Sustainability reporting: can we avoid another triumph of hope over experience?

Abstract

Purpose – This article offers criticism on the current approach to sustainability reporting by many governments. The article argues that lessons from earlier initiatives involving additional non-financial information (NFI) reporting seems to be ignored, when they should instead critically guide sustainable reporting efforts. In addition the author calls on the audit community to be aware of negative impacts they may have on the use of NFI for achieving sustainable goals. Design/methodology/approach – The article represents the viewpoint of a practitioner with a background in both public sector reporting, auditing and academic research. It is based on relevant literature combined with practical insights from experience gained in over two decades of working in the field of public sector NFI reporting and utilisation of performance information. Findings – The dynamics and impact of annual reporting in the public sector are fundamentally different from those in the private sector. This has important implications for the conceptualisation and utilisation of NFI in the budget cycle. Governments worldwide have gained extensive experience in managing strategic non-financial objectives using NFI from budgeting and annual reports. Academic research has identified a number of informational, organisational and cultural obstacles that inhibit the analytical use of NFI. Applying these insights can help make public sector sustainability reporting more proportional and impactful and help avoid unrealistic expectations. The audit community can contribute to easing or even eliminating informational obstacles but may aggravate some organisational and cultural ones at the same time. Research limitations/implications – As a practitioner’s dialogue contribution, this article provides a brief overview of existing academic evidence as well as practitioner’s observations and personal opinions rather than an empirical analysis of data to systematically answer a research question. Practical implications – The article provides several practical implications for practitioners, auditors and academics. Originality/value – This is the first article that combines perspectives from the audit community, academia and practitioners of public financial management with regard to sustainability reporting. More precisely it matches insights from academic research on public administration and budgeting reforms with current public sector sustainability accounting initiatives. In addition it focuses on the role that standard setting and audit can have in enhancing or obstructing NFI use.