Auswirkungen verpflichtender Nachhaltigkeitsberichterstattung

  • Simon Gampersberger

Student thesis: Master's Thesis

Abstract

The main motivation for writing this paper was the constant increase in global CO2 emissions 7 . A rough analysis of this composition reveals that companies play a significant role in this8 . However, action has already been taken in the form of the Paris Climate Agreement and initiatives such as the SBTi to exert pressure indirectly on companies as well as to support them910. Another possible lever for institutions would be sustainability reporting obligations. The effects of this on key areas of companies were taken from the literature. Only the effects on target setting by means of SBTs could not be determined with the existing literature. Therefore, this thesis attempts to close this research gap by investigating the effects of (mandatory) sustainability reporting on reporting activities, corporate structures, sustainability performance and target setting with SBTs. For this purpose, a mixed-methods approach was chosen in this master's thesis, which combines a literature review with an empirical study. The literature research includes theoretical foundations on SBTs, sustainability reporting and the effects of SBTs on key areas within companies. The empirical analysis, on the other hand, includes an examination of the existing sustainability reporting guidelines in the 50 largest nations by GDP in order to lay the foundation for the second empirical study. In between, a comparative analysis of different sustainability reporting standards was conducted. Near the end of this thesis, the second empirical analysis on the impact of sustainability reporting obligations on a target setting with SBTs is examined. This work shows that mandatory sustainability reporting can have a positive influence on goal setting with SBTs. This is because countries with mandatory sustainability reporting tend to have a higher proportion of companies with SBTs. It also shows that European countries not only play a pioneering role with a transnational reporting obligation, but also when it comes to setting targets with SBTs1112 . Overall, the paper contributes to the existing literature by providing empirical evidence of the relationship between sustainability reporting and goal setting with SBTs. The results emphasize the influence of political institutions and corporate management in promoting sustainable change.
Date of Award2024
Original languageGerman (Austria)
SupervisorValentin Schmidt (Supervisor)

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