Mark-Herbert, Cecilia
- Department of Forest Economics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Abstract
The textile and apparel industry, while endowed with enormous potential related to the development of countries, is continuously drawing attention to its negative sustainability impacts along their value chains. While apparel retail has been an early adopter to integrate the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into sustainability reports, critics point to the fact that linking sustainability activities to the SDGs is not enough, and cherry-picking low hanging fruit goals is insufficient. To address this potential discrepancy between action and communication, the aim of this study is to explain the perceived value of SDG integration in sustainability reporting in apparel retail. A comparative case study has been conducted of two Swedish apparel retail companies, Lindex and Filippa K, where six sustainability reports from 2015–2017 were reviewed. Empirical findings suggest that there is a correlation between SDG integration, communication maturity, and SDG contribution. The study points to the guiding role the SDGs may have to expand the scope of corporate impact and value in sustainability communication.
Keywords
discourse analysis; sustainability reporting; SDG; textile industry; value creation
Published in
Sustainability
2020, volume: 12, number: 21, article number: 8806
SLU Authors
Global goals (SDG)
SDG5 Gender equality
SDG8 Decent work and economic growth
SDG17 Partnerships for the goals
UKÄ Subject classification
Business Administration
Publication identifier
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su12218806
Permanent link to this page (URI)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/109259