IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/bstrat/v31y2022i3p988-1001.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The role of food systems in achieving the sustainable development goals: Environmental perspective

Author

Listed:
  • Sara Rajic
  • Vesna Đorđević
  • Igor Tomasevic
  • Ilija Djekic

Abstract

We investigate the availability and extent of environmental performance and objectives data reported in corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports published by the world largest food companies. Methods for content analysis that recognize two types of environmental information were implemented for reviewing 75 sustainability reports. Plant‐ and animal‐origin food companies responded to requirements of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards to communicate about their sustainable development. It was found that plant‐origin food companies' reporting was more compliant with GRI requirements. Information gaps within greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions data have been identified as a common characteristic for both food sectors. The most frequent performance indicators reported by companies were about water withdrawal. Average annual reductions in four major environmental dimensions such as energy consumption, GHG emissions, water withdrawal, and total waste were calculated. These results reveal patterns of food companies' behavior in CSR reporting.

Suggested Citation

  • Sara Rajic & Vesna Đorđević & Igor Tomasevic & Ilija Djekic, 2022. "The role of food systems in achieving the sustainable development goals: Environmental perspective," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(3), pages 988-1001, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:31:y:2022:i:3:p:988-1001
    DOI: 10.1002/bse.2930
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.2930
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/bse.2930?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nancy E. Landrum & Brian Ohsowski, 2018. "Identifying Worldviews on Corporate Sustainability: A Content Analysis of Corporate Sustainability Reports," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(1), pages 128-151, January.
    2. Lavinia Conca & Francesco Manta & Domenico Morrone & Pierluigi Toma, 2021. "The impact of direct environmental, social, and governance reporting: Empirical evidence in European‐listed companies in the agri‐food sector," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 1080-1093, February.
    3. Carroll, Archie B., 1991. "The pyramid of corporate social responsibility: Toward the moral management of organizational stakeholders," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 39-48.
    4. Ali Meftah Gerged & Lane Matthews & Mohamed Elheddad, 2021. "Mandatory disclosure, greenhouse gas emissions and the cost of equity capital: UK evidence of a U‐shaped relationship," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 908-930, February.
    5. Karen Setty & Alejandro Jiménez & Juliet Willetts & Mats Leifels & Jamie Bartram, 2020. "Global water, sanitation and hygiene research priorities and learning challenges under Sustainable Development Goal 6," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 38(1), pages 64-84, January.
    6. Michael Maloni & Michael Brown, 2006. "Corporate Social Responsibility in the Supply Chain: An Application in the Food Industry," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 68(1), pages 35-52, September.
    7. Patrycja Hąbek & Radosław Wolniak, 2016. "Assessing the quality of corporate social responsibility reports: the case of reporting practices in selected European Union member states," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 50(1), pages 399-420, January.
    8. Ilija Djekic & Laura Batlle-Bayer & Alba Bala & Pere Fullana-i-Palmer & Anet Režek Jambrak, 2021. "Role of the Food Supply Chain Stakeholders in Achieving UN SDGs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-16, August.
    9. Patten, Dennis M. & Zhao, Na, 2014. "Standalone CSR reporting by U.S. retail companies," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 132-144.
    10. Sreejith Balasubramanian & Vinaya Shukla & Sachin Mangla & Janya Chanchaichujit, 2021. "Do firm characteristics affect environmental sustainability? A literature review‐based assessment," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 1389-1416, February.
    11. Jan Anton van Zanten & Rob van Tulder, 2021. "Analyzing companies' interactions with the Sustainable Development Goals through network analysis: Four corporate sustainability imperatives," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(5), pages 2396-2420, July.
    12. Dennis M. Patten & Na Zhao, 2014. "Standalone CSR reporting by U.S. retail companies," Accounting Forum, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(2), pages 132-144, June.
    13. Dario Caro & Steven Davis & Simone Bastianoni & Ken Caldeira, 2014. "Global and regional trends in greenhouse gas emissions from livestock," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 126(1), pages 203-216, September.
    14. World Commission on Environment and Development,, 1987. "Our Common Future," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780192820808.
    15. United Nations UN, 2015. "Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development," Working Papers id:7559, eSocialSciences.
    16. Ana Maria Loboguerrero & Bruce M. Campbell & Peter J. M. Cooper & James W. Hansen & Todd Rosenstock & Eva Wollenberg, 2019. "Food and Earth Systems: Priorities for Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation for Agriculture and Food Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-26, March.
    17. Carmelo Reverte, 2009. "Determinants of Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure Ratings by Spanish Listed Firms," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 88(2), pages 351-366, August.
