Corporate Environmental Reporting for Achieving Environmental Sustainability: Evidence from Real-estate, Engineering, and Automobiles Industry

This study intends to investigate the companies’ environmental reporting disclosure practices. To achieve the research aim, we have developed ‘Environmental Risk Reporting Practices Index for Engineering Industry (ERRPIEI) which includes environmental, energy, waste, water, biodiversity, and supply chain management and design. Additionally, the ‘Environmental Risk Reporting Practices Index for Services and Real Estate (ERRPISE)’ has been developed by authors that include strategy and governance toward environmental sustainability, reduction, and optimization initiatives, communicating and joining the collective effort, different metrics, and environmental sustainability reporting. Simultaneously, these two indexes are made up of 114 index items. Data is accumulated from 46 companies operating in two different sectors namely engineering (automobile), services, and real estate for the year 2021-2022 from Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), Bangladesh. The study revealed that the overall scoring of index items is very petite, with companies providing very insufficient and inappropriate non-financial information, most of the companies scored zero in all our disclosure items. Furthermore, the services, and real estate industry is disclosing more index items on environmental issues than the engineering industry. This study will contribute to the standing literature on highlighting corporate environmental reporting aspects of annual reports as well as providing some insights on the environmental reporting and disclosures to the concerned policy-makers for taking efforts and initiatives for adapting to climate change and securing sustainable development which leads to achieving overall environmental sustainability.


Introduction
Numerous companies are criticized for forming environmental problems such as climate change, depletion of natural resources, and waste production, and for not taking initiatives for corporate environmental responsibility. Yet, a change in increasing public awareness concerning environmental sustainability has been found in a large range of stakeholders (Clarkson et al., 2011). Lately it is believed that, for environmental degradation and crisis, companies are responsible and called to pay for this which is termed a cost-benefit trade (Pramanik et al., 2008). Accordingly, companies are now called for greater accountability for the impact of their decisions and activities on the environment and these developments tend to publish a variety of information on environmental topics in environmental and sustainability reporting (Clarkson et al., 2011). Recent tendencies can be noted in the field of environmental reporting including, imposing legal obligations, arising demand for environmental issues from both primary and secondary stakeholders, and an increasing need of moving to quantified, comparable, verifiable, and verified information (Kolk, 1999). Globally, in order to ensure sustainable development, the responsibilities of companies regarding the impacts of corporate investment decisions and activities are urged to become more responsible by the stakeholders such as corporate investors, and capital providers (Clarkson et al., 2011).

Corporate Environmental Reporting
The considerable volume of information published by companies regarding environmental issues in different media such as stand-alone environmental reports, triple bottom line reports, sustainability, and annual reports in both forms printed and internet (Van Staden and Hooks, 2007). In today's corporate reporting practice which is considered as it is prepared for stakeholders and stakeholders usually show a keen interest in it, corporate environmental reporting came as a crucial issue. Now it is going to be an important part of the general purpose financial statement as it is a question of life and sustainability (Pramanik et al., 2008). Corporate environmental management systems and standards including environmental policies, environmental guidelines, and charters, environmental auditing, lifecycle assessment, the measurement of environmental performance, and environmental reporting present a comprehensive analysis of the role of business in preserving the environment, continuous environmental improvement, building a corporate environmental profile, and moving towards sustainability (Lyon and Maxwell, 2011). Companies' environmental performance, policies, practices, and future direction are reported in simple and detailed, and in-depth examinations in environmental reports (Azzone et al., 1997).

Corporate Environmental Reporting: Current status and Progress
Former studies engaged an extent-based contents analysis based on only annual reports disclosures. In modern times, attention to environmental disclosure has been changed from annual reports to different media combining the quality and extent of environmental disclosure which will able to give more extensive and comprehensive pictures of organizational environmental attempts and activities (Van Staden and Hooks, 2007). Any reporting practices largely rely on standards and guidelines, unfortunately, for preparing corporate environmental reporting; there are no such well-established guidelines. Corporations are preparing it on a voluntary basis rather than mandatory having it without any specific format and style (Pramanik et al., 2008). At present, in terms of evaluating the quality of environmental reporting disclosure, companies are achieved the highest score in corporate profile and general disclosure s such as reports design, accessibility, awards obtained, etc. but any financial information regarding current, past, and future environmental expenditures are not disclosed by companies (Van Staden and Hooks, 2007). There are no regulations for enforcing environmental disclosure containing environmental information. Indian companies provided more environmental information on their websites than annual reports (Chatterjee and Mir, 2008). International developments in environmental reporting during the last decades disclosed that global environmental reporting practices are far away from satisfactory levels (Lodhia, 2004).

