SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING AND
INTEGRATION OF SDGs
- THE BANGLADESH STATUS

1. Executive summary

1

2. Abbreviations

4

3. Background of the study

5

4. Methodology of the study

7

5. Reporting Trends in Bangladesh in Accordance with GRI standards

10

5.1 Trend for DSE listed and unlisted companies

10

5.2 Evaluating the alignment of reports with SDGs

19

5.3 Mapping of SDG targets and GRI disclosures20

6. Other reports quality

26

7. Changes in the horizon

27

8. References281.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Background
This document gives an outline of the current trend of reporting on sustainability in Bangladesh, inthe form of exclusive ESG or sustainability reports, or as part of an annual report. The use of GRI
standards for reference had been a lookout for compiling this report as well.
For the objectives of achieving the SDGs and their targets, which overlap the various topics of GRI
Standards, various enterprises of Bangladesh have come forward to report their performance in
ESG/Sustainability or Annual Reports.

Study Objectives
Trade cannot ﬂourish in a world of destitution, imbalance, distress, and negative environmental
impacts, and so it is important that the 2030 Plan for Sustainable Development and its 17
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs or Worldwide Objectives) are communicated andachieved. Following globally recognized standards and guidelines on economic, environmental,
and social performance management and reporting on those routinely, have become fundamental
to doing business.
Numerous companies, as on today, act and report on themes outlined by the authoritativeintergovernmental instruments, GRI Standards, the SDGs, and other standards or frameworks,
pertaining to sustainable development.
Going past standard communication to stakeholders, corporate sustainability reporting is key tobuilding trust and adjusting ventures through transparency and responsibility. In expansion toeducating outside stakeholders– professionals and ﬁnancial specialists – corporate sustainability
reporting may be an effective tool for inside discussion and decision-making with respect tocontributing to the SDGs at all levels of the organization.
Few common objectives of our multi-dimensional study;
1. Understanding the reporting trend: the 1st objective of this study is to understand how
the enterprises of Bangladesh are gradually undertaking the practice of reporting on theirsustainability performance.
2. Comparison: the 2nd objective is to understand the reporting trend in line with theglobal trend as well the trends across industries.
3. Speciﬁc observation: any trend that is speciﬁc to Bangladesh which can be used tounderstand the culture and mindset of the business leadership of Bangladesh, withrespect to the sustainable development.

1

METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY
A simple four step methodology has been followed to carry out the study behind this report. The
logical, simple and coherent methodology resulted in good deal of information analysis andenabled us to visualize the facts and trends that exist in the industry for publishing sustainability
reports.
Step 1: Exploration of secondary data through popular browsers, portals, and online
sources. Regulators’ portals and company websites were also browsed to download theirreports.
Step 2: Focused exploration was done on listed companies to see how they address
sustainability reporting.
Step 3: Trend analysis was done on the available data.
Step 4: Comparison was done with the global trend.

SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING TREND IN LISTED AND UNLISTEDCOMPANIES
Organizations in Bangladesh are progressively embracing the practice of sustainability reporting,using GRI standards. Typically, this is happening driven by both stakeholder expectations and a
voluntary sense of responsibility.
GRI standards are seen as a comprehensive system for reporting on impacts on economy,
environment, and people, along with reporting on organization’s contribution to achievement of the
SDGs.
The administrative environment in Bangladesh has played a positive role in advancing
sustainability reporting. The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) and otheradministrative bodies require listed organizations to disclose non-ﬁnancial data related toenvironmental and social performance, in their annual reports.

SDG ACHIEVEMENT ANALYSIS FROM SUSTAINABILITY REPORTS
Many organizations in Bangladesh are aligning their sustainability reports with the SDGs and theirtargets. This alignment helps demonstrate how their sustainability efforts contribute to broader
global objectives.
Transparency of the sustainability reports provides a clear view of organizations and sector-wise
efforts to achieve relevant sustainable development goals. Integrating SDGs also enhances thecredibility of sustainability initiatives and can attract investors and stakeholders, who are getting
more and more committed to sustainable development.

2

CHANGES IN THE HORIZON
Sustainability reporting in Bangladesh is in an uptrend, driven by administrative necessities,
sector-speciﬁc customer needs, and an overall global pressure. Capacity building and partner
engagement will play a great role, creating an environment, which is congenial to public disclosureof the impacts of business on economy, environment and people, including on their human rights.
.

