The Green Mirror: Reflecting on Sustainability Reporting Practices of Indian and Australian Real Estate Stakeholders

Abstract

Within the real estate sector, the concept of sustainability has traditionally been associated with green building initiatives. This study broadens the scope by examining environmental disclosure practices across a spectrum of stakeholders, including developers, financiers, suppliers, and advisors, within the real estate sectors of Australia and India. Utilizing the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards to evaluate environmental reporting, this research scrutinizes publicly disclosed company data to assess the sector’s engagement with sustainability. The findings reveal a pronounced focus on emissions and energy, with less attention to other critical factors like biodiversity, materials, and supplier environmental assessment. This selective disclosure suggests a need for a more holistic approach to sustainability reporting. This study also investigates the influence of regional nuances and the integration of international reporting standards, shedding light on the varied practices of sustainability reporting within the industry. Furthermore, this paper examines the relationship between environmental disclosures and financial performance, measured by the economic value added (EVA). It was observed that environmental disclosures do not show a significant correlation with EVA for companies in either country, indicating that current reporting practices do not directly impact financial outcomes as captured by this metric. These findings offer actionable insights for enhancing reporting practices, encouraging a collective approach to address the environmental impacts of real estate, and contributing to the discourse on responsible environmental stewardship.