Factors Influencing Corporate Environmental Reporting
Development of environmental legislation and market-oriented emission trading schemes are found to encourage companies to be more accountable regarding environmental issues such as greenhouse gas emission and waste generation (Clarkson et al., 2011). By compiling and issuing environmental reports on a voluntarily periodic basis, companies are approaching investors regarding environmental issues. But due to a lack of external and third parties verification, such types of environmental reports come under questions of credibility. This low level of credibility is also accelerated by the absence of environmental reporting standards (Beets and Souther, 1999). The number of independent and female directors on a board was found to have a significant positive influence on the extent of environmental reporting practices (Kathy et al., 2012). Environmental responsiveness measures for the factors such as size and industry were found to have significant positive influences on environmental disclosures (Van Staden and Hooks, 2007).

Environmental Degradation and Real-estate companies
Loss of biodiversity and ecosystems, water logging, flooding pollution, reduction of vegetation, groundwater depletion, temperature increase, and a reduction in agriculture and fishing are considered major environmental problems faced by Dhaka right now for land conversion in the Environmentally Critical Areas (ECA) (Nahrin, 2020). With the rising real estate investment in cities leading to the capturing and reducing green space, rapid population concentration, mismatching of resources, urban green coverage, population density, industrial structure, and finally air quality has changed drastically (Chen and Lee, 2020). Environmental pollution is now considered a global and universal problem. The development of the real estate industry leads to consuming huge resources and generating large amounts of pollutants from the construction industry. With the rapid expansion and continuous development of the real estate industry, environmental pollution will continue to increase on large scale. Finally, the enlargement of the real-estate industry found to have negative impacts on inland and coastal areas (Gong and Kong, 2022). Urban sprawl found to have a long-run equilibrium relationship with environmental pollution. Subsequently, fixed asset investment and foreign direct investment accelerate urban environmental pollution (Zhang, 2021). In order to reduce environmental degradation, studies suggested cities should promote green development of real estate, and related industries, enhance environmental awareness, environment-friendly technological progress, improve investment structure, use environment-friendly building materials, Guiding population flow, and promote industrial upgrading (Chen and Lee, 2020;Gong and Kong, 2022).

Environmental Impacts of Engineering (Automobiles) Industry
The increase in business activities and industrial expansion is contributing to the loss of ecological biodiversity. Environmental pollution and degradation are considered a growing problem globally due to different reasons in different parts of the world. Industrial advancement in automobiles, power plants, growing urbanizations, and increased fuel uses are continued to emit significant amounts of pollutants, wastewater, industrial waste disposal, and vehicular emissions into the environment (Fayiga et al., 2018). Energy consumption, surface quality, and air pollution is considered extreme challenge for the automobile industry and lead to a growing demand for more fuel-efficient t vehicles for reducing energy consumption and reducing air pollution. Additionally, using heavier materials such as steel or copper is considered another source of environmental pollutants that can be replaced by using aluminum properties (Miller et al., 2000). A large degree of dependency on cars for private transportation putting extra pressure on natural resources such as fossil fuel leads increase auto emissions, accordingly energy-efficient automobile technology is the preferred policy option for minimizing the environmental effects of the automobile industry. Automobile industries have an association with the increase in traffic capacity, traffic flow, and parking capacity leads to greater concern regarding environmental sustainability and social equity (Gan, 2003). With the growth and expansion of the automotive sector, change in health, social, and environmental effects have taken place. Furthermore, technological developments and regularity interventions relating to the motor industry provide benefits to mitigate the adverse and frequent divesting impacts on human health and the environment (Williams and Blyth, 2023).

