Part B. 15 marks (1000 1250 words)

Part B. 15 marks (1000 1250 words)

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is an international not-for-profit organisation that has pioneered and developed the worlds most widely used voluntary Sustainability Reporting Framework. In 2022, the most recent Sustainability Reporting Standards were released. These can be accessed via this link:https://www.globalreporting.org/standards.

With reference to 'GRI 2: General Disclosures 2021' of the sustainability reporting standards, and the 2023 reporting by, and website of, Rio Tinto prepare a report which describes and evaluates the usefulness of the key disclosures as a decision-making tool for stakeholders who are concerned about the environmental and social impacts of the firms operations. Concentrating on the interpretation and application of the accounting guidelines and frameworks, your report should include:

Task:

An overview of the environmental and social impacts (positive and negative) of Rio Tintos operations(2 marks).

Identification of four key areas covered by GRI standards that are likely to be of most relevance to the stakeholders of Rio Tinto and a critical evaluation of whether this information is provided by the organisation(3 marks).

A critical assessment of the quality and depth of environmental and social performance information provided by Rio Tinto in their formal reporting and on their website(5 marks).

An evaluation of whether widespread compliance with the GRI Reporting Standards by other comparable organisations would benefit potential investors, current shareholders, and other stakeholders of the Rio Tinto (3 marks).

Do you think that Rio Tinto Ltd behave ethically? Explain your reasons(2 marks).

Electronic journals in which you can find social and environmentalaccounting literature, available through the CSU library, include:

Accounting, Organizations and Society (AOS); Accounting, Auditing and Accountability (AAAJ);Critical Perspectives of Accounting (CPA); Accounting Forum; Social and EnvironmentalAccountability Journal (SEAJ); Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal(SAMPJ); Meditari Accountancy Research.

In the social and environmental accounting (SEA) literature, in public practice, and in the capital markets, ESG reports are referred to by a number of different names including Sustainability Reports, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Reports, Corporate Social Disclosure (CSD) Reports, Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Reports, Corporate Responsibility Reports, Triple Bottom Line (TBL) Reports, and a range of other names. Blasco, J. L., King, A., McKenzie, M., & Karn, M. (2017).The KPMG Survey of Corporate Responsibility Reporting 2017.