Hållbarhetsrapportering i svenska industriföretag

Abstract

Sustainability and the role of companies in terms of emissions and environmental impact has become increasingly more relevant. In 2014, the EU decided to introduce the NFRD, a directive that makes it mandatory for companies that meet the requirements to report on sustainability. This thesis aims to examine how four large Swedish industrial companies report about sustainability in connection with the introduction of NFRD, looking at the years 2015 (2014), 2017 and 2022 from an environmental viewpoint. Furthermore, the study also intends to investigate how the companies write about their sustainability work, as actual achievements or what they have ambitions to do in the future. In order to carry out the study, a content analysis with elements of both qualitative and quantitative features has been used called the CONI method. To analyse the results, two theories are used, the stakeholder theory and the legitimacy theory, due to their explanatory power in terms of why companies act in a particular way. The results of the study showed that there has been an increase in the frequency of sustainability reporting during the selected years. However, the largest increase occurs in 2022 and not in 2017, which may indicate that factors other than the NFRD have influenced the increase. Regarding the quality of the sustainability report, no patterns could be found. On the other hand, the study shows that the companies have shifted focus from reporting more achievements in the first year of observation, to later having a greater focus on future visions when environmental aspects were discussed.