The environmental information report in the annual accounts: An analysis of the main ports in Spain

Abstract

The aim of this work is to present the content analysis on the intelligibility of the environmental information that is reported in the annual accounts of the main Port Authorities in Spain. The annual accounts are related to documents that contain primarily financial information, and thus meet the needs of users (especially external users) in the decision-making process; in this sense, the work analyzes the environmental aspects presented in them. The data analyzed lead us to conclude that the Port Authorities of Castellón, Gijón and Valencia are the ones that provide the most information about their activities and environmental actions in their annual reports; however, with regard to the clarity of the information reported, the Port Authority of Cartagena is the clearest in conveying the message, while the information presented by the Port Authorities of Castellón and Huelva is less explicit. It is thus recommendable for the Port Authorities to improve their communication strategies in their annual reports, in order to demonstrate their environmental actions in the immediate socioeconomic environment, referring to other sources of information, such as sustainability reports.