A Framework for Sustainability Reporting of Renewable Energy Companies in Greece

Abstract

The purpose of the current study is to collect and evaluate data on whether and to what extent the renewable energy companies within Greece disclose non-financial information in line with global and international standards. Renewable energy has grown rapidly over the last 20 years as a key aspect of the transition to a less energy-intensive and more sustainable energy system. However, constant competition between companies, finances, taxes, politics and other factors have in many cases created environmentally harmful situations. Even though technology is advancing and supporting these companies, even though international laws for the environment and the safety measures for operations have become stricter, it was, nevertheless, impossible to avoid these situations. The concerns of the public, but also of the renewable energy companies to control, monitor and measure the impacts from their operations to the environment and the life of society around the sites of their operations, lead many companies to publish sustainability reports. This report is published by a company or organization concerning the economic, environmental and social impacts caused by its everyday activities and demonstrates the link between its strategy and its commitment to a sustainable global economy. A framework with specific economic, environmental and social indicators to support reporting for renewable energy companies is corporate social responsibility (CSR) together with the Global Reporting Initiatives (GRI). GRI is an independent international organization that has pioneered sustainability reporting. It is very important to determine the extent to which these enterprises really contribute to sustainable development.

1. Introduction

Renewable energy is energy that comes from natural, renewable resources, which are usually activated on a human timescale, for example, daylight, wind, rain, tide, waves and geothermal energy. Renewable energy gives vitality to four important areas: power, air/water heating/cooling, transport, and rustic (off-grid) administrations. Renewable energy sources (RESs) are characterized as abundant energy sources. Man, before starting to use oil and its other derivatives, used this first type of energy to meet his needs. Unlike oil products, RESs do not pollute nature, while the main limitation regarding their use is the improvement in reliable and economically satisfactory developments for the full exploitation of the possibilities they offer. The main points of interest of RESs are as follows:

To satisfy all uses and purposes that are currently satisfied by other energy sources and help reduce dependence on them.

A method to adjust emissions of carbon dioxide and other ozone-depleting substances. In addition, they lead to a reduction in the outflow of various poisons, for example, sulfur and nitrogen oxides that cause acid rain.

They are domestic energy sources and increase the autonomy and security of sustainability at a national level.

They are dispersed topographically, promoting the decentralization of the sustainability framework, making it possible for energy to be produced in close proximity to where it will be consumed, and, thus, complementing the fundamental frameworks and reducing failures in both transmission and transport.

They provide opportunities for the prudent use of energy sources, as they disseminate a wide range of customer needs (for example, solar energy for low-temperature heat generation, wind energy for power generation).

They generally have low costs that are not affected by changes in the global economy, unlike conventional sources of energy (oil), which are influenced by political decisions, wars, etc.

Renewable energy has grown rapidly over recent years as a key aspect of the transition to a less energy-intensive and more sustainable energy system [1]. However, constant competition among companies, finances, taxes, politics, government pressures and other factors have, in many cases, created environmentally harmful situations [2]. Although technology is advancing and supports companies, and even though international laws for the environment and the safety measures of operations have become stricter, it was nevertheless impossible for these situations to be avoided. The concerns of the public, but also those of the renewable energy companies to control, monitor and measure the impacts from their operations on the environment and society in the regions of operations, lead many companies to publish a sustainability report [3]. This report concerns the economic, environmental and social impacts caused by a company’s everyday activities. A sustainability report also presents the organization’s values and governance model and demonstrates the link between its strategy and its commitment to a sustainable global economy [4]. It can help organizations to measure, understand and communicate their economic, environmental, social and governance performance, and then set goals, and manage change more effectively [5]. A sustainability report is the key platform for communicating sustainability performance and impacts—whether positive or negative. A framework with specific economic, environmental and social indicators to support reporting for renewable energy companies is corporate social responsibility (CSR) together with the Global Reporting Initiatives (GRI), which consist of a factor of great importance. GRI is an independent international organization that has pioneered sustainability reporting since 1997. CSR presents an opportunity to guide world businesses toward sustainable and social development [6]. Numerous question marks surround the extent to which these enterprises really contribute, through CSR activities, to sustainable development [7,8]. Corporate social responsibility information disclosure integrates environmental and social practices to achieve sustainable development [9].

