CO2 Emission Reporting of Maritime and Air Transport in the Context of Sustainable Development

Abstract The transport industry, and especially aviation and maritime transport, emits significant amounts of CO2, adversely affecting the environment. The Sustainable Development Goals not only indicate the need to reduce CO2 emissions, but also to provide access to information on the amount of emissions, on top of their environmental and financial impacts. The main source of this type of information is found in financial and non-financial statements prepared by entities of the transport sector. CO2 reporting disclosures should be subject to the principle of true and fair view ensuring adequate materiality, transparency and comparability of information. The aim of the article is to assess the scope and method of reporting information on CO2 emissions in the financial and non-financial statements of selected groups of the air and maritime transport sector. By means of content analysis, disclosures on this subject were reviewed and compared against the applicable legal regulations in the field of CO2 emissions reporting for the industry. The results of the research indicate a significant differentiation in the methods of reporting, in particular relating to the valuation and presentation of CO2 emission allowances in reports on the financial position in air transport and the manner and scope of reporting non-financial information in maritime transport. The obtained results indicate insufficient comparability of the reported information and a need for harmonisation of the provisions of law regarding the scope and forms of reporting. The findings also indicate a need to combine financial and non-financial information in single reports in order to properly interpret the effects of emissions.