Integration of Environmental Standards in International Trade Agreements.
Wijesinghe, Wijesinghe (2026)
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202604095957
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202604095957
Tiivistelmä
Environmental rules are included in many EU trade agreements. However, there is big gap between these environmental rules and companies’ disclosure practices. This thesis studies how EU trade agreement transparency provisions affect corporate environmental reporting and why the quality of reports is different among sectors and regions.
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Twelve EU trade agreements (2010 to 2026), and sustainability reports from 25 companies were analyzed in five sectors. 7 dimensions were used to score their reported performance. The results show that all transparency rules in EU trade agreements apply only to the government, not to the corporate sector.
Forestry and Fisheries as a high coverage sector scored 17.7 out of 21; that is 35% higher than the textiles and manufacturing at 13.9 out of 21. This is due to the certification schemes such as Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). EU companies scored 17.5 and Non-EU companies scored 14.8 because of the high impact of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).
‘
Twelve EU trade agreements (2010 to 2026), and sustainability reports from 25 companies were analyzed in five sectors. 7 dimensions were used to score their reported performance. The results show that all transparency rules in EU trade agreements apply only to the government, not to the corporate sector.
Forestry and Fisheries as a high coverage sector scored 17.7 out of 21; that is 35% higher than the textiles and manufacturing at 13.9 out of 21. This is due to the certification schemes such as Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). EU companies scored 17.5 and Non-EU companies scored 14.8 because of the high impact of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).