Sustainability accounting and reporting at a sector level: mapping the terrain
O'Dochartaigh, Aideen and Maughan, Rebecca
(2017)
Sustainability accounting and reporting at a sector level: mapping the terrain.
Accounting, Finance & Governance Review, 24
(1/2).
pp. 19-44.
ISSN 2009-8766
The aim of this paper is to develop our understanding of accounting and reporting for sustainability at a sector level, an area where there is a significant
deficit of literature. As sustainability is a system-based concept, there is a growing recognition that sustainability reporting needs to move beyond single-entity
reports towards multiple organisation reporting, such as industry, supply chain
and sector-level reports. However, few studies have explored the challenges and
possibilities of multiple organisation reporting, and no established sector-level
reporting guidelines exist. This study advances the sustainability accounting
literature by mapping the field of multiple organisation sustainability reporting, drawing together any existing literature and reviewing emerging voluntary
reporting mechanisms. We identify different levels of sustainability parameters
and reporting: global, national, sectoral, organisational and product. We then
evaluate emerging reporting frameworks at a sectoral level, with reference to the
agri-food sector, an industry with significant ecological impacts. We review these
frameworks, along with a practitioner example of sustainability reporting at a
sectoral level in the form of Bord Bia’s Origin Green programme, in the context
of global sustainability parameters, namely planetary boundaries and the Sustainable Development Goals. In doing so we identify a lack of coherent linkages
among these global parameters of sustainability and emerging reporting frameworks and reporting. We suggest directions for future research by which these
gaps may be addressed.