Bank sustainability reporting within GRI-G4 Framework

Sustainability accounting, with its final output – sustainability reporting, is a new field of accounting focused on evaluating and following up activities regarding a firm’s governance, environmental issues and social inclusion and interaction. Among several standardized frameworks, companies worldwide often choose the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Sustainability Reporting Guidelines. Since the year 2000, GRI Guidelines have evolved and currently the fourth generation is in use. The aim of this study is to assess the latest form of sustainability reporting within an integrated report in the banking industry using the UniCredit Group, which operates in 15 countries, as an example. Sustainability reporting will soon become mandatory in the European Union (EU) for large companies, listed companies and publicinterest entities (e.g. banks) with an average of at least 500 employees, starting from the year 2018 (for activities in 2017). This paper is focused on a content analysis of the recent bank sustainability reporting with a critical review on this matter.