Environmental liabilities and the alignment of integrated information: a study based on Africa

• Grant number: 21/07246-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: September 01, 2021
• End date: February 28, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Administration - Accounting
• Principal Investigator: Maísa de Souza Ribeiro
• Grantee: Alana Bugatti Guessi
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Economia, Administração e Contabilidade de Ribeirão Preto (FEARP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil

Abstract

In 2009, the discussions about the Integrated Reporting (IR) structure culminate in the creation of the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC), which goals to explain how the institutions manage the available resources and create value over time. However, it must be emphasized that, since 1994, Africa has been developing sustainability reporting guidelines, which made relevant contributions to the current IR model and has made it one of the requirements for companies listed on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange. Due to the pioneering and its significant experience, this project aims to analyze the level of alignment of information on environmental liabilities contained in the Integrated Report, Financial Statements, and Sustainability Report of Companies in Africa listed on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange in 2019. To achieve such a goal, the financial, annual, sustainability, and integrated reports will be collected with help of the Nvivo Software, in order to verify the reliability between financial and sustainability information. The data will be organized in graphics and, thereafter, analyzed in order to unveil the mutual level of relevant information and the character of speech provided by companies in their several reports. It is expected that the experience in that country has provided alignment of information on environmental liabilities in its various reports so that it fulfills a fundamental characteristic of accounting: presentation and reliability. It is expected to identify the educational effect of the guidelines over time and, consequently, foreseeing the future that IR can provide in its new model and dissemination. (AU)