The topic of sustainability has been undergoing significant change for many years and is becoming increasingly important in both private and corporate contexts. The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) (2022/2464) and the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) are key instruments for promoting transparency and comparability in EU-wide sustainability reporting. The CSRD forms the legal framework, while the ESRS standards provide information on the content of sustainability reporting with regard to environmental, social and corporate governance aspects. With the implementation of the aforementioned frameworks, companies are faced with the timely challenge of fulfilling the new sustainability reporting requirements and integrating them into the management report in the future. This work is dedicated to international and European institutions and frameworks as well as the ecological standards of sustainability reporting (ESRS E1-E5) and shows how environmental sustainability reporting is currently carried out in the European food retail sector. A representative sample of 16 company groups was defined on the basis of the top 50 food retailers. The method of qualitative content analysis according to Kuckartz (2018) provides insights into formal differences in the published sustainability reports and shows which ecological aspects are currently dealt with in them. The results of the study show that 15 of the 16 company groups analysed report on environmental sustainability aspects in the form of a separate sustainability report or as part of the consolidated financial statements. The scope is between 20 and 200 pages, with one exception with more than 600 pages. There are very different levels of intensity with regard to graphical support. According to the analysis, the internationally established GRI standards are the most frequently referenced. In order to promote sustainability in the company at the highest level, responsibility is often defined in the Management Board or in the form of a committee. With regard to ecological aspects, there is already widespread reporting on greenhouse gas emissions, energy management and renewable energies, biodiversity, circular economy and waste management, which emphasises the relevance for the food retail industry. Reporting on environmental pollution through pollutant emissions as well as water consumption and water management is less comprehensive compared to the other topic areas. With regard to the desired comparability of sustainability reporting in light of the CSRD, it should be noted in conclusion that the structure of the analysed sustainability reports and the granularity of the individual topic areas still vary greatly in practice.
Nachhaltigkeitsberichterstattung im europäischen Lebensmitteleinzelhandel – Ein Vergleich ausgewählter Unternehmen mit speziellem Fokus auf Umweltbelange
Taglöhner, E. (Author). 2024
Student thesis: Bachelor's Thesis