Responsible Investment
and the Disclosure of ESG Information
in the Companies’ Integrated Reports
Hong Yuh Ching
Abstract The objectives of this research are twofold: examine to what extension
the environmental, social and governance information ESG are disclosed in the Integrated Reports of three industry sectors and whether there is difference in the disclosure between these chosen sectors. The vehicle of analysis is the Integrated Report
and in its absence, the Sustainability Report. The disclosure reference model of sustainability proposed by Ching, Toste and Tardelli was used to examine which ESG
information described in this model are present in the companies’ reports. The sample consists of 15 companies of automotive, consumer goods and health care sectors.
There were different levels of ESG information disclosure in the reports of the chosen companies, both in the dimension and in sectors. The disclosure in Corporate
Governance dimension as well as in the consumer goods sector was less reported.
The conclusions are: (a) there is still a long way to go by companies on the importance of disclosing ESG information; (b) one may speculate whether the low level of
disclosure in corporate governance is due to lack of knowledge or disregard by the
companies for this information; (c) the integrate reports are still being adopted in a
shy way, given that the first release of its framework was in 2012. Finally, there is
a concern about how socially responsible fund managers and responsible investors
are making their investment decisions, as their primary source of ESG information
should be disclosed in the Integrated Reports or Sustainability Reports.
Keywords Responsible investment · Sustainable investment · ESG · Integrated
reports
H. Y. Ching (B)
Head of Business Department, Centro Universitário FEI, Av. Humberto de Alencar Castelo
Branco, 3972 São Bernardo do Campo, Brazil
e-mail: hongching@fei.edu.br
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
W. Leal Filho et al. (eds.), Universities and Sustainable Communities:
Meeting the Goals of the Agenda 2030, World Sustainability Series,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30306-8_27
449
and the Disclosure of ESG Information
in the Companies’ Integrated Reports
Hong Yuh Ching
Abstract The objectives of this research are twofold: examine to what extension
the environmental, social and governance information ESG are disclosed in the Integrated Reports of three industry sectors and whether there is difference in the disclosure between these chosen sectors. The vehicle of analysis is the Integrated Report
and in its absence, the Sustainability Report. The disclosure reference model of sustainability proposed by Ching, Toste and Tardelli was used to examine which ESG
information described in this model are present in the companies’ reports. The sample consists of 15 companies of automotive, consumer goods and health care sectors.
There were different levels of ESG information disclosure in the reports of the chosen companies, both in the dimension and in sectors. The disclosure in Corporate
Governance dimension as well as in the consumer goods sector was less reported.
The conclusions are: (a) there is still a long way to go by companies on the importance of disclosing ESG information; (b) one may speculate whether the low level of
disclosure in corporate governance is due to lack of knowledge or disregard by the
companies for this information; (c) the integrate reports are still being adopted in a
shy way, given that the first release of its framework was in 2012. Finally, there is
a concern about how socially responsible fund managers and responsible investors
are making their investment decisions, as their primary source of ESG information
should be disclosed in the Integrated Reports or Sustainability Reports.
Keywords Responsible investment · Sustainable investment · ESG · Integrated
reports
H. Y. Ching (B)
Head of Business Department, Centro Universitário FEI, Av. Humberto de Alencar Castelo
Branco, 3972 São Bernardo do Campo, Brazil
e-mail: hongching@fei.edu.br
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
W. Leal Filho et al. (eds.), Universities and Sustainable Communities:
Meeting the Goals of the Agenda 2030, World Sustainability Series,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30306-8_27
449