3

2. ABBREVIATIONS
BSEC
CDP
CDSB
CEO
CFA
CSR
E&S
ESG
ESMS
FC4S
FRC
GDP
GEF
GHG
GoB
GRI
GWP
EU
EIA
HR
IFC
IFRS
IIRC
IPCC
IR
ISSB

ISO

ILO
BNS
DSE
NDC

Bangladesh Securities andExchange Commission
Carbon Disclosure Project
Climate Disclosure Standards
Board
Chief Executive Ofﬁcer
Chartered Financial Analyst
Corporate Social Responsibility
Environmental and Social
Environmental, social, andgovernance
Environmental & Social
Management System
International Network of Financial
Centres for Sustainability
Financial Regulatory Commission
Gross Domestic Product
Global Environment Facility
Greenhouse Gas
The Government of Bangladesh
Global Reporting Initiative
Global Warming Potential
European Union
Environmental Impact
Assessment
Human Resource
International Finance Corporation
The International Financial
Reporting Standards
The International Integrated
Reporting Council
Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change
Integrated Reporting
International Sustainability
Standards Board under IFRSFoundation
International Organization forStandardization

NGO
OECD
OHS
SASB
SDGs
SIA
SSE
SMS
TCFD
TNFD
TSS
UN
UNDP
UNEP
UNEP FI
WRI
WBCSD

4

International Labor Organization
Bangladesh National Standard
Dhaka Stock Exchange
Nationally Determined
Contributions
Non-government Organization
Organization for Economic
Co-operation and Development
Occupational Health and Safety
The Sustainability AccountingStandards Board
Sustainable Development Goals
Social Impact Assessment
Sustainable Stock Exchange
Sustainability Management
SystemTask Force on Climate-related
Financial Disclosures
Task Force on Nature-Related
Financial Disclosures
Total Suspended Solids
United Nations
United Nations Development
Programme
United Nations Environment
Programme
United Nations Environment
Programme Finance Initiative
World Resources InstituteWorld Business Council for
Sustainable Development

3. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Bangladesh was the seventh most affected country in terms of the Climate Risk Index (CRI), as per
Global CRI 2019 (Molla, 2019). The Environmental Performance Index (EPI) 2018 ranked
Bangladesh as the second-worst country in curbing environmental pollution (Environmental
Performance Index, 2018). Further, in 2019, the Air Quality Index ranked Dhaka as one of the mostpolluted capitals in the world (Air Quality Index, 2019). As a result, the term sustainability has
gained immense importance and has become a buzzword in Bangladesh. Bangladesh, adeveloping country, is also facing environmental degradation issues due to the adverse effects ofindustrial activities (Ullah et al.,2013).
Before the 1990s, there was no speciﬁc evidence of the disclosure of environment-related
information in annual reports by any listed company in the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) (Shil &Iqbal, 2005). Belal (2000) examined 30 annual reports for the year 1996 and discovered very
limited environmental disclosure in those reports. In February 2011, the Bangladesh Bank issued
a circular on green banking “to adopt a comprehensive Green Banking Policy in a formal andstructured manner in line with the global norms so as to protect environment degradation andensure sustainable banking practices.” (BRPD Circular No.2). Following the introduction of green
banking by Bangladesh Bank, the banks have started reporting their green banking activities,
though inconsistencies existed in reporting due to the absence of reporting guidelines orstandards (Hossain et al., 2016).
When it comes to sustainability, the GRI standards stand out that enables organizations to reporttheir impacts on economy, environment and people. As per the deﬁnition of GRI, “a sustainability
report enables companies or organizations to report their sustainability information in a methodthat is almost identical to the one used for ﬁnancial reporting. Sustainability reporting, if it issystematic, provides comparable data along with relevant metrics and agreed disclosure.”
GRI standards require businesses to adopt sustainability reporting as a means of improving theirsustainability and aiding in sustainable development. Long-term ﬁnancial success should coexist
with moral conduct, social justice, and environmental preservation in a sustainable global
economy. It means that when businesses and organizations think about sustainability andincorporate it into their operations, they must take into account the economic, environmental, social
impacts and report on those.
The majority of banks in Bangladesh did not use the Independent Sustainable Reporting (ISR)
practice. The practice of reporting on an organization's social, economic, and environmental
performance, including on the impacts on human rights, is known as sustainability reporting. Everybank is required to publish reporting in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)
standard, but all but a few follow the guidelines/standards. Only three of the 59 scheduledbanks—Prime Bank, Bank Asia, and Mutual Trust Bank—published the sustainability report on
their own, in accordance with GRI standards.
.