Literature Review Why environmental reporting is the matter?
During recent decades, exponential growth in non-financial reporting such as environmental, social, and sustainability reporting is observed worldwide in order to inform their social and environmental performance through print-based reporting and websites. Now it is at the center of attention among industry bodies, associations, government institutions, consulting firms, nongovernmental organizations, and research institutions. For greater accountability, gain, maintenance, and repair legitimacy, public acceptance, and stakeholder engagement environmental reporting is rational and relevant. Environmental reporting positively contributes to greater business efficiency, market drivers, enhancement of reputation and risk management, stakeholders' management, internal champions, and mimetic motivations (Herzig and Schaltegger, 2011). Environmental management recognizes biodiversity conservatism as an important aim because biodiversity is the cornerstone for healthy ecosystems as well as quantifying the estimate of the cost benefits of their outcomes including the value of biodiversity lost and preserved. Additionally, environmental management safeguards and enhances the environmental state to sustain economic and social benefits from the ecosystems (Laurila-Pant et al., 2015). Corporate sustainability is the process of incorporating entities' economic, environmental, and social performance indicators in reporting but unfortunately, concern for ecology has become sidelined. Additionally, Triple Bottom Line (TBL) initiatives and Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) are contributing insufficient conditions for sustaining earth ecology (Mile and Gray, 2013). Rapid industrialization is responsible for the exploitation of the natural environment which disturbed ecological balance, this, in turn, has raised the issue of environmental protection among environmentalists, governments, organizations, and the international community from all over the world. Accordingly, environmental sustainability has become an important agenda for them (Yadav and Pathak, 2013).

Environmental reporting practices of engineering (automobile) industry
Environmental reporting emerged as a tool of enhancement and reporting for environmental protection, by fulfilling corporate social responsibility and adding value to the business, comprehensive environmental management provides completive advantages to the companies. Environmental management found to have an influence on economic, social, and legal consequences. In a few cases, environmental reporting appeared as unsystematic and non-comparable and aimed at publicity than providing environmental facts and figures (Sahay, 2004). Stray and Ballantine (2000) studied a survey as to whether a company discloses or does not disclose environmental information from the automobile, banking, electronics, food, drink, and water sectors in the UK in their annual reports and found sectoral differences in reporting. Furthermore, environmental reporting has been considered as a serious aspect for large corporate houses thus impacting the socio-economic and environmental set of the country. Environmental reporting was taken for ensuring global sustainability and sustainable societal welfare. Indian automobile sectors revealed a mixed performance in environmental reporting (Basak and Das, 2021). In recent decades, due to the growing number of environmental dangers to humanity such as oil spills, plastic solid waste, the overuse of nonrenewable energy, contaminated air, hurricanes, tsunamis, and global warming, environmental issues appeared as a significant global concern. Lack of knowledge and inadequate strategic planning appeared as significant barriers to economic, social, and environmental reporting practices (Toke and Kalpande, 2022).

Environmental reporting practices real-estate industry
According to GAAP, green accounting and reporting practices is the process of discovering, measuring, reorganizing, and presenting financial information to a variety of stakeholders. Additionally, environmental accounting can be used to provide relevant environmental information for decision-making as well as help management address the environmental implications of organizational actions. A number of studies and projects have been initiated and executed on environmental management systems in industrialists' economies (Toke and Kalpande, 2022). During the last two decades, increased requirements for corporate sustainability are observed. Since, the real estate industry has been regarded as one of the major contributors to atmospheric climate change, and resource exploitation. Accordingly, the real estate industry bears a high level of responsibility for making sustainable corporate management and communication thereof. In addition, corporate sustainability is not simply altruism; in fact, it is considered a success factor for companies as it has a positive impact on stock price and corporate valuation (Ansari et al., 2015). According to Rashidfarokhi et al., (2018) that sustainability reports appeared as inconsistency in the context of form, extent, and quality. Furthermore, a lack of a clear approach to embracing materiality, external assurance, and stakeholder engagement in the sample reports is found in sustainability reports. Finally, in order to fulfill the legislative requirement, sustainability reports are issued by real-estate companies and avoid financial or legal risk. The real-estate sector is criticized for generating almost 30 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions hence the environmental risk disclosure practices of this sector play an important role in carbon disclosure and mitigation. Also, marginal level of environmental disclosure such as greenhouse gas emission, energy consumption, waste management, and sustainability is found in real-estate companies in their annual reports (Ufere et al., 2017). Accordingly, to remain competitive in the market and attract investors to the markets, the real-estate sector is required to meet both regional and global best practices with respect to environmental disclosure.

International initiation towards environmental reporting
General and sector-specific framework and guideline documents, regularity disclosures, and reporting requirements are seen in national and international aspects incorporating environmental issues in sustainability reporting (Herzig and Schaltegger, 2011). The sustainability reporting guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) reinforced institutional sustainability (Mile and Gray, 2013). In order to create awareness about environmental sustainability, several conferences and programs such as Earth Summit, United Nations Environmental program were organized frequently by the global community. Accordingly, environmental protection and sustainability are being treated significantly and initiatives have been taken by government and organizations for the existence of human health and well-being. Furthermore, social, economic, and environmental sustainability is playing a vital role in ensuring sustainable growth and development (Yadav and Pathak, 2013).

