1 The Heritage College, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
2 St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-Commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed.
Sustainability consciousness has grown incrementally on a global front. Organisations are striving to include all aspects of sustainability in their business contexts. This research investigates Indian banks’ environmental sustainability strategies, with an emphasis on environmental reporting. Using a sample of 30 public and private sector banks in a longitudinal study, descriptive and exploratory research approaches, and statistical techniques such as descriptive statistics and inferential statistics, the research evaluated their environmental initiatives across 42 key indicators divided into five major categories. According to the analysis, private banks perform better in terms of reporting and are more proactive in environmental management. None of the banks covered every indicator. The recommendations include regulatory assistance, capacity building activities and a tracking mechanism to promote accountability and transparency. This study emphasises the relevance of environmental reporting in establishing sustainable banking practices and provides insights for policymakers, regulators and financial institutions to move forward.
Environmental reporting, environmental sustainability, financial sector, Indian banking sector, sustainable development
Agostini, M., Costa, E., & Korca, B. (2021). Non-financial disclosure and corporate financial performance under Directive 2014/95/EU: Evidence from Italian listed companies. Accounting in Europe, 19(1), 78–109. https://doi.org/10.1080/17449480.2021.1979610
Agyei, S. K., & Yankey, B. (2019). Environmental reporting practices and performance of timber firms in Ghana. Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies, 9(2), 268–286. https://doi.org/10.1108/jaee-12-2017-0127
Appiah, B. K., Donghui, Z., Majumder, S. C., & Monaheng, M. P. (2019). Effects of environmental strategy, uncertainty and top management commitment on the environmental performance: Role of environmental management accounting and environmental management control system. International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, 10(1), 360–370. https://doi.org/10.32479/ijeep.8697
Banker, R. D., Mashruwala, R., & Tripathy, A. (2014). Does a differentiation strategy lead to more sustainable financial performance than a cost leadership strategy? Management Decision, 52(5), 872–896. https://doi.org/10.1108/md-05-2013-0282
Biswas, S., & O’Grady, W. (2016). Using external environmental reporting to embed sustainability into organisational practices. Accounting Research Journal, 29(2), 218–235. https://doi.org/10.1108/arj-04-2015-0063
Chakroun, R., Matoussi, H., & Mbirki, S. (2017). Determinants of CSR disclosure of Tunisian listed banks: A multi-support analysis. Social Responsibility Journal, 13(3), 552–584. https://doi.org/10.1108/srj-04-2016-0055
Chandok, R. I. S., & Singh, S. (2017). Empirical study on determinants of environmental disclosure. Managerial Auditing Journal, 32(4/5), 332–355. https://doi.org/10.1108/maj-03-2016-1344
Chatterjee, B., & Mir, M. Z. (2008). The current status of environmental reporting by Indian companies. Managerial Auditing Journal, 23(6), 609–629. https://doi.org/10.1108/02686900810882138
Chouaibi, S., Rossi, M., Siggia, D., & Chouaibi, J. (2021). Exploring the moderating role of social and ethical practices in the relationship between environmental disclosure and financial performance: Evidence from ESG companies. Sustainability, 14(1), 209. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14010209
Day, R., & Woodward, T. (2009). CSR reporting and the UK financial services sector. Journal of Applied Accounting Research, 10(3), 159–175. https://doi.org/10.1108/09675420911006398
Deegan, C., & Gordon, B. (1996). A study of the environmental disclosure practices of Australian corporations. Accounting and Business Research, 26(3), 187–199. https://doi.org/10.1080/00014788.1996.9729510
Fischer, M., Foord, D., Frecè, J., Hillebrand, K., Kissling-Näf, I., Meili, R., Peskova, M., Risi, D., Schmidpeter, R., & Stucki, T. (2023). Sustainable business. In SpringerBriefs in business. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-25397-3
Godfrey, P. C. (2005). The relationship between corporate philanthropy and shareholder wealth: A risk management perspective. Academy of Management Review, 30(4), 777–798. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2005.18378878
Goel, P., & Misra, R. (2017). Sustainability reporting in India: Exploring sectoral differences and linkages with financial performance. Vision the Journal of Business Perspective, 21(2), 214–224. https://doi.org/10.1177/0972262917700996