5

Bangladesh Bank instructed all banking institutions to develop sustainability reporting systems inaccordance with international standards by December 2013. Green banking emphasizes thegreen adoption of the internal activities of banks/FIs, and all banks/FIs are to use automation,
renewable energy, and other steps wisely and thoughtfully to minimize carbon footprint (anestimate of the impact of climate change due to activities, such as leading a lifestyle, running acompany, or making a product) from banking activities. But Only seven followed the central bank’s
instruction of which three completed the sustainability reporting independently in 2015. (Touhidul
Alom Khan, 2018)
The Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) initiative of the United Nations calls on stock exchanges
to advise their issuers on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reporting. Stockexchanges are in a perfect position to support the shift to greater ESG disclosure and to draw newinvestment ﬂows with a sustainability focus because they act as intermediaries between issuers,
investors, regulators, and other capital market stakeholders. More than 40 nations and regions, aswell as more than 20 stock exchanges worldwide, have policies or regulations that refer to the GRI
Standards. (Guidelines for Sustainability reporting by Listed Companies in Bangladesh).
According to a KPMG survey, 96% of the top 250 corporations in the world reported on theirsustainability performance by 2022 and 78% of them reported using GRI standards. Also, 68% of
the 100 largest companies from 58 countries (N100s) used GRI standards for reporting
sustainability.
By the end of 2015, Bangladesh had enormous success in achieving the MDGs. The lead andsupporting ministries involved in achieving the SDGs have already been named by thegovernment. Through workshops and other resources like the "Guidance on Sustainability
reporting for listed Companies in Bangladesh," Dhaka Stock Exchange and GRI have worked
together to support and direct businesses. This advisory document gives a basic overview of the
GRI Standards and the sustainability reporting procedure so that the business can begin theprocess of reporting sustainability. Sustainability reporting needs have now been directly
incorporated into the Corporate Governance Code (CGC), which the BSEC released in June 2018.
The ‘Bangladesh SDGs Advance Report 2020’ prepares the ground within the lead-up to 2019,highlighting how much more efforts will be required to reach the SDGs and meet the commitment
to leave no one behind. At halfway through, the year 2023 could be a basic crossroads to reﬂect
on the destination for achieving SDGs by 2030 and to permit alterations to needs and course
rectiﬁcations. For Bangladesh, it speaks to a key window of opportunity to heighten the urgency forachieving the SDGs – which is essential for successful achievement of those.
One possible way to measure the progress of sustainable development goals (SDGs) is byanalyzing the global reporting initiative (GRI) standards. The GRI standards are a set of topics anddisclosures for organizations to report on their economic, environmental, and social impacts. By
mapping the GRI indicators to the SDG targets, organizations can assess how their activities
contribute to the achievement of the SDGs. This can also help them identify gaps and opportunities
for improvement, as well as communicate their sustainability performance to stakeholders. (Forfurther information, please refer to the Business Reporting of the SDGs: An Analysis of the Goals
and Targets).

64. METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY
In 1994, John Elkington developed TBL (Tripple Bottom Lines) as an accounting framework.
Elkington was an entrepreneur and author. TBL targets to comprise sustainable accounting inbusiness, i.e., in social, environmental, and monetary aspects. Amidst growing societal pressure,
all companies desire to show up green. But not all are inclined to sacriﬁce proﬁts. Greenwashing
is TBL’s largest challenge.
There is a strong incentive for organizations to concentrate on standard compliance alone rather
than a genuine commitment to sustainable development because governments, internationalorganizations, and organizations developing standards for sustainability reporting use the TBL(Jones and Shridhar, 2013).
The triple bottom line (TBL) framework makes a company recognize its duties toward society andecology. It is all about accountability for the average effect of the company’s commercial enterprise
practices and contribution in the direction of prevention, mitigation and remediation of actual or
potential negative impact.
The bottom line is the closing purpose for businesses. Most companies operate with the solecause of earning a proﬁt. However, TBL focuses on the 3Ps that make corporations socially
responsible:
People: Companies are accountable for the well-being of society and its people. Thus, TBL
measures the extent to which an organization contributes socially.
Proﬁts: It is every company’s duty to pay its lenders, operational creditors, and employees.
Planet: It is worried about the location, i.e., the area, city, or country in which the agency islocated. Companies must make sure that the neighborhood is sustainable. They ought to makesure that their operations don’t have an adverse effect on the surroundings.

Common Sustainability Issues

7

SECTORAL VARIANCES:
Sustainability patterns change over segments in Bangladesh. Businesses with critical natural andsocial impacts, such as readymade garments or banking, has a better focus on sustainability
reporting than the other sectors.
For our study, we shall determine the variance for both sustainability and SDGs achievement by
multiple sectors operational in Bangladesh.

YEARLY ENGAGEMENT TREND:
The annual activities of DSE listed and unlisted companies are reviewed on the basis of theirsustainability reporting practices. The organization’s adaptability with GRI standards has been
evaluated for the last decade.

EVALUATION OF SDGs
Organizations’ goals and targets aligned with the SDGs are evaluated from their latest
sustainability reports.
Integrating SDGs in the sustainability reports is a new trend. The focus on SDGs and theirachievements have increased signiﬁcantly in the recent years. However, there are many
challenges for alignment of the SDGs with the organization’s strategic goals and targets and thus
successful alignment of the SDGs in the sustainability reports have a way to go for perfection.

