Sustainability reporting | EPFL Graph Search

Sustainability reporting refers to the disclosure, whether voluntary, solicited, or required, of non-financial performance information to outsiders of the organization. Generally speaking, sustainability reporting deals with information concerning environmental, social, economic and governance issues in the broadest sense. These are the criteria gathered under the acronym ESG (Environmental, social and corporate governance). The introduction of these non-financial information in published reports is seen as a step forward in corporate communication and considered as an effective way to increase corporate engagement and transparency. Sustainability reports help companies build consumer confidence and improve corporate reputations through social responsibility programs and transparent risk management. This communication aims at giving stakeholders broader access to relevant information outside the financial sphere that also influences the company's performance. In the EU, the mandator

Seeking methods for improving sustainability in the extractive sector

Farnaz Eslamishoar

Extractive resources are indisputably a necessary component of international sustainable development. Despite current advancements in the circular economy, world production needs for raw materials are ever increasing, and still a long way remains for it to become rather independent from mineral resources. At the same time, mining has too many negative stories in news headlines about its trade-offs for the environment and human health, which hinders sustainable growth. This thesis deals with this integral dilemma in three chapters. In Chapter 1, I have made an extensive effort to understand the socio-political aspects of the mining business, both internationally and specifically in the context of a developing country, and on the issue of the corporate social responsibility the company requires. I then continued with gathering my primary sources of data for answering my first question: What are the primary social variables contributing to mining sustainability issues? I derived theories from Economic Growth in the Political Economy and Institutional Void from Management Science, trying to place my findings in a broader context. I concluded this chapter with underlying sociopolitical factors interfering with sustainable mining practices. This has led to the shaping of the second chapter of my thesis. Chapter 2 builds on the given that throughout the model of Economic Growth, technological change can happen within a shorter timeline and that new technologies lead to more efficiency in the Process Innovation. The mining industry is no exception. Yet, my quick review at the time revealed that this industry is lagging incumbent mainstream businesses in technological adoption. I therefore made my aim here to discuss conditions for transitions towards a more technologically innovative mining business. I surveyed mining firms internationally and noted the critical criteria for responsible practices. I then made what had been to my knowledge and ability, an exhaustive grouping of innovative technologies for the different sectors of mining firms. These tools granted me the ability to perform different multivariate analyses and decide on the best method for benchmarking different technology groups based on these criteria. In the later part of my thesis (Chapter 3), having these findings in hand and all experiences and observations in place with my assumptions, I decided to take one step back to ask whether the criteria I have for measuring mining sustainability are the correct measures by looking through the question using emerging data science tools. Are the sustainability scopes commonly discussed in the mining community the most crucial sustainability problems of this sector? Having the sustainability reports of all major international mining firms in hand, I evaluated around 3500 documents containing 8 million words discussing current sustainability matters pertaining to mining firms. Through implementing appropriate algorithms of Topic Modeling, I introduced five new main scopes for mining sustainability used to examine the discourse and groupings through this framework to observe any possible differences among the conventional and the generated lists. The results of my thesis are my two conceptual frameworks, technological benchmarking assessment tools, and a data-driven sustainability domains list, as well as the innovation policy recommendations for the mining community.

EPFL2021

Plugg-in Tirana (Albanie)

Egest Gjinali, Valentin Kunik

L'Albanie a connu ces dernières années de profonds changements sociaux, économiques et urbains. A la chute du communisme, la répartition des populations sur le territoire a complètement changé, guidée non plus par un pouvoir central, mais par le désir de chacun. La région entre Tirana, l'aéroport et le plus grand port du pays s'est transformée dans sa morphologie, sa densité et sa logique spatiale. Cette région auparavant non bâtie, apparaît aujourd'hui comme une banane de sprawl continu. Ces transformations sont visibles dans la capitale. Son dessin exprime un centre constitué de longue date et une périphérie en « sédimentation » actuellement. Pour répondre à cette transformation, il est aujourd'hui essentiel de penser les transports publics qui irrigueront le territoire ces prochaines années. En réfléchissant au système ferroviaire comme centre linéaire générateur du développement de la région, nous pensons offrir un outil de développement durable. Les gares et arrêts, sortes de perles le long d'un collier ou de pôles hyper-connectés, sont les épicentres du développement futur des villes mais aussi des régions qui les entourent. La gare de Tirana se situe à la limite entre le centre et les zones informelles, au croisement de l'axe monumental et du ring. Cette gare offre l'occasion de condenser des problématiques à la fois liées à la région, la ville et le quartier où elle s'implante. Elle doit trouver une forme et une expression architecturale qui lui soient propres.

2009

Corporate Environmental Strategies

Joana Maria Comas Marti

Stakeholders increasingly demand firms to manage their sustainability performance in a comprehensive manner. Companies are expected to surpass regulatory requirements and address sustainability issues in their extended supply chains and along the life cycles of their products. The need for comprehensive approaches in environmental management constitutes the underlying motivation for the three research projects presented in this dissertation. The first research project provides an explicit assessment of the supply chain vs. firm orientation of corporate environmental strategies. To conduct this assessment, an original typology of environmental management practices is developed and used in a content analysis of corporate sustainability reports. The second research project studies carbon footprint and supply chain responsiveness trade-offs in strategic network design using mathematical modelling and optimisation tools. A model for the cost-effective definition of carbon abatement strategies is proposed. Using this model, the effect of carbon policies on costs and network configuration is analysed for both functional and innovative products. Numerical analyses illustrate the relevance of product innovativeness in the definition of different types of carbon targets and explore the traditional equivalence between price and quantity instruments. Finally, having conducted in-depth interviews and a broad survey, the third research project presents managers’ perspectives on ecolabelling and empirically studies the adoption of ecolabels by firms. Practitioners’ views on ecolabelling’s benefits, reasons for scepticism, the challenges ahead and their recommendations are discussed. Using regression analysis, different factors explaining the adoption of ecolabels by firms are identified.

EPFL2012

Seeking methods for improving sustainability in the extractive sector

Farnaz Eslamishoar

EPFL2021