Evaluation of the extent of disclosure of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in integrated reports by 40 South African companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE)
Date
2023
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
Abstract
In a world where resources are finite, sustainable development is of utmost importance to ensure the survival of the world as we know it. Many of the crises faced by the world such as poverty, a lack of clean water, deforestation and pollution can be reduced and, potentially, resolved through contributions from public and private organisations. In actual fact, many of these organisations contribute to the problems at hand as a result of a lack of regulatory guidance on sustainable development. This report provides insight into the integrated reports of 40 JSE-listed companies using the process of content analysis to ascertain each company’s contribution to sustainable development, through aligning its corporate practices with achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). No guideline currently exists for preparing SDG-related disclosures to be presented in integrated reports. As a result, a disclosure checklist was created for this purpose. It was found that SDG-related disclosures are predominantly vague and minimal, ifthey were given at all. Additionally, companies tend to provide more SDG-relateddisclosures over time. This research contributes to a small body of existing research in the field of SDG disclosures in integrated reports. This study is the first study to analyse the extent of SDG-related disclosures in South Africa
Description
A research report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Commerce in Accountancy , 2023University of the Witwatersrand
Keywords
Sustainable development, UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), Johannesburg Stock Exchange, South Africa, UCTD
Citation
Manack, Ilhaam. (2023). Evaluation of the extent of disclosure of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in integrated reports by 40 South African companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) [Master’s dissertation, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg]. WireDSpace. WireDSpace. https://hdl.handle.net/10539/38710