmental sustainability and accountability.

scholarly journals Corporate Sustainability Reporting in the BIST Sustainability Index

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (10) ◽  
pp. 21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Burcu Demirel ◽  
Murat Erdogan
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Corporate Sustainability ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Development Stage ◽  
Global Reporting Initiative ◽  
Sustainability Index ◽  
Sustainability Reports ◽  
Working Day ◽  
Sustainability Report ◽  
Day By Day

<p>In recent years, there is a growing focus on corporate operations especially since the publication of the first environmental reports in 1989. Companies have started to publish information about its environmental, social and sustainability policies. The study examines the sustainability reporting elements of Borsa Istanbul Sustainability Index (BIST) in Turkey and to evaluate which elements is most vital in this context. This study will begin with the sustainability reporting that will be examined under the roof of corporation sustainability and end with the examination of sustainability reports of 15 firms, which are included in the BIST Sustainability Index in Turkey, and a content analysis. The reports of companies under study were taken from special web site and GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) database of companies. Being the first study in examining the sustainability report of companies in BIST Sustainability Index, it is expected to contribute in literature about sustainability reporting recently started to gain importance in Turkey. Overall our findings suggest that the sustainability index established in Turkey is still in development stage, but the enterprises in the endeavor are working day by day to develop the sustainability qualities.</p>

scholarly journals An Analysis of Information Materiality on Corporate Sustainability Report Using Information Materiality Map: A Review in Mining Industry in Indonesia

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Putu Sukma Kurniawan
Keyword(s):  
Stock Exchange ◽  
Corporate Sustainability ◽  
Mining Industry ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Document Analysis ◽  
Sustainability Reports ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
Material Information ◽  
Sustainability Report

This research aims to provide an overview of information that is material in sustainability reporting in Indonesia, especially material information in sustainability report in mining industry in Indonesia. The design of this research is document analysis. In this context, this study try to achieve an understanding of the document's contents from corporate sustainability report. This research used sustainability report published by companies in mining industry fields, particularly mining companies which competed in Indonesia Sustainability Reporting Award (ISRA) in 2014, 2015 and 2016. Data was collected by secondary data through the official website of Indonesia Stock Exchange as well as the company's official website. The data of sustainability reports were analyzed descriptively by analyzing the content of the sustainability report. This study can help to build a new perspective about material information in sustainability report in Indonesian mining industry. Keywords: Information Materiality Map, Sustainability Reporting, Sustainability Report, Mining Industry

Regulatory Organization

2019 ◽  
pp. 718-748
Author(s):  
Brian Preston
Keyword(s):  
Regulatory System ◽  
Executive Branch ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Regulatory Systems ◽  
Regulatory Architecture ◽  
Institutional Organization ◽  
Regulatory Organization

This chapter examines the institutional organization of environmental regulatory systems. It considers traditional regulatory organization in the executive branch of government as well as the roles played by the legislature, the judiciary, and the fourth integrity branch of government in the regulatory system. The chapter first provides a brief overview of regulatory organization in the modern world before explaining how the legislature shapes the institutional regulatory architecture that governs environmental protection and conservation. It then looks at three internationally prevalent types of executive regulator that are entrusted with protecting and conserving the environment: single versus multiple agencies, integrated versus function agencies, and concentrated versus devolved systems. It also describes the regulatory roles of the judicial branch of government, the fourth (integrity) branch of government, ‘third parties as surrogate regulators’ (environmental non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and community associations, specialist ‘third party surrogate regulators’), and ‘the regulated as regulator’.

scholarly journals The Management of Third-party Amicus Participation before International Criminal Tribunals: Juggling Efficiency and Legitimacy

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 728-747
Author(s):  
Avidan Kent ◽  
Jamie Trinidad
Keyword(s):  
International Criminal ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Criminal Proceedings ◽  
Criminal Process ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
International Criminal Tribunals ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Image Problems

Our article examines the practice of third-party amicus participation before international criminal tribunals (icts) and considers its impact on the efficiency and legitimacy of the international criminal process. Our review focuses on the provenance of third-party interventions, their nature and their impact (if any) on the reasoning of the ict in a given case. We note that a significant proportion of the amicus submissions are from western non-governmental organizations and individuals, rather than from the communities most directly affected by the work of icts. We consider the implications of this finding in the context of the well-documented ‘image problems’ that plague icts. We find that icts tend to manage the participation of third-party amici fairly judiciously, and conclude with some suggestions regarding how the engagement between icts and amici could be improved to enhance both the efficiency and the legitimacy of international criminal proceedings.

