Transparency about climate impact poor

Many large Dutch companies report extensively on climate impact in their annual reports. However, only a limited number of companies provide concrete and detailed information on the CO2 emissions achieved, on the impact of climate change on business operations and on their expectations for the future in order to limit that impact. This is the conclusion of research by Dick de Waard, Professor of Auditing at the University of Groningen. Commissioned by the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, he analysed the annual reports from 2016 and 2017 of 199 companies.

The climate reports of these large companies contain general information on corporate governance, reporting criteria and strategy and policy. But in most cases there was no adequate plan-do-check-act cycle for CO2 emissions, which made it impossible for these companies to report concrete figures,' concludes De Waard.

Missed opportunity

The EU Directive introduced in 2017, which requires public-interest entities to include relevant information on sustainability in their annual reports, has not changed this situation. A missed opportunity, according to De Waard. We welcome the achievement of climate agreements in Paris or the presentation of our own Dutch climate agreement. But concrete figures are needed to determine whether we are achieving these goals. And these figures are now largely lacking in the business community.

Triple-druggle among listed companies

De Waard investigated the way in which companies pay attention to their climate impact and the impact of climate change on their business activities. An important objective was to determine whether there has been a development in information provision between 2016 and 2017, as the EU Transparency Directive (2014-95) entered into force in 2017. De Waard concludes that the level of detail and depth in the information provided varies greatly from one company to another and from one topic to another. In the case of listed companies, there is a three-way split in the quality of the information, with the AEx funds generally being more transparent than the AMx funds, which in turn are more transparent than the ASCx funds.

Non-listed companies

Private non-listed companies appear to be significantly less transparent. Of the 96 companies surveyed, only 20 to 26 companies provide any kind of information on the impact on and of climate change, with some providing only very limited information. These companies are currently still formally outside the scope of the Transparency Directive, but they do form an important part of the Dutch economy. Climate change and the climate agreement will also have consequences for them. De Waard: 'I expected in advance that the introduction of the Transparency Directive would have a positive impact, including on these companies. But our research did not show that effect.

Read the full report 'Transparent on climate impact' (Dutch only)