This study aimed to describe the history and progress made in the publications of organizational sustainability reports worldwide based on indicators of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) in the period 1999-2010. The progress of adherence to the GRI indicators by organizations was identified by the quantitative analysis of publications conducted by: i) regions (continents), ii) countries, iii) sectors of activity, iv) GRI guidelines application level, and v) and GRI guidelines adherence level. A descriptive, document analysis with a quantitative approach was carried out including descriptive statistics using the Statistica software and an Excel spreadsheet to perform the data analysis. According to the GRI data (GLOBAL..., 2011), it was found that the regions with greater adherence to the publication of reports aligned to the GRI guidelines were Europe, with the highest representation (47.60%), followed by Asia (17.02) and North America (13.92%). The countries with the highest number of publications were: Spain, United States, Japan, and Brazil, accounting for 33.54% altogether. Among the sectors with highest adherence to the indicators in the preparation of sustainability reports, the following stand out: Financial Services, Energy, and Energy Services and Others, which together accounted for 35.30% of relative participation. It was found that 74.80% of the reports were published at the GRI G3 application levels, including a large number at the highest levels (A and A+) of adherence to the GRI guidelines and external verification, especially from the years of 2006 and 2010. Based on the use of correspondence analysis between the 13 main sectors of activity and the 14 main countries of origin of the companies that published GRI reports, a relationship between the sectors of Energy as well as Construction and Energy Services and Brazil was identified. Europe stands out in the reports of the sectors of Food and Beverage, Telecommunications, Financial Services, Logistics, and Construction. The minor correspondence indicators are associated to South Africa and to the mining sector. It was concluded that the GRI guidelines have gradually been adopted by organizations in different countries and regions due to the importance of these indicators for multi-stakeholders and also due to the credibility and transparency provided to organizations.
Sustainable development; Sustainability report; Sustainability Indicators; GRI guidelines