The thought of corporate social responsibility is, these days, generally spread among organizations around the world. Despite the fact that its foundations can be recognized as many years before, its advanced usage was a result of the post-World War II era [10]. During the following decades, an expanding number of organizations embraced the possibility of CSR, at first in the United States, while it turned into a well-known field in academic research [11]. During these years, the CSR was additionally expanded to incorporate ideas like corporate/business morals, worldwide corporate citizenship [12] supportability and board partnership [13]. Sustainable corporate development has become essential for many enterprises in the context of economic globalization and fierce technological competition. In fact, it is being tackled at a strategic level by most companies. The fulfillment of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is significant for building a corporate image, improving brand competitiveness, and promoting sustainable corporate development [14,15], given that improvements in CSR information quality can improve firms’ innovation performances, help investors and stakeholders to fully understand the future value of firms’ innovation activities and improve the efficiency of corporate innovation performance. Huang et al. proposed a model which connects CSR engagement and new product development (NPD) process [16]. Consolidating the above information, investigation into the usage of CSR in renewable energy source (RES) business is a difficult and intriguing examination zone, especially for Greece, where the RESs may find very profitable growth conditions, due to the favorable weather conditions.

Greece is trying to comply with international regulations. These regulations have been in place for many years in the energy sector to protect the environment. Companies operating in this field are starting to comply with the new data. This includes companies operating in the field of RESs, although it is obvious that they are not as harmful to the environment as oil companies. There are several such companies operating in Greece that are trying to take advantage of favorable conditions and generate electricity [17]. These companies affect, to a lesser extent, the environment, the economy and society, so it is necessary to have control even over them [18]. Therefore, it is necessary for these companies to compile similar reports on their turnover.

The aim of the current study is to introduce, examine and basically talk about the corporate social responsibility reporting procedure that is followed by organizations of the RES sector in Greece, as it is introduced in their reports, in order to recognize the development of the CSR methodology during the most recent years.

The purpose of this paper is to find the necessary theoretical framework to study the CSR reports of companies that play a leading role in Greece in the field of RESs whether disclose non-financial information in line with global and international standards.

This study does not focus only on Greek companies but also takes into account the most recent reports of foreign companies operating in RESs in Greece. In a separate section, it also deals with the CSR reports of the foreign companies that supply the above operators with the necessary mechanical systems (wind turbines).

Our results show that the size of a company and the regulations in which it operates affect its degree of convergence with international compliance standards. In particular, Greek companies, which are governed by a weaker legal framework, are far behind in terms of compliance with international companies and need to be improved. In addition, large companies seem to appreciate the importance of CSR more and have it incorporated into their daily turnover.

The implication of the study is that the Greek RES companies need to comply to a greater extent with international standards and should be guided by the compliance rates of foreign or multinational companies. Nevertheless, it is encouraging that from their reports, there seems to be an improvement in their reported scores over the years, while there are other companies that have started to invest in the RES field and are expected to have a significant share in the future.

This study unfolds in five sections. The first section presents a general introduction regarding RESs and CSR reporting, while a reference is made to the aim and the objectives of the study [19].

The second section provides the baseline, with a brief historical overview of CSR and the surrounding theories. It also mentions the European framework that governs it as well as the international compliance regulations. Then, reference is made to RESs and their advantages, as well as what is happening in Greece with these forms of energy and CSR.

The third section analyzes the materials and methods that will be used in order to draw useful conclusions, as well as the methodologies of other researchers over this topic.

The fourth section presents the results extracted from the research, while, at the same time, comments and comparisons are made where possible.

In the fifth section, there is a further commentary, and some conclusions are drawn on this issue, and in addition, a similar topic is proposed for the future and ongoing study.

2. Baseline

RES companies make a number of crucial new business investments, particularly at a local level.

In many cases, they can be a boost for the rehabilitation of economically and socially disadvantaged areas and a magnet for local development by promoting significant investments, for example, greenhouses that use geothermal energy to meet their needs [20].

From the first oil crisis in 1974 onwards, governments began to seek ways to become independent of expensive imported oil, and later they realized the need to improve the environment. In this context, the European Union has set goals to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in order to accelerate the development of RESs. The reduction in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere could be achieved by reducing waste energy from fossil fuels, but also from the exploitation of RESs, i.e., solar and wind energy, hydraulic energy (waterfalls), geothermal energy, biomass and energy of the seas (wave energy, etc.).

The Kyoto Protocol, in 1977, was a significant effort towards the creation of an effective international body to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (CO₂, CH₄, N₂O, HFCs, PFCs and SF₆), as reported in [21]. According to that study, since RESs do not emit greenhouse gases at all, their increased use in energy production is a goal for all governments to meet the Kyoto Protocol. In addition, many European countries had already promoted RESs in research and energy programs before the protocol was even signed.

