Relationships between Environmental Indicator Disclosure Levels of International Contractors and Data Sources

Abstract

The construction industry is vital for countries to develop infrastructure However it also has negative impacts on the environment and thus is accountable for significant greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions energy consumption and waste generation Because of this construction companies are expected to show their commitment to the environment through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reporting This study aimed to determine the relationships between environmental indicator disclosures and data sources in the CSR reports of international contractors This research used content analysis and case study methods to examine nine CSR reports of 2018 that are compliant with the environmental aspects indicators and requirements of Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards 2016 published by nine international construction companies The results show that the average disclosure of the 30 indicators in the nine CSR reports is 26% Environmental compliance is the most disclosed aspect (39%) followed by Supplier environmental assessment (36%) and Materials (33%) Four indicators have more than 50% disclosure namely 301-1 (Materials used by weight or volume) with 67% 305-4 (GHG emissions intensity) with 61% 302-1 (Energy consumption within the organization) with 56% and 308-1 (New suppliers that were screened using environmental criteria) with 56% The results also show that the indicators with data located at the department (32 3%) have higher disclosure than those at the work process (25 0%) The indicators with internal data have higher disclosure (29 3%) than external data (13 7%) The indicators with quantitative data have higher disclosure (32 0%) than qualitative data (14 7%) Furthermore there is no relationship between the number of data sources and the disclosure level for the indicators Lastly there is a significant moderately positive relationship between data quality index and indicator disclosure level This means that indicators that rely on more specific and quantifiable data tend to have higher disclosure that is consistent with the prior quantitative data’s higher disclosure In summary the disclosure of the 30 environmental indicators can be increased with good potential The collection of department internal and especially quantitative data can be prioritized to lead to higher disclosure

Date of Award	2020
Original language	English
Supervisor	Andrew S. Chang (Supervisor)