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Tales in two countries: An insight into corporate environmental reporting in Denmark and the UK

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  • Frank Birkin
  • Helle Bank Jørgensen

Abstract

The 1992 EC Fifth Action Plan, ‘Towards Sustainability’, expresses the Commission's commitment to ‘sustainable growth’. Detailed in the plan are requirements and areas of improvement which relate, predominantly, to environmental management. However, financial and environmental management conflict in important and fundamental areas. A failure of management practice and European policy to identify and address this conflict will not only prolong the ecological inefficiencies of industry but will isolate intent and action. This study examines this conflict with respect to training, operational time‐horizons, opportunity costs, corporate governance and growth. The Annual Report is the authoritative statement of corporate performance, policy, objectives and culture. Although most reports do provide a broad if summary coverage of the main business activities, such reports are dominated by the needs of financial management. Extensive legislation and professional edicts dictate the contents of these financial reports. From the perspective of the Annual Report, it is a reasonable conclusion that financial performance is a part of whatever constitutes the core values of corporations. From this same perspective, it is also reasonable to infer that in many corporations environmental performance is not a part of corporate core values. This study compares and contrasts the Annual Reports of six environmentally significant companies in Denmark and the UK. The British environmental reports studied are thorough but separate from the Annual Report. On the other hand, the Danish firms incorporate all their environmental reporting within their Annual Reports. Which gives a better expression of a change in corporate core values?.

Suggested Citation

  • Frank Birkin & Helle Bank Jørgensen, 1994. "Tales in two countries: An insight into corporate environmental reporting in Denmark and the UK," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 3(3), pages 10-15.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:3:y:1994:i:3:p:10-15
    DOI: 10.1002/bse.3280030302
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Rubenstein, Daniel Blake, 1992. "Bridging the gap between green accounting and black ink," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 17(5), pages 501-508, July.
    2. Huizing, Ard & Dekker, H. Carel, 1992. "Helping to pull our planet out of the red: An environmental report of BSO/Origin," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 17(5), pages 449-458, July.
    3. Jan Bebbington & Rob Gray, 1993. "Corporate accountability and the physical environment: Social responsibility and accounting beyond profit," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 2(2), pages 1-11, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Matthias S. Fifka, 2013. "Corporate Responsibility Reporting and its Determinants in Comparative Perspective – a Review of the Empirical Literature and a Meta‐analysis," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(1), pages 1-35, January.
    2. Matthias S. Fifka & Maria Drabble, 2012. "Focus and Standardization of Sustainability Reporting – A Comparative Study of the United Kingdom and Finland," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(7), pages 455-474, November.

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