Deconstructing Environmental Risk in Corporate Sustainability Reporting: A Qualitative Study of Flood Risk Representation in Sumatra

Unofficial AI-generated summary based on the public title and abstract. Not an official translation.

🔬研究者:Provides a qualitative method (deconstruction) to critique sustainability disclosure completeness, useful for scholars studying climate risk representation.

🏢実務担当者:Offers insights for sustainability teams to improve risk framing and avoid underrepresenting cumulative environmental risks in reports.

🏛政策担当者:Suggests that disclosure standards may need to emphasize systemic risk connectivity, informing future regulatory guidance.

This study examines how environmental risks, particularly flood risk, are represented in corporate sustainability reporting in Sumatra. Using an interpretive qualitative approach, the study applies qualitative document analysis and Derridean deconstruction to sustainability disclosures from four corporate entities operating in forestry and pulp, metals and mining, electric power generation, and agriculture and plantations. The findings indicate that, in the cases examined, environmental responsibility is predominantly communicated through organizational initiatives, compliance activities, conservation programmes, and operational risk management, while broader ecological interdependencies and cumulative environmental risks receive comparatively less explicit representation. Flood risk is frequently framed through climatic, technical, or operational narratives rather than broader relationships among land use, watershed conditions, ecological degradation, and corporate responsibility. The study concludes that sustainability reporting may enhance environmental visibility while simultaneously limiting the visibility of broader accountability relationships, highlighting the need for more substantive sustainability accounting that connects corporate disclosures with environmental dependencies, impacts, and risks. Penelitian ini mengkaji bagaimana risiko lingkungan, khususnya risiko banjir, direpresentasikan dalam pelaporan keberlanjutan korporasi di Sumatra. Dengan menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif interpretif, penelitian ini menerapkan analisis dokumen kualitatif dan dekonstruksi Derrida terhadap pengungkapan keberlanjutan dari empat entitas korporasi yang bergerak di sektor kehutanan dan pulp, pertambangan logam, pembangkitan tenaga listrik, serta pertanian dan perkebunan. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa, pada kasus yang dianalisis, tanggung jawab lingkungan terutama dikomunikasikan melalui inisiatif organisasi, aktivitas kepatuhan, program konservasi, dan pengelolaan risiko operasional, sementara keterkaitan ekologis yang lebih luas dan risiko lingkungan kumulatif relatif kurang direpresentasikan secara eksplisit. Risiko banjir cenderung dibingkai melalui narasi iklim, teknis, atau operasional daripada melalui hubungan yang lebih luas antara penggunaan lahan, kondisi daerah aliran sungai, degradasi ekologis, dan tanggung jawab korporasi. Penelitian ini menyimpulkan bahwa pelaporan keberlanjutan dapat meningkatkan visibilitas lingkungan sekaligus membatasi visibilitas hubungan akuntabilitas yang lebih luas.

• openalex https://doi.org/10.21009/wahana.21.015first seen 2026-08-05 05:01:28