Analysis of the environmental information in the annual accounts and sustainability reports of electricity companies operating in Spain

Abstract

From the late 1990s until today, there has been an increase in awareness by society and companies of the environmental damage that the latter were causing through production, making the environmental issue more and more serious, that even in our days the environmental concern is increasing due to recent natural disasters. Thus, regulations have been established for those companies that cause a certain environmental impact with the aim of preventing or mitigating such negative effects, proposing instructions in relation to environmental aspects that companies must follow, which include the need to quantify and record in the accounts certain activities related to the environment, and subsequently publish them in their annual reports to publicize the environmental actions carried out. Therefore, the aim of this work is to carry out an analysis to determine the level of compliance with environmental regulations and the quality and quantity of the environmental information both mandatory and voluntary provided by the ten electricity companies operating in Spain through their annual reports, given that this sector has been the first to be regulated for environmental reasons and one of the main emitters of C02 particles in our country.