Title: Directive 95/2014, its disclosure and the impact of Directive 2014/95/EU on firms’ environmental and social performance

Biography:

Federica Farneti has been an Associate Professor since 2015. She gained a Bachelor of Economics and Commerce in 1998 and was awarded a first-class honours degree. She gained a PhD, in Economics and Management of Public Organisations in 2004. Among her Research Expertise are: Non-financial disclosure, New Public Management, Integrated Reporting, Directive 2014/95/UE, Sustainable development and related reporting, Intellectual capital, SMEs non-financial reporting, Public sector. She has been responsible for, or a member of the team, in many international projects toa value of over 1,000,000 euros in total, among which one on Sustainable Management of Organisations Group, Integrated Reporting and Education for Sustainability.

She has been a Visiting Research Fellow, among others at the University Technology of Sydney, The School of Commerce of South Australia University and The University of Sydney. She is a member of the Editorial Board of many Journals, among which Sustainability Accounting Management and Policy Journal and Meditari Accountancy Research. She has published her research in top journals such as Public Management Review and Accounting Forum. She teaches in international curricula topics related to Accounting and Financial Statements, Principles of Accounting, Business Ethics and social responsibility.

Abstract

Business and society operate within the constraints of our planet and its resources. Organisations need to consider how they affect society and the environment with their operations. In the EU, , Directive n. 95 was issued in 2014 related to specific undertakings the aim of which is to disclose and assess the value of environmental, ethical and social issues. EU citizens expect these organisations to disclose the positive and negative impacts they have on society and the environment, and to prevent, manage and mitigate any negative impacts, including those in their supply chains.

Furthermore in 2015, all United Nations (UN) member states ratified a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to provide a framework for achieving global prosperity within the limits of the planet, tackling inequalities, issues related to poverty and pollution, etc. Indeed, the SDGs include a specific goal (Goal 12.6) to encourage companies to integrate sustainability information into their reporting cycles.

Given the relevance of Directive 95 and the SDGs, this presentation aims at supporting the idea that accounting technologies are relevant as they can deliver non-financial information. This occurs when companies report to stakeholders not just about their financial results, but also their environmental and social impact, indicating how they affect society. In addition, accounting technologies are useful as they offer information in terms of firms’ environmental and social (ES) performances.

This talk refers to presenting the SDGs and Directive 95, to then consider the (1) disclosure of social and environmental information enhanced by the Directive and the related (2) firms’ environmental and social (ES) performance. Furthermore, the talk presents the early findings of a study (jointly developed with Prof. De Villiers and Prof. Dumay) in relation to a sample of 358 firms in the European Union (EU) excluding the UK; 195 UK firms, and 470 US firms. The sample period of 2009-2020 allows to observe firms’ ES performance prior to and following the implementation of the Directive. Including firms in the UK and the US helps to analyse ES performance gaps between the “affected group” (i.e. the jurisdictions that are affected by the Directive) and the “unaffected group”.