Garcia-Torres et al. 2017, emphasized that companies should be required to report at least thelevel of alignment with all SDGs as part of their Fast-Fashion Sustainability Scorecard in order to8

"avoid the possibility of orphan issues or easy-to-solve problem biases." ." Typically, independent
external actors do not monitor the accuracy of reporting in accordance with the chosen indicators(Hervieux, 2017).
In order to determine the transparency and implementation of impact reporting in accordance with
the GRI standards, those are cross-checked against selected UN SDGs of the relevant sector. GRI
provided the guideline in their publication “Linking the SDGs and the GRI Standards, 2022” toidentify the relevance of GRI standards with the SDGs.

STUDY POPULATION
Primarily the companies are sorted out which practiced sustainability reporting in accordance with
the GRI standards in their sustainability, ESG, or annual reports during the last 7 years. A total of
23 companies are found who follow the GRI standards in their sustainability reports. Out of these23 companies, 15 were enlisted by DSE.
The companies are categorized into 6 different sectors for studying the continuity of sustainability
reporting. In the further study for determining the relation between GRI disclosures and SDGs
targeted by the organization.
There are also annual reports from 64 companies studied. They include sustainability developmentin their studies without aligning with GRI standards.

95. REPORTING TRENDS IN BANGLADESH IN
ACCORDANCE WITH GRI STANDARDS
5.1. Trend for DSE Listed and Unlisted Companies
There were 11 companies publishing sustainability reports in Bangladesh, according to a South
Asia Trends Report by GRI of listed companies published in May. In India, there were 74
sustainability repoters, and in Sri Lanka, there were 83. However, many businesses in Bangladesh
are just beginning to report and are at the beginning of their reporting journey. Bangladesh reports
less frequently than other nations in the region, but this is beginning to change. It is very
encouraging to see that the number of Bangladeshi businesses publishing sustainability reports
increased by 36% between 2018 and 2019. (S. K. Das et al. 2021)
GRI and the DSE have been actively collaborating to increase business capacity for sustainability
reporting. They have worked together to organize numerous workshops, roundtables, virtual
meetings, and in-person meetings over the past few years. These meetings involved not only thelarge, publicly traded companies in Bangladesh, but also the market regulators Bangladesh Bank,
and Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission.
It appears from the outset that corporate transparency is necessary for efﬁcient market operationand market promotion. It increases the stakeholders' trust in the market, the companies, and theiroverall health and shape. To support it, GRI Standards are a great tool for businesses to adopt anduse to report on their ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) impacts, which ultimately
increases the company's social responsibility. As a result, DSE worked with GRI, to intensify thereporting practices in Bangladesh.
In order to hasten the process, DSE has made GRI visible on the DSE website so that businesses
can learn about it and make preparations to embark on this journey. Additionally, businesses areincluding information s per GRI standards and ESG frameworks in their annual reports. (Haldar,
2021; Patwary)
In 2021, GRI conducted a program called 'Shaping the Sustainability reporting Journey for
Companies in Bangladesh', which involved 13 companies from various sectors such as banking,textile, steel, and renewable energy. The program offered technical assistance and practicalknowledge on how to prepare a GRI-based report, covering topics such as stakeholder
engagement, materiality assessment, data collection, and report drafting. Out of the 13
participating companies, 10 successfully completed and launched their ﬁrst sustainability reportin June 2021.
There are a total of 22 sectors listed on DSE, but only six major sectors are included in this study.
The selected sectors are Textile, Finance, Leather and Footwear, Consumer Goods, Telecom, andSteel Industries as these industries contribute the most to the economic development of

10

Bangladesh. Financial organizations are leading in the disclosure of corporate social activities,
social and environmental reporting, and sustainability reporting (Dissanayake et al.,2019).
Table 3 presents a summary of the organizations in the South Asian Association for Regional
Cooperation (SAARC) countries that made sustainability reporting disclosures. The tables showthat 534 organizations had prepared 1,386 reports from 1999 to 2018. However, none of theorganizations is from Afghanistan, Bhutan, Maldives, or Nepal. The country with the highest
number of reporting organizations is India, with a total of 400 organizations and 984 reports. In Sri
Lanka, 78 organisations had published 206 reports; whereas in Pakistan, 23 organisations had
published 84 reports. In the case of Bangladesh, 33 Bangladeshi companies published 113
sustainability reports from 1999 to 2018. (Kumar et.al. 2021)
Table 1: Reporting Organizations at SAARC Countries (From 1999 to 2018*)

Table 2: Reporting Organizations at SAARC Countries (Only 2018*)

