Santos Limited: CSR Analysis

This assignment examines Santos Limited, a listed mining company, focusing on its corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices. It analyzes the company's sustainability reports from 2013 to 2016, highlighting their evolution in terms of content, depth, and emphasis on quantitative performance measures. The analysis reveals Santos' commitment to key CSR areas like stakeholder engagement, resource reduction, emissions control, and workforce well-being, demonstrating a shift towards more comprehensive and transparent reporting over time.

Financial Accounting Theory & Practice
Santos Limited - Materials
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Financial Accounting Theory & Practice
1) The company selected for this task is Santos Limited which is a listed mining company. In 2013,
the annual report of the company did not contain much in terms of CSR and the same was
observed in 2016. The only relevant information about CSR in the 2013 annual report was in the
form of a mention of a “Environment, Health, Safety and Sustainability Committee” which is
responsible for monitoring and reviewing the sustainability policies. Also, this committee is
expected to deal with reporting in sustainability aspect. However, no other details about the
performance of the company in this aspect or the steps taken by the company are highlighted in
the annual report (Santos, 2013). In 2016, even there is no mention of the “Environment, Health,
Safety and Sustainability Committee” as the section on corporate governance is not there
(Santos, 2016).
2) The company does not report any information about CSR in the annual report which may be
attributed to the fact that the company tends to release an annual sustainability report which
covers the aspects related to CSR and is assessable from the website. The sustainability report in
2013 tends to list down the various key aspects of sustainability from the perspective of the
company. Further, the various aspects such as engaging with the stakeholders, reducing resource
usage, reducing emissions , protecting water resources, building sustainable workforce while
ensuring health and safety have been outlined coupled with the various measures undertaken in
these regards. Also, the performance of the company in quantitative terms for various aspects
outlined above has also been highlighted in the report. The tone of the report is quite assuring as
it highlights that the company is sensitive to the concerns of the stakeholders and thereby aims at
sustainable development (Santos, 2013).
From 2013 to 2016, the core focus of the company in terms of basic philosophy driving CSR
remains the same. The 2016 sustainability report is not available, however, the sustainability
performance data is available which is significantly more extensive as compared to 2013 which
clearly reflects the increasing emphasis on this aspect. This is on expected lines considering
mining companies are usually accused of having adverse impact on communities and
environment and thus extensively engage in CSR activities to manage their public image. Besides,
the array of indicators used in 2016 is also more extensive in 2013 which clearly reflects to
improvement in the CSR reporting which allows for greater quantification. This is significant from
the perspective of future CSR reporting as mere detailing of initiatives can amount to green-
washing without highlighting the performance aspect (Santos, 2017).
It is apparent that the company has brought about a separate dedicated section of sustainability
rather than combining the same in the annual report. Thus, while the annual report of the
company tends to focus on the performance in financial and operational terms, the section on
sustainability accessed from the website tends to highlight the performance of the company in
terms of CSR along with various initiatives and the quantitative performance measures.

Financial Accounting Theory & Practice
References
Santos (2013), Annual Report 2013, Santos Website, [Online] Available at
https://www.santos.com/media/2505/annual_report_2013.pdf [Accessed August 26, 2017]
Santos (2014), Sustainability Report 2013, Santos Website, [Online] Available at
https://www.santos.com/media/1278/2013_sustainability_report.pdf [Accessed August 26, 2017]
Santos (2016), Annual Report 2016, Santos Website, [Online] Available at
https://www.santos.com/media/3525/san675_annualreport2016_fa3_low-res_.pdf [Accessed
August 26, 2017]
Santos (2017), Sustainability Performance Data 2016, Santos Website, [Online] Available at
https://www.santos.com/media/3604/santos-sustainability-performance-data-2016.pdf [Accessed
August 26, 2017]