La In(sostenibilidad) del Sector Público: un estudio de la adherencia y de los patrones de divulgación de los informes de sostenibilidad por la GRI de las Instituciones Públicas y Estatales del Sector Agencia Pública
| Autor | Elyrouse Cavalcante de Oliveira Bellini, Raimundo Nonato Rodrigues, Umbelina Cravo Teixeira Lagioia |
| Páginas | 1-28 |
Artículos
Public Sector (Un)Sustainability: a study of GRI adherence and sustainability
reporting disclosure standards in Public Institutions and State-Owned Companies of
the Public Agency Sector*
La In(sostenibilidad) del Sector Público: un estudio de la adherencia y de los patrones de divulgación de los informes
de sostenibilidad por la GRI de las Instituciones Públicas y Estatales del Sector Agencia Pública
A In(sustentabilidade) do Setor Público: um estudo da aderência e dos padrões de divulgação dos relatórios de
sustentabilidade pela GRI das Instituições Públicas e Estatais do Setor Agência Pública
Elyrouse Cavalcante de Oliveira Bellini a
Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Brasil
elyrouse@gmail.com
ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1704-1859
Raimundo Nonato Rodrigues
Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Brasil
ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0505-4369
Umbelina Cravo Teixeira Lagioia
Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Brasil
ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8422-7808
Maurício Assuero Lima De Freitas
Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Brasil
ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0434-3571
DOI: https://doi.org/10.11144/Javeriana.cc20-49.psss
Date received: 04 October 2018
Date accepted: 04 March 2019
Date published: 30 June 2019
Abstract:
is study a ims to analyze the GRI adherence and disclosure standards of sustainability reports of public and state institutions
in the public agency sector. e Global Reporting Initiative Database (GRI) is used for the period 2011-2017, with a sample
composed by 177 public agencies. e results show that there is an evolution in the publication of GRI sustainability reports by
the public agencies analyzed. However, they represent only 1.8% of the total of all organizations. In addition, a large part does not
correspond to the category of integrated reports, received no external assurance, and did not formalize any input or feedback on
the report provided by a panel of stakeholders or expert(s), resulting in reports with poor quality and reliability.
JEL Codes: M14, H83
Keywords: Public sector, disclosure, GRI, sustainability reports.
Resumen:
Este estudio tiene como objetivo analizar la adherencia y los patrones de divulg ación de las instituciones públicas y estatales del
sector agencia pública, en los informes de sostenibilidad de la Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). El estudio cubre el período de 2011
a 2017, en una muestra compuesta por 177 agencias públicas. Los resultados demuestran que hay una evolución en la publicación
de informes de sostenibilidad por parte de las agencias públicas analizadas. Sin embargo, éstas sólo representan el 1,8% del total
de todas las organizaciones. Además, una gran parte de las publicaciones no corresponde a la categoría de informes integrados, no
hizo el servicio de aseguramiento externo, ni utilizó contribuciones formalizadas ni retroalimentación por un panel de interesados
o expertos. Estas características tienden a dar como resultado la publicación de informes con baja calidad y conabilidad.
Códigos JEL: M14, H83
Palabras clave: Sector público, divulgación, GRI, informes de sostenibilidad.
Author notes:
aCorresponding author. E-mail address: elyrouse@gmail.com
Cuadernos de Contabilidad, 2019, 20(49), ISSN: 0123-1472
Este estudo tem como objetivo analisar a aderência e os padrões de divulgação dos relatórios de sustentabilidade das instituições
públicas e estatais do setor agência pública nos relatórios da Global Reporting Iniciative (GRI). O estudo cobre o período de 2011
a 2017, em uma amostra composta por 177 agências públicas. Os resultados demonstram que há uma e volução na publicação
de relatórios de sustentabilidade pelas ag ências públicas analisadas. Entretanto, elas representam apenas 1,8% do total de todas
as organizações. Além disso, grande parte das publicações não corresponde à categoria de relatórios integrados, não fez o serviço
de asseg uração externa, nem utilizou contribuições formalizadas sobre o relatório fornecidas por um painel de interessados ou
especialistas. Estas características tendem a dar como resultado a publicação de relatórios com baixa qualidade e conabilidade.
Códigos JEL: M14, H83
Palavras-chave: Setor público, divulgação, GRI, relatórios de sustentabilidade.
Introduction
In the 1980s, sustainability evolved as a key concept in global de velopmental policies, making it ne cessary
to take sustainability into consideration when dening social and economic development objectives, given
that they bring about transformations in society and in the economy. In 1987, during the academic debates
surrounding the UN World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED), emphasis was placed
on the denition of sustainable development. Preparations for the 1992 United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development, also known as the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit, resulted in the publication
of Our Common Future, a lso known as the Brundtland Report, which is based on the idea that human
beings must utilize natural resources within their capacity for renewal in order to prevent their depletion
(Brundtland, 1991).
Although the essential concept continues to be fairly clear, since 1992 several other denitions have
been attributed to the term “sustainable development” (Wackermann, 2008), resulting in numerous debates
and differing interpretations within the literature (Ciegis & Z eleniute, 2008). e denition provided
by the Brundtland Report (1991), namely that sustainable development “meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations to me et their own needs,” is one of the most
widely cited concepts and one of the most effective in disseminating the idea of sustainable development
(Ciegis, Ramanauskiene & Martinkus, 2009; Riedner, Ribeiro, Brandalise & Bertolini, 2018). is denition
includes core concepts such as “needs,” primarily of people living in poverty throughout the world, and
“limitations” to the environment’s capacity to meet the needs of the present and the future, brought about
by the effects of technology and social organization.
According to this denition, organizations are challenged to operate sustainably (considering
environmental, social, and economic aspects), due to numerous situations that affect the economy and society
as a whole such as climate change and the overconsumption of natural resources. erefore, organizations
must seek to understand and respond both ; to how these issues will affect their longevity and long-term
success, and to how they may contribute to society so that it may face these challenges (Hopwood, Unerman
& Fries, 2010). Due to the existence of a wider range of accounting and accountability techniques capable of
contributing to management, control, planning, and accountability towards their social and environmental
impacts (Unerman, Guthrie & Striukova, 2007). e organizations are seeking to disclose information not
restricted to that which is already included in nancial accounting. In order to provide this information
and disclose standards to stakeholders, various institutions have developed “guidelines” for sustainability
reporting (SR), the preeminent reports being those produced by the Global Reporting Initiative (G RI)
(Brown, Jong & Levy, 2009; Dumay, Guthrie & Farneti, 2010; KPMG International, 2013).
In the eld of “public services” dened by Broadbent and Guthrie (2008) as “those activities which are
enshrined within the notion of public good or service based on universality of access for the citizenry,” there
is consistently increasing pressure on these organizations to be led in accordance with sustainability practices
(Gray, Adams & Owen, 2014; Ball, Grubnic & Birchall, 2014), given that they are indispensable in providing
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