Environmental reporting in Bangladesh
Information on society has been disclosed most extensively followed by decent work and labor practices and environmental issues in corporate sustainability of major commercial banks in Bangladesh in accordance with Global Reporting Initiatives (GRI 16) (Khan et al., 2011). Environmental disclosure practices in the annual reports of listed Banking, Non-Banking, Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals, Cement, Ceramic, Fuel & Power, and Textile industry of Bangladesh reported that modes of corporate environmental reporting are mostly qualitative in nature and diversified in locations. Accordingly, the level of corporate environmental reporting tends to have positive effects on Return on assets and earnings per share (Akther, 2017). Belal (2000) reported that very limited environmental disclosure has been made in the annual reports of Bangladeshi companies. Furthermore, 90% of companies made very limited environmental disclosure in their annual reports. A study attempted by Uddin et al (2019) to investigate environmental disclosure reporting practices in the annual reports of the companies listed on DSE concluded that no company disclose any monetary information regarding environmental aspects as well as non-monetary disclosure was very limed and inadequate. Web-based corporate environmental reporting in Bangladesh is very limited (Dutta and Bose, 2008). Afterward, the corporate environmental reporting practice of the companies operating in Bangladesh in annual reports is found to have very insufficient as well as there is a positive relationship of environmental reporting with corporate profitability (Saha and Akter, 2012). Management leadership, regulators, external stakeholders' pressure, branding corporate image, poverty alleviation motive, and social obligation motive appeared as the motivations for corporate, social, and environmental responsibility practices and reporting in Bangladesh. At the same time, lack of regularity framework, the tendency to noncompliance with the laws, socio-economic problems, lack of awareness and education in sustainable development, and lack of initiative from the government have appeared as barriers to corporate, social, and environmental responsibility practices and reporting. The overall corporate, social, and environmental responsibility practices in Bangladesh are very insufficient (Hossain et al., 2012).
Though corporate environmental reporting emerged as a growing concern in communicating environmental issues, organizational impacts on the environment, organizational policies, initiatives, and responses towards mitigating environmental risk and achieving environmental sustainability, unfortunately, in Bangladesh, it is not flourished as expected. As well as, Bangladesh is one of the most climate-vulnerable countries. Recently, Bangladesh faced frequent natural disasters as a result of global warming and climate changes. As a coastal state and to achieve UN SDGs in time corporate environmental reporting is a must. At the same time, most of the environmental studies have been carried out in the context of developed countries. Only a handful of studies are initiated in developing nations like Bangladesh. Concentrating on the global climate change challenges and achieving UN-stated Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), no studies are available from the engineering (automobile) industry, service, and real-estate industry listed on Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), Bangladesh.
Successively, this study aims to investigate the level and extent of environmental risk disclosure practices of the companies from the engineering (automobile) industry, service, and real-estate industry listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), Bangladesh. Additionally, this study will make a significant contribution to the environmental reporting literature in the context climate vulnerable countries towards ensuring environmental sustainability as a climate change mitigation approach. Finally, compare to what extent the environmental reporting practices differ between the engineering (automobile) industry, service, and real estate industry.

Data Set
The data set has been constituted with the data of 46 companies from two sectors of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), namely Engineering (Automobiles) and Service and Real-estate. There are 42 listed companies under Engineering (Automobiles) industry and 4 companies under the Service and Real-estate industry as of 31st January 2023. An exhaustive investigation of the annual reports of 46 companies from both sectors has been completed based on the predetermined environmental risk reporting practices index for the year 2021-2022.

Selected Companies
Name of the companies (Engineering: Automobiles): (42 companies as on 31st January, 2023)

Development of Index Environmental Risk Reporting Practices Index for Engineering Industry (ERRPIEI):
Authors have developed an environmental risk reporting practices index for the engineering industry (ERRPIEI) based on 'Best Environmental Management Practices for the Car Manufacturing Sectors' issued by JRC science for policy reports published by European Commission and other existing literature. ERRPIEI constitutes seven broad heads and the total index items addressed here is 53. Details are given in Table 3. Overall remanufacturing levels (% of recovered components).

