Question 1 “Even though environmental reporting is showing an increasing trend, a recent report by...

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Question 1 “Even though environmental reporting is showing an increasing trend, a recent report by Jones et al XXXXXXXXXXfound low levels of sustainability reporting by Australian companies. They suggest that more accessible approaches and guidelines need to be developed so that entities can discharge a broader accountability than is currently reflected in reporting practices in the public and private sectors in Australia. Hence it is important to have some control mechanisms within the organisation to make sure that environmental information is disclosed properly” (Rao et al., 2013).
	
Document Preview: Question 1“Even though environmental reporting is showing an increasing trend, a recent report by Jones et al XXXXXXXXXXfound low levels of sustainability reporting by Australian companies. They suggest that more accessible approaches and guidelines need to be developed so that entities can discharge a broader accountability than is currently reflected in reporting practices in the public and private sectors in Australia. Hence it is important to have some control mechanisms within the organisation to make sure that environmental information is disclosed properly” (Rao et al., 2013). Rao, K. K. Tilt, C. A. and Lester, L. H XXXXXXXXXXCorporate governance and environmental reporting: An Australian study. Corporate Governance, Vol. 12, No. 2, pp XXXXXXXXXX. Required:Critically discuss the above statement and provide importance of environmental disclosure in the company annual reports. What are current regulatory requirements for environmental reporting in Australia? How do you think the environmental disclosure can be improved in Australia?Note 1: Word limit for Question 1 is 800.Note 2: Professional marks will be awarded for format, clarity and expression.Note 3: The presentation of Question 1 should include Introduction, Discussion, Conclusion and List of references.

Robert · Accepted Answer

Environmental reporting: use and need
Organizations showcase their corporate social responsibility by the means of sustainability 
reporting. They publically announce their economic, environmental and social gestures as well as 
their impacts using a sustainability report. Companies can channel it through their annual reports, 
a triple bottom line report or a stand-alone report.
Sustainability reporting is voluntary in Australia. Companies tend to build their goodwill by such 
measures. They gain trust and loyalty of both internal and external stakeholders.  However, 
because of additional compliance costs some corporations might choose not to follow it.
Specifically for environmental reporting, evidence suggests that there is an increasing damage 
done to nature as companies go about their operations. These damages have financial effects and 
more over the executives who decide for these organizations are to be held responsible for giving 
back to society as much as they take from it if not more. There has been an increasing interest in 
the environmental performance of corporations. They are being told to be more accountable and 
be more responsible in their decisions affecting the environment.  
Current scenario of environmental reporting 
There has been an increase in the environmental reporting in Australia, the system still is mainly 
voluntary in nature. But considering the importance and the impact, this seemed inadequate. 
More concerns were raised regarding the quality if reporting environmental matters. This led to 
evolution of two mandatory reporting requirements relating to environmental issues in 1998 in 
Australia.  These were : 
 The National Pollutant Inventory which was introduced by Environment Australia. The 
main provision was that of a database that was publically available. It contained pollution 
emission of the organizations that were more than the thresholds specified in their 
categories.   
 Amendment to The Australian Corporations Law (Cth) was made and the section 
299(1)(f) was included for environmental reporting. This section listed the disclosure  
requirements for corporations and mandated them to include information related to 
compliance with relevant state or Commonwealth environmental regulations in their 
company‟s  directors‟ report.  
This development was not received well and faced a lot of opposition from a large number of 
corporations as well as industry groups. Their main argument was that keeping up the 
implementation of these requirements would lead to reduced competitive advantage and increase 
compliance costs. Also, making it compulsory, means there is a good possibility that  such 
reporting issues will focus on „form over substance'.  
In Australia, certain areas of environmental performance are mandatory to report.  Some specific 
regulatory organizations have their requirements which must be complied with by the 
corporations. These include the National Pollutant Inventory (NPI), the National Packaging 
Convention (NPC), and the recent addition to the list, the National Greenhouse and Energy 
Reporting (NGER) Act of 2007. 
Over and above these legislative requirements, companies present the environmental impact of 
their activities as part of disclosure mandates. These are included in the annual reports to be 
presented to the companies‟ investors and stakeholders. In addition to the Section 299(1)(f) of 
the Corporations Act 2001,

Question 1 “Even though environmental reporting is showing an increasing trend, a recent report by Jones et al XXXXXXXXXXfound low levels of sustainability reporting by Australian companies. They...

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