    18. A.D. Nuwan Gunarathne & Ki‐Hoon Lee & Pubudu K. Hitigala Kaluarachchilage, 2021. "Institutional pressures, environmental management strategy, and organizational performance: The role of environmental management accounting," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 825-839, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ju Hyoung Park & Hyun-Young Park & Ho-Young Lee, 2018. "The Effect of Social Ties between Outside and Inside Directors on the Association between Corporate Social Responsibility and Firm Value," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-24, October.
    2. Emilio Abad-Segura & Francisco Joaquín Cortés-García & Luis J. Belmonte-Ureña, 2019. "The Sustainable Approach to Corporate Social Responsibility: A Global Analysis and Future Trends," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(19), pages 1-24, September.
    3. Wullianallur Raghupathi & Sarah Jinhui Wu & Viju Raghupathi, 2023. "Understanding Corporate Sustainability Disclosures from the Securities Exchange Commission Filings," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-32, February.
    4. Thomas A. Tsalis & Maria Terzaki & Dimitrios Koulouriotis & Konstantinos P. Tsagarakis & Ioannis E. Nikolaou, 2023. "The nexus of United Nations' 2030 Agenda and corporate sustainability reports," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(2), pages 784-796, April.
    5. Ingrid Boas & Frank Biermann & Norichika Kanie, 2016. "Cross-sectoral strategies in global sustainability governance: towards a nexus approach," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 449-464, June.
    6. Werner Hediger, 2013. "From Multifunctionality and Sustainability of Agriculture to the Social Responsibility of the Agri-food System," Journal of Socio-Economics in Agriculture (Until 2015: Yearbook of Socioeconomics in Agriculture), Swiss Society for Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, vol. 6(1), pages 59-80.
    7. Nikos Chatzistamoulou & Phoebe Koundouri, 2020. "The Economics of Sustainable Development," DEOS Working Papers 2005, Athens University of Economics and Business.
    8. Wiśniewska Anna Maria, 2021. "Sustainable development and management of medical tourism companies in Poland," International Journal of Management and Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, Collegium of World Economy, vol. 57(2), pages 151-160, June.
    9. Fabio La Rosa & Sergio Paternostro & Francesca Bernini, 2023. "Corporate and regional governance antecedents of the Legality Rating of private Italian companies," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 27(1), pages 297-329, March.
    10. Luis Fonseca & Vitor Silva & José Carlos Sá & Vanda Lima & Gilberto Santos & Rui Silva, 2022. "B Corp versus ISO 9001 and 14001 certifications: Aligned, or alternative paths, towards sustainable development?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(3), pages 496-508, May.
    11. Simon Ling & Adam Landon & Michael Tarrant & Donald Rubin, 2021. "The Influence of Instructional Delivery Modality on Sustainability Literacy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-15, September.
    12. Larissa Shnayder & Frank J van Rijnsoever & Marko P Hekkert, 2015. "Putting Your Money Where Your Mouth Is: Why Sustainability Reporting Based on the Triple Bottom Line Can Be Misleading," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(3), pages 1-23, March.
    13. Martin Mueller & Virginia dos Santos & Stefan Seuring, 2009. "The Contribution of Environmental and Social Standards Towards Ensuring Legitimacy in Supply Chain Governance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 89(4), pages 509-523, November.
    14. Olaf Weber & Grace Saunders‐Hogberg, 2020. "Corporate social responsibility, water management, and financial performance in the food and beverage industry," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(4), pages 1937-1946, July.
    15. Camilla Salvatore & Silvia Biffignandi & Annamaria Bianchi, 2022. "Corporate Social Responsibility Activities Through Twitter: From Topic Model Analysis to Indexes Measuring Communication Characteristics," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 164(3), pages 1217-1248, December.
    16. Shelby D. Hunt, 2017. "Strategic marketing, sustainability, the triple bottom line, and resource-advantage (R-A) theory: Securing the foundations of strategic marketing theory and research," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 7(1), pages 52-66, June.
    17. RAMLUGUN Vidisha Gunesh & RABOUTE Wendy Geraldine, 2015. "Do Csr Practices Of Banks In Mauritius Lead To Satisfaction And Loyalty?," Studies in Business and Economics, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Faculty of Economic Sciences, vol. 10(2), pages 128-144, August.
    18. Mariusz Izdebski & Marianna Jacyna, 2021. "An Efficient Hybrid Algorithm for Energy Expenditure Estimation for Electric Vehicles in Urban Service Enterprises," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-23, April.
    19. Shahbaz Khan & Nida Baig & Aon Waqas Awan & Muhammad Imdad Ullah, 2014. "Do Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives Favorable for Banks? Customer's Perceptions," Business and Economic Research, Macrothink Institute, vol. 4(1), pages 230-247, June.
    20. Karen Holm Olsen & Fatemeh Bakhtiari & Virender Kumar Duggal & Jørge Villy Fenhann, 2019. "Sustainability labelling as a tool for reporting the sustainable development impacts of climate actions relevant to Article 6 of the Paris Agreement," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 225-251, April.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:31:y:2022:i:3:p:988-1001. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-0836 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.