Environmental Risk Reporting Practices Index for Services and Real Estate (ERRPISE)
The environmental risk reporting practices index for the services and real-estate industry (ERRPISE) is developed by the authors existing literature on environmental reporting and guidelines issued by World Economic Forum Industry Agenda Council on the Future Real Estate and Urbanization 2016. Additionally, the authors have taken some instructions from 'Overview Real-estate Companies Environmental Performance' issued on October 2021 by European Public Real-estate Association. ERRPISE constitutes six broad heads and the total index items addressed here is 61. Details are given in Table 4. Growing quantity of sustainable and recycled materials and low energy consumption materials.

ROI11
26. Implemented responsible supply chains (choice of suppliers, transportation of materials, environmental qualities of procurement).
The architecture and design are also indicated as good ways to reduce the buildings' carbon footprint.
New buildings at proximity of proper commutation networks. ROI17 32.
Facilitating the use of green mobility solutions is particularly significant for shopping centers located in the outskirts of larger cities.

33.
Recovery system for grey water or rain/storm water (using rainwater recovery tanks); Removing all air-cooling towers or shutting-off solenoid valves in order to cut off the .water supply outside predefined hours.
Using the best of innovation to improve their environmental impact ROI24 C. Communicating and Joining the Collective Effort (CJCE) 39.
A sustained dialogue between owner, manager and tenants in order to encourage responsible environmental practices CJCE1 40. Raise awareness is included in the daily actions CJCE2 41.
Green leases (environmental clauses included in leases for example); CJCE4 43.
Recommendations and rules shared with tenants; CJCE5 44.
Internal communication aimed for employees on CSR policies, CJCE7 46.
Chose to team up with GOs, local and national bodies and corporations. CJCE8 47.
Ensure that decisions contribute to improvements in environmental sustainability at the local and urban levels  It is found that due to lack of compulsory legal framework for corporate environmental reporting practices, companies aredisinclined to report environmental aspect in reporting properly.Companies didn't disclose all information regarding the decisions and activities affect the environment. Companies are highlighting the positivity and non-financial information in their annual reports. In comparison between engineering and services and real estate sectors, service and real-estate industry appeared to disclose environmental aspect than engineering industry in their annual reports. In conclusion, legitimacy and legal obligations play significant role in environmental disclosure practices of the companies. To make the companies more accountable in terms of environmental performance, combination of mandatory requirements and strong enforcement mechanisms are required.

Policy Implication
The present study significantly contributes to the existing literature as well as provides substantial insights to policymakers, exchange commission, environmentalists, and other stakeholders by adding values in corporate environmental reporting which is a must for achieving environmental sustainability and finally leads to achieving UN-stated SDGs. Categorically, the contribution of this study in relation to policy implications is described in detail as follows Firstly, this study could be used as a crypt for expanding regulators' guidelines in the context of the 'Environmental Risk Reporting Practices Index for the Engineering (automobile) Industry' by adding specifications of environmental management, energy management, waste management, water management, biodiversity management, and supply chain management and design. At the same time, the 'Environmental Risk Reporting Practices Index for Services and Real Estate (ERRPISE)' including strategy and governance toward environmental sustainability, reduction, and optimization initiatives, communicating and joining the collective effort, different metrics, and environmental sustainability reporting. Secondly, this study suggested incorporating environmental reporting on an obligatorybasis with strong monitoring.
Thirdly, the engineering (automobile) industry, service, and real-estate industry were found to have a strong direct linked with environmental degradation, and global initiation was also found in the context of adapting a regularity framework. The study feedback could be used to incorporate it into actions. Fourthly, this study expanded the existing literature by addressing 52 index items for Environmental Risk Reporting Practices Index for Engineering (automobile) Industry and 56 index items for value by opening Environmental Risk Reporting Practices Index for Services and Real Estate (ERRPISE)'. Fifthly, as a representative of the climate-vulnerable country list, Bangladesh residues an issue of exhaustive investigation, and that is done. Finally, an exclusive and in-depth analysis of all companies under engineering (automobile) and services and real-estate industry listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), Bangladesh have been completed and able to provide insights to the concerned policymakers in developing climate mitigation approaches.

Future Direction
In this study, annual reports of the year 2020-2021have been evaluated. In future, this study can be extended by comparing with others years. Existing study also be extended by studding the influence of corporate environmental reporting on corporate financial performance.