Sustainable strategic targets, sustainability indicators and sustainability reporting: the case of port authorities

Flavio Abate, Marco Bisogno and Francesca Citro

Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management, 2025, vol. 37, issue 6, 175-192

Abstract: Purpose - This study examines the sustainability reports of Italian port authorities to highlight the connection between strategic sustainability objectives, financial and non-financial indicators and sustainability reports. Design/methodology/approach - The research context includes all the Italian port authorities. The theoretical framework used considers sustainability reporting as part of a comprehensive process that includes strategic planning and management, sustainability targets and indicators, and is linked to sustainability accounting. Accordingly, for each port authority, strategic plans, financial statements and sustainability reports are evaluated through a manual content analysis to examine their contents and also any links between them. Findings - The analysis highlights how sustainability reports often appear as standalone documents rather than as components of a broader process. They often fail to establish a clear link between the sustainable strategic objectives, the financial resources invested in pursuing them as well as any detailed performance metrics. A further significant result is the lack of external assurance, which could undermine the credibility of sustainability reports. Originality/value - This study contributes to current public sector literature on sustainability reporting by investigating a neglected area: port authorities, which significantly impact the environment. Unlike previous studies, this research adopts a comprehensive approach by examining the connection between strategic planning, related objectives, accounting and sustainability reports, treating them as interconnected rather than isolated.

Keywords: Sustainability reporting; Sustainable strategic targets; Sustainability indicators; Port authority (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.110 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (text/html)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.110 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:jpbafm:jpbafm-11-2024-0220

DOI: 10.1108/JPBAFM-11-2024-0220

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management is currently edited by Dr Giuseppe Grossi

More articles in Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management from Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Emerald Support ().