11

One of the drivers of this trend is the collaboration between GRI and the Dhaka Stock Exchange(DSE), which is the third largest exchange in South Asia. In 2018, GRI and DSE launched a
guidance document on sustainability reporting for listed companies in Bangladesh, which aims tohelp them understand the beneﬁts and process of reporting on their environmental, social, andgovernance (ESG) issues. The guidance document also aligns with the United Nations'Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are a global agenda for achieving social,economic and environmental progress by 2030.
The GRI standards deﬁne stakeholders as organizations or people who are anticipated tosigniﬁcantly and reasonably be impacted by the operations, products, or services of anorganization. The main barriers to disclosure are a weak legal framework, a lack of stakeholder
awareness, an attitude of secrecy, poor performance, a disregard for performance measurement,
and concern for negative publicity. (Belal, R. Owen,2007).
Although they are not required in Bangladesh as on today, social and environmental disclosures
are included in the ﬁnancial statements that are part of the annual reports. In their annual reports,
86% of the chosen Bangladeshi companies on average disclosed issues with sustainability
reporting for at least one item. A little over 23% of the sampled companies did not disclose any
information about the environmental aspect, and 29% did not disclose anything about the social
aspect either. (S. K. Das et al. (2021))
In our current study, the GRI practice trends are evaluated based on continuity and theireffectiveness in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In the ﬁrst part of our study, the annual sustainability reports for selected categories are sorted out.
The total reports from each sector are conﬁgured in Figure 1. It shows the sustainability reports
generated from different sectors during the years 2020, 2021, and 2022.
The graph shows a signiﬁcant
increase in reporting companies
during the year 2021. The sectors
that
previously
practiced
GRI-based sustainability reports
have become more engaged
than before. Other sectors likeconsumergoods,
power
generation, and steel mills, which
previously didn’t publish asustainability report , wereinvolved for the ﬁrst time in thatyear. However, there is a decline
in reporting numbers in the year 2022. GRI took the initiative to onboard new companies forpracticing publication of sustainability reports. But due to the business downturn in 2022, partly
because of lower export to EU market for the war in Ukraine, the reporting organization could notsustain this good practice.

12

From Figure 2, we can ﬁnd the total sustainability reports published from Bangladesh which
followed the GRI standards. The study began from the year 2016 with 5 annual sustainability
reports from that year. A slow but steady increase continued during the end of the last decade. At
the beginning of this decade, a signiﬁcant uptrend for publishing sustainability reports wasobserved. The number of reports almost doubled in a year. But the number decreased to almost
half again in the year 2022.

Figure 2: Trend of total reports year on year (Listed and unlisted)

Since the last years of the previous decade, GRI and DSE have jointly promoted theimplementation of GRI standards in sustainability practices. There are 15 DSE-listed companies
found using the GRI standards in their sustainability reports (Table 3) but they did not report every
year. There are 49 more companies from DSE also sorted out, who included their sustainability
practices in their annual reports, though the GRI standards were not followed (Table 4). In 2021,
total 46 organizations reported sustainability performance information in their exclusive
sustainability/ESG report or in their annual report (ﬁgure 3).

13

Table 3: Listed Companied Reporting Sustainability With GRI Standards

Fire 3: DSE listed companies reporting either exclusively or in annual reports

14

Table- 4: Listed Companies Reporting Sustainability In Annual Reports Partially

15

The Suﬆainability report is
not according to GRI
ﬆandards

There are also a few other organizations available in Bangladesh that are not enlisted by DSE, butthey publish their sustainability reports according to GRI standards. Eight such companies arelisted in Table 5. Meanwhile, the unlisted companies that include sustainability in their annual orother reports but don’t follow the GRI standards are listed in Table 6.
Figure 4 shows the total unlisted companies publishing sustainability reports either exclusively oras part of annual report. In 2021, maximum number of unlisted companies published their reports.

16

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

Table 5: Unliﬆed Companied Reporting Suﬆainability using GRI Standards
Bank Alfalah
Finance
Not Liﬆed
BGMEA
RMG
Not Liﬆed
Blue Planet
RMG
Not Liﬆed
Cute Dress Industry Ltd
RMG
Not Liﬆed
DBL Group
RMG
Not Liﬆed
Echotex
RMG
Not Liﬆed
Newage GroupRMG
Not Liﬆed
Hirdaramani
RMG
Not Liﬆed

Fire 4: Unlisted companies reporting either exclusively orin annual reports

17

Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes

GRI Reporting Trend and Its Indication for SDGs Achievement in Bangladesh
Table 6: Unlisted Companies Reporting Sustainability in Annual Reports Partially

Sl No

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12

Listed/Not
Liﬆed

Suﬆainability
reportPublishing(Yes/No)