Hossain, M., & Reaz, M. (2007). The determinants and characteristics of voluntary disclosure by Indian banking companies. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 14(5), 274–288. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.154
Kılıç, M., & Kuzey, C. (2019). Determinants of climate change disclosures in the Turkish banking industry. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 37(3), 901–926. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijbm-08-2018-0206
Kumar, K. (2020). Emerging phenomenon of corporate sustainability reporting: Evidence from top 100 NSE-listed companies in India. Journal of Public Affairs, 22(1). https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2368
Kumar, K., Kumari, R., Nandy, M., Sarim, M., & Kumar, R. (2022). Do ownership structures and governance attributes matter for corporate sustainability reporting? An examination in the Indian context. Management of Environmental Quality, 33(5), 1077–1096. https://doi.org/10.1108/meq-08-2021-0196
Kumar, K., & Prakash, A. (2019). Managing sustainability in banking: Extent of sustainable banking adaptations of banking sector in India. Environment Development and Sustainability, 22(6), 5199–5217. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-019-00421-5
Kumar, R., Pande, N., & Afreen, S. (2017). Developing a GRI-G4-based persuasive communication framework for sustainability reporting (SR). International Journal of Emerging Markets, 13(1), 136–161. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijoem-01-2017-0015
Kumar, V., Gunasekaran, A., Singh, K., Papadopoulos, T., & Dubey, R. (2015). Cross sector comparison of sustainability reports of Indian companies: A stakeholder perspective. Sustainable Production and Consumption, 4, 62–71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2015.08.005
Nizam, E., Ng, A., Dewandaru, G., Nagayev, R., & Nkoba, M. A. (2019). The impact of social and environmental sustainability on financial performance: A global analysis of the banking sector. Journal of Multinational Financial Management, 49, 35–53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mulfin.2019.01.002
Nurhayati, R., Taylor, G., Rusmin, R., Tower, G., & Chatterjee, B. (2016). Factors determining social and environmental reporting by Indian textile and apparel firms: A test of legitimacy theory. Social Responsibility Journal, 12(1), 167–189. https://doi.org/10.1108/srj-06-2013-0074
Pahuja, S. (2007). Environmental reporting verification: A critical evaluation of accountants’ views and corporate practices in India. Social Responsibility Journal, 3(2), 22–31. https://doi.org/10.1108/17471110710829696
Pahuja, S. (2009). Relationship between environmental disclosures and corporate characteristics: A study of large manufacturing companies in India. Social Responsibility Journal, 5(2), 227–244. https://doi.org/10.1108/17471110910964504
Prasad, M., Mishra, T., & Kalro, A. D. (2016). Environmental disclosure by Indian companies: An empirical study. Environment Development and Sustainability, 19(5), 1999–2022. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-016-9840-5
Radhouane, I., Nekhili, M., Nagati, H., & Paché, G. (2018). The impact of corporate environmental reporting on customer-related performance and market value. Management Decision, 56(7), 1630–1659. https://doi.org/10.1108/md-03-2017-0272
Sahay, A. (2004). Environmental reporting by Indian corporations. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 11(1), 12–22. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.51
Sandhu, S., Smallman, C., Ozanne, L. K., & Cullen, R. (2012). Corporate environmental responsiveness in India: Lessons from a developing country. Journal of Cleaner Production, 35, 203–213. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2012.05.040
Sen, M., Mukherjee, K., & Pattanayak, J. (2011). Corporate environmental disclosure practices in India. Journal of Applied Accounting Research, 12(2), 139–156. https://doi.org/10.1108/09675421111160709
Sharma, M., & Choubey, A. (2021). Green banking initiatives: A qualitative study on Indian banking sector. Environment Development and Sustainability, 24(1), 293–319. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-021-01426-9
Tilt, C. A. (2006). Linking environmental activity and environmental disclosure in an organisational change framework. Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change, 2(1), 4–24. https://doi.org/10.1108/18325910610654108
Yadav, M. P., & Sinha, N. (2021). Investigating the impact of corporate social responsibility on competitive performance: An empirical study based on panel data analysis. FIIB Business Review, 11(2), 165–173. https://doi.org/10.1177/23197145211015443
Ye, K., & Zhang, R. (2011). Do lenders value corporate social responsibility? Evidence from China. Journal of Business Ethics, 104(2), 197–206. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-011-0898-6