Creating sustainability reports that matter: an investigation of factors behind the narratives

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Habiba Al-Shaer ◽  
Khaldoon Albitar ◽  
Khaled Hussainey
Keyword(s):  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
Global Reporting Initiative ◽  
Specific Content ◽  
Content Type ◽  
External Governance ◽  
Key Features ◽  
Sustainability Reports ◽  
Sustainability Report ◽  
Forward Looking

PurposeThis paper aims to provide a novel approach to examine sustainability report narratives by considering key features of these narratives including, forward-looking content, risk content, tone and sustainability-specific content.Design/methodology/approachUsing a sample of UK firms' sustainability reports from 2014 to 2018, the authors capture the report content by compiling a collection of words using a computational linguistic technique that attempts to identify specific attributes of sustainability reports.FindingsThe findings show the main factors that determine the content of sustainability reports are: (1) external governance-related factors, including the voluntary adoption of sustainability reporting assurance, the choice of assurance provider, stakeholder engagement and ownership concentration; (2) internal governance factors, including board quality and the existence of a sustainability committee; and (3) reporting behaviour including the publication of standardised Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) sustainability reports and financial reporting quality.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors limit our sample to companies operated in the UK. Future research can explore the results in other institutional contexts such as North America or Asia–Pacific where the governance of sustainability reporting and other factors determining the content of sustainability reports could be different. Also, it would be interesting to interview managers and other stakeholders to obtain their opinions with regard to sustainability reporting and assurance practices and to understand their opinions regarding the GRI guidelines and its appropriateness. This study combines different research streams to advance our understanding of sustainability disclosures and factors that determine sustainability narratives.Practical implicationsCorporate managers need to strengthen their internal and external governance mechanisms to enhance the comprehensiveness and credibility of sustainability reports and are encouraged to engage stakeholders in the sustainability reporting process. Policymakers can mandate the assurance of sustainability reports and establish reporting formats and standard words to control the tone of sustainability reports. Finally, researchers, professionals as well as policymakers need to monitor sustainable development goals and targets to increase awareness, knowledge and practices that can be operationalised to ensure a global society that can afford sustainable living.Originality/valueTo the best of our knowledge, no study has yet examined sustainability report narratives by considering key features of these reports, including forward-looking content, risk content, tone and sustainability-specific content.

Analysis of Crisis Management of Medical Disputes in China and Australia: A Narrative Review Article

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tianlu YIN ◽  
Zhaojie LIU ◽  
Yanli XU
Keyword(s):  
Crisis Management ◽  
Legal System ◽  
Patient Communication ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Knowledge Network ◽  
Doctor Patient Communication ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Medical Institutions ◽  
Medical Disputes

At present, the increasing trend of medical disputes has become a serious problem in the work of medical institutions, and directly affects the social stability and orderly development of the institutions. We searched the literature on medical disputes and crisis management in China and Australia within PubMed (2010-2019), China Knowledge Network (CNKI, 2010-2019), and Wanfang Data Knowledge Service Platform (2010-2019). There are several drawbacks in the management of hospital medical disputes in China: 1) the knowledge of crisis is unilateral and not systematic; 2) there are too much stereotype thoughts in crisis management; 3) the crisis attribution is too simple; the crisis impact assessment is insufficient. It is worth learning from Australia’s system, including the legal system, relevant non-governmental organizations, and doctor-patient communication. In view of the malpractice existing in China's medical dispute management, Australia's legal system for handling disputes, doctor-patient communication and other aspects are worthy of our reference. In particular, the construction of third-party supervision and mediation institutions and the prevention of doctor-patient disputes should be optimized.

scholarly journals Shining a light on fossil fuel subsidies at the WTO: how NGOs can contribute to WTO notification and surveillance

2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 603-632 ◽  
Author(s):  
LIESBETH CASIER ◽  
ROBIN FRASER ◽  
MARK HALLE ◽  
ROBERT WOLFE
Keyword(s):  
Incomplete Data ◽  
Fossil Fuel ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Comparable Data ◽  
Trading System ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Fuel Subsidies ◽  
Fossil Fuel Subsidies ◽  
Mitigate Climate Change

AbstractFossil fuel subsidies undermine efforts to mitigate climate change, and they damage the trading system. Multilateral discussion is hampered by inconsistent definitions and incomplete data, which could increase the risks of WTO disputes. Members do not notify such subsidies as much as they should under the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (ASCM), which limits the usefulness of the SCM Committee. The reports of the Trade Policy Review Mechanism on individual countries and on the trading system draw on a wider range of sources, creating an opportunity for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to provide the missing data from publicly available sources. We suggest a new template that could be used for such third-party notifications. The objective is to shine a light on all fossil fuel subsidies that cause market distortions, especially trade distortions. The result should be better, more comparable data for the Secretariat, governments, and researchers, providing the basis for better-informed discussion of the incidence of fossil fuel subsidies and rationale for their use.

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