Investigation of environmental sustainability disclosures of enterprises in the cement sector operating on a global scale within the scope of global reporting initiative gri 300 standard

Abstract

This study aims to examine the environmental sustainability disclosures of businesses operating in the cement sector within the framework of Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards. Environmental disclosures in the companies' annual reports were examined using the content analysis method. Content analysis was carried out based on "GRI 300: Environmental Standards Series 2016". The study covers the 2021 environmental disclosures of cement companies operating globally and ranked in the top five according to annual sales volume, as well as a company that ranks first in Turkey according to the same criterion. In research, it was determined that three companies published sustainability reports, two included information on environmental matters in their annual reports, and one included information on environmental matters in its integrated report. It has been determined that environmental disclosures presented by businesses are qualitative rather than quantitative information. Companies operating in the cement sector emit large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions into the environment. For this reason, it has been determined that companies include applications for carbon reduction in their environmental disclosures. Water is one of the most important elements for production processes in the cement industry. For this reason, the importance of water and its economic use are emphasized in all companies. On the other hand, no explanation has been found that would meet the requirements of GRI Standards regarding energy consumption.