Conﬆruction

Not Liﬆed

Annual Report

FinanceFinanceFinanceFinance

Not Liﬆed
Not Liﬆed
Not Liﬆed
Not Liﬆed

Annual Report
Annual Report
Annual Report
Annual Report

Finance

Not Liﬆed

Annual Report

FinanceFinance
Power generation
Manufacturer

Not Liﬆed
Not Liﬆed
Not Liﬆed
Not Liﬆed

Annual Report
Annual Report
Annual Report
Annual Report

Conﬆruction

Not Liﬆed

Annual Report

Power generation

Not Liﬆed

Annual Report

Name of the Organization

Infrastructure
Company Limited

Development

Agrani Bank
BASIC Bank Limited
Janata Bank
Shimanto Bank
Bangladesh Development Bank
LimitedBangladesh Commerce Bank Limited
Bengal Commercial Bank Ltd
Natun Bidyut Bangladesh Ltd
USA agro and auto bricks
Ispahani Summit Alliance Terminal
Limited (ISATL)
Ministry of Power and Energy (Solar
and wind)

Sector13

Viyellatex

RMG

Not Liﬆed-

14

Bangladesh bankFinance

Not Liﬆed-

15

City Group

Conglomerate

Not Liﬆed

Annual Report

GRI Reporting Trend and Its Indication for SDGs Achievement in Bangladesh

Figure 5: Trend comparison for reporting
sustainability using GRI standard

18

Continuity is an essential element for the effectiveness of sustainability reports. GRI standards
encourage timely and regular publishing of sustainability reports and continually improvesustainability performance. But many sectors fail to do so. From Figure 6, we can see the telecom
sector has the highest continuity score, but it lacks of optimum sample size to analyze thecontinuity properly. Of the top 2 practicing sectors, the ﬁnance sector is found to have the highest
continuity score of 2.91. There are newly enrolled banks and ﬁnance companies along withorganizations like Mutual trust bank and IDLC, who have been publishing sustainability reports formore than 6 years continuously.
The next best sector for continuity is the textile sector with a score of 2.0. The DBL group and Cute
Dress Industries Ltd are the two oldest organizations publishing sustainability reports for 5 and 4
consecutive years respectively. The average continuity score from the remaining sectors is
insigniﬁcant due to the very small sample size. The continuity score used here signiﬁes how theorganizations in a particular sector publishes the sustainability reports year on year.
GRI Reporting Trend and Its Indication for SDGs Achievement in Bangladesh

6: Continuity
factorof publishing
FigFigure3- AverageCon�nuity
Score
sustainability reports

8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0

FinanceTex�leSteel Rolling Telecom
Mill

Power
Genera�on

Leather
FashionConsumerGoods

5.2. Evaluating the alignment of reports with SDGs
After achieving the UN’s Millennium Development Goal (MDG) in 2015, Bangladesh aimed for the
UN’s next program to contribute to the achievement of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
by the year 2030. At the halfway of the deadline in 2023, a large number of organizations are foundpublishing reports on their contribution to achievement of the SDGs. We assessed and determined
the percentage of Sustainable Development Goals covered by different sectors in theirsustainability reports (using GRI standards). In the later part of the study, sustainable development
for environmental, social, and business goals and the impact is determined for ﬁve different
sectors that are found aligning their reports with the SDGs.

19

7: Sector-wisecoverage
factors in%
FigFigure4- Sector
wiseSDG
SDG
coverage
reports

82
71

71

71

59

Tex�leFinance

Consumer goods Leather Fashion

Telecom

Figure 7 shows the percentage of Sustainable Development Goals covered in sustainability reports
by organizations from different sectors. The banks and other non-banking ﬁnancial companies arefound aligned with 82% of the SD Goals. It is also apparent from the graph that most of the sectorsalign with 71% of SDGs. Consumer-goods producing companies like Unilever have only 59%
coverage for SDGs, though it has a very practical budget to align with their selected SDGs to agreat extent.

5.3. Mapping of SDG Targets and GRI disclosures
Transparency and responsibility of organizations can contribute to sustainable development, andsustainability reporting can be considered as an effective tool for this. Using the beneﬁts of thesustainability report , an organization can investigate the fundamental social, environmental,
corporate administration, and ﬁnancial aspects of its exercises, which is able to empower theorganization to deliberately look for sustainable improvement.
GRI aligns its disclosures on economic, environmental and social performance with the target of
the SDGs. Their accumulated results also help us to calculate the organization’s achievement of 17
Social Development Goals. The most accurate investment of time, manpower, and ﬁnance by any
company can be ﬁgured out from the sustainability reports prepared in accordance with the GRI
standards. Therefore, GRI also provides guidelines for linking the disclosure of GRI topic
standards with SDG goals. This report deliberates on how much the sectors and companies ofBangladesh are pursuing achievement of the SDGs, through their strategies and actions, by using
the GRI standards and disclosure.
In Table 7, the GRI disclosures are shown as having linked in the organizations report or not linked
with the respective SDGs.

20

GRI Reporting Trend and Its Indication for SDGs Achievement in Bangladesh

Sector

Sectorwisecommonly
selected
SDGs

Linked GRI Disclosures (From GRI standards)

Disclosures
reported

Disclosures
notreported

Total
relevant
SDGs
addressed

Total
relevant
SDGs notaddressed

201, 202, 203,
205, 301, 302,
303, 305, 306,
401, 403, 404,
405, 406, 408,
409, 413,

207, 411,
414, 304,
204, 402,

17

6

1. 207-(1-4), 202-1, 203-2, 411-1, 413-2,
3. 403-6, 403-10, 403-9, 305-(1, 2, 3, 6, 7), 306-(1-4, 6)
4. 404-1

21

5.202-1, 203-1, 401-(1-3), 404-(1,3), 405-(1,2), 406-1, 408-1, 4091, 414-(1,2),

TextileSDG- 1, 3,
4, 5, 6, 7, 8,
9, 13, 14,
15, 17

6. 303-(1-5), 304-(1-4), 306-(1-3, 5)
7. 302-(1-5)
8. 201-1, 202-(1,2), 203-2, 204-1, 301-1, 302-(1-5), 306-2, 401-(13), 402-1, 404-(1-3), 403-(1-5, 7-9), 405-(1,2), 408-1, 409-1
9. 201-1, 203-1
13. 201-2, 302-(1-5), 305-(1-5)
14. 304-(1-4), 305-(1-5, 7)
15. 304-(1-4), 305-(1-5, 7), 306-(3,5)
17. 207-(1-4)

GRI Reporting Trend and Its Indication for SDGs Achievement in Bangladesh

1. 207-(1-4), 202-1, 203-2, 411-1, 413-2,
2. 411-1, 413-2
3. 403-6, 403-10, 403-9, 305-(1, 2, 3, 6, 7), 306-(1-4, 6)
4. 404-1
5.202-1, 203-1, 401-(1-3), 404-(1,3), 405-(1,2), 406-1, 408-1, 4091, 414-(1,2),

22

Finance1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
6, 7, 8, 9,
10, 12, 13,17

6. 303-(1-5), 304-(1-4), 306-(1-3, 5)
7. 302-(1-5)
8. 201-1, 202-(1,2), 203-2, 204-1, 301-1, 302-(1-5), 306-2, 401-(13), 402-1, 404-(1-3), 403-(1-5, 7-9), 405-(1,2), 408-1, 409-1
9. 201-1, 203-1
10. 207-(1-4), 401-1, 404-(1,3), 405-2
12. 301-(1-3), 302-(1-5), 303-1, 305-(1-3, 6,7), 306-(1-5), 417-1
13. 201-2, 302-(1-5), 305-(1-5)
17. 207-(1-4)

201, 204, 205,
302, 303, 305,
401, 403, 404,
405, 406, 413,
418

207, 202,
203, 411,
306, 408,
409, 414,
304, 301,
402,

13

11

GRI Reporting Trend and Its Indication for SDGs Achievement in Bangladesh

1. 207-(1-4), 202-1, 203-2, 411-1, 413-2,
3. 403-6, 403-10, 403-9, 305-(1, 2, 3, 6, 7), 306-(1-4, 6)
5.202-1, 203-1, 401-(1-3), 404-(1,3), 405-(1,2), 406-1, 408-1, 4091, 414-(1,2),
6. 303-(1-5), 304-(1-4), 306-(1-3, 5)

23ConsumerGoods

1, 3, 5, 6, 7,
8, 9, 10, 12,13

7. 302-(1-5)
8. 201-1, 202-(1,2), 203-2, 204-1, 301-1, 302-(1-5), 306-2, 401-(13), 402-1, 404-(1-3), 403-(1-5, 7-9), 405-(1,2), 408-1, 409-1
9. 201-1, 203-1
10. 207-(1-4), 401-1, 404-(1,3), 405-2
12. 301-(1-3), 302-(1-5), 303-1, 305-(1-3, 6,7), 306-(1-5), 417-1
13. 201-2, 302-(1-5), 305-(1-5)

None

None

GRI Reporting Trend and Its Indication for SDGs Achievement in Bangladesh

3. 403-6, 403-10, 403-9, 305-(1, 2, 3, 6, 7), 306-(1-4, 6)
5.202-1, 203-1, 401-(1-3), 404-(1,3), 405-(1,2), 406-1, 408-1, 4091, 414-(1,2),
6. 303-(1-5), 304-(1-4), 306-(1-3, 5)

24

Leather
Fashion3, 5, 6, 7, 9,
10, 11, 12,
14, 15, 16,17

7. 302-(1-5)
9. 201-1, 203-1
10. 207-(1-4), 401-1, 404-(1,3), 405-2
11. 203-1, 306-(1-5)
12. 301-(1-3), 302-(1-5), 303-1, 305-(1-3, 6,7), 306-(1-5), 417-1
17. 207-(1-4)

201, 301-308,
401, 403-410,
412, 414, 419

202, 203,
401, 207,

21

4

GRI Reporting Trend and Its Indication for SDGs Achievement in Bangladesh

1. 207-(1-4), 202-1, 203-2, 411-1, 413-2,
3. 403-6, 403-10, 403-9, 305-(1, 2, 3, 6, 7), 306-(1-4, 6)
4. 404-1
5.202-1, 203-1, 401-(1-3), 404-(1,3), 405-(1,2), 406-1, 408-1, 409-1, 414(1,2),
7. 302-(1-5)

25

Telecom

1, 3, 4, 5, 7,
8, 9, 10, 11,
12, 13, 17

8. 201-1, 202-(1,2), 203-2, 204-1, 301-1, 302-(1-5), 306-2, 401-(1-3), 402205, 302, 305,
1, 404-(1-3), 403-(1-5, 7-9), 405-(1,2), 408-1, 409-1
401, 403, 404
9. 201-1, 20310. 207-(1-4), 401-1, 404-(1,3), 405-2
11. 203-1, 306-(1-5)
12. 301-(1-3), 302-(1-5), 303-1, 305-(1-3, 6,7), 306-(1-5), 417-1
13. 201-2, 302-(1-5), 305-(1-5)
14. 304-(1-4), 305-(1-5, 7)
15. 304-(1-4), 305-(1-5, 7), 306-(3,5)
16. 403-(4,9,10), 205-(1-3), 206-1, 307-1, 408-1, 410-1, 414-(1,2), 416-2,
417-(2,3), 418-1, 419-1
17. 207-(1-4)

207, 202,
203, 411,
413, 306,
405, 406,
408, 409,
414, 201,
204, 301,
402, 302,
303, 304,
410, 414,
416, 417,
418, 419

6

24

Table 7- Matching of GRI Standards with the Common SDGs of Relevant Sectors

Fig 8 - Sectorwise trend of mapping reports with
SDGs
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0

Tex�leFinance

Consumer Goods

Total matched disclosures

Leather Fashion

Telecom

Mismatched disclosures

Figure 8 shows the sector-wise aligned and unaligned GRI disclosures against SDGs. The leather
and textile sector shows a higher number of disclosures aligned with the linked SDGs. It isapparent that their sustainability reporting is highly driven by the objectives to achieve the selected
SDGs. Meanwhile, the sustainability report from telecom shows their practices are less inﬂuenced
by SDGs.

6. OTHER REPORTS QUALITY
All of the companies listed by the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) were checked for theirsustainability reports. Most of them publish their annual reports which consists of ﬁnancial
statements with limited information on sustainability performance. Few of them include CSR
activities and in some cases, the reports contain little information related to sustainability. In our
research, we’ve studied 64 such reports which include their sustainability oriented process andpractices in the annual reports.
Due to not adhering to any particular standard or framework for reporting such information in theannual report, these information are seldom comparable and decision-useful. Most of theorganizations include the SDGs alignments in the reports. However, due to the lack of detailednessof the information for alignment of the sustainability performance with the SDGs and their targets,these information may not lead to continual improvement of performance towards achievement ofrelevant SDGs.

26

7. CHANGES IN THE HORIZON
The trend of sustainability reporting in Bangladesh reﬂects the increasing awareness andcommitment of the business sector to address their impacts and contribute to a more sustainable
future. By using the GRI Standards, companies are communicating their social, environmental, andeconomic performance and progress to their stakeholders, such as investors, customers,
employees, regulators, and civil society. Sustainability reporting is also helping companies
improve their management practices, identify risks and opportunities, enhance their reputationand competitiveness, and align their strategies with national and global sustainability goals.
Bangladesh Government is encouraging all businesses and other organizations making thembelieve that they will gain access to the vital information that their executives need to manage risks
and ﬁnd sustainable opportunities if they consistently report their complete performance onsustainability. DSE in collaboration with GRI provided guidelines for the companies to follow GRI
standards in their sustainability reporting.
Bangladesh’s rapid entry into the global market is a moderating factor which inﬂuences the local
enterprises into undertaking a sustainable development pathway, through business complianceneeds, and thus, the exporting industries become examples of sustainability practices including
sustainability reporting. Of late, the apparel brands are heavily adopting the sustainability reporting
practices and it is expected that in the run up to the year 2030, a rapid growth the sustainability
reporting trend will arrive.

27

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