The advancement of corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting has not been practiced in a uniform way in all nations. According to a recent study [22] concerning the European nations, we can note that Italy, Spain and the UK are the nations with the highest caliber of CSR reports drawn up by Global Fortune 250 (G250) organizations [23]. Organizations in these nations are, likewise, those that have exhibited both solid correspondence and demonstrable skill after some time [24]. Among the nations of Southern Europe, Greece is the nation that has registered the most minimal pace of dispersion of CSR reports. Greek organizations appear to be substantially more centered on imparting their duties than on frameworks and reports [25].

The advancement of CSR has been joined by a myriad of rules and principles whose selection ought to improve the straightforwardness, validity and equivalence of reporting [26]. Global Reporting Initiative rules are accepted by those managing the structure of Sustainability Reports (SR) and, up to now, they are mostly utilized both at national and global levels [27].

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) rules, from their initial form [28], have been shaped by indicators of the organization’s economic, social and environmental profile and performance. Updates to the GRI rules and the ongoing endorsement of GRI norms [29] have improved these indicators, demonstrating their significance. The decision to examine GRI pointers can be justified by various reasons. GRI rules are received by an increasing number of organizations and, in view of GRI arrangements, its pointers are created through GRI’s multi-partner procedures in order to address perspectives that the organization and its partners have recognized as relevant. GRI indicators, because of their ubiquity, sharing development and extensiveness, can be considered the most substantial hotspots for the extraction of CSR indicators [30]. These indicators can offer companies extra value in economic, social and environmental terms [31]. They are significant analysis and monitoring tools intended to boost the dynamic procedures (decision making) and the adjustment of an organization’s socio-environmental issues [32,33,34,35].

In Greece, until a few years ago, many people did not know much about RESs. In particular, the elderly and the less-educated people did not know and did not understand the advantages of using RESs [36]. Also, many people were mainly concerned with the aesthetics of the natural environment in which they were living, especially in tourist areas, and did not want to modify or alter it for the benefit of RESs. Measures were needed to broaden the public preference on RESs. One study investigated the six factors that appear to be related to RES knowledge levels [37]. These factors are the gender, age, and level of education of the Head of the Household (HoH) that passes on their knowledge to the next generation. In addition, the factors of employment, studies or interest in the environment, and, ultimately, personal environmental behavior, are crucial. Another paper by Ntanos et al. analyzed the social acceptance of RESs in light of their contribution to improving quality of life, in order to motivate their further use [38]. It seems that over the years, many people are starting to get to know RESs and some are already using them. Wide social acceptance is required for the installation and operation of RES technologies, while according to this study, social contradictions must be resolved and some restrictions have to be removed by the authorities. Moreover, some other studies have demonstrated the lack of a proper RES development framework that originally existed in Greece and gaps in the relevant legislation [39,40]. They believe that the legal framework needs to be improved in order to avoid bureaucracy, delays, a lack of investment security and high implementation costs.

The need for the rational use of RES potential through the implementation of some required measures has been emphasized [39]. RESs are a national treasure for Greece and for every state, and it is a duty of every government to protect and distribute them fairly. The results of another analysis show that the exploitation of RESs in the Greek electricity sector presents significant benefits to employment of the same order of magnitude or even higher than the corresponding benefits attributed to fossil-fuel energy production [41]. There is a basis for stronger arguments in the controversy over the preferred expansion model of the power generation system, regarding which there has been concern about the risks of unemployment, in order to protect the environment. With the right tools and the choice of the right technologies, the decision-making process can be improved. According to Tourkolias and Mirasgedis, Greece lags behind in the exploitation of RESs in relation to other countries, such as Germany. This analysis is based on some indicators of project effectiveness. The proper development of effective domestic RES projects and comprehensive energy-saving policies are vital to a sustainable-energy future. Environmental protection requires social action and measures.

In another study, reference was made to Greek politics and the experience of using RESs [13]. In order to reverse the energy landscape in Greece, the greater use of RESs and energy savings must be made. It described the institutional framework to be used, as well as energy production applications through RESs. Also, the energy policy of some Greek cities (Ptolemaida, Thessaloniki, Chania, Mytilene) was presented. In Chania, as presented in the study of Xydis and Loizidou, it is possible with the contribution of RESs to fully meet the energy needs of waste management companies, in the context of sustainable development. In general, the islands have a great potential for the use of RESs [42]. Specifically, Tilos is the first island to be energetically based on RESs and stored energy [43], while in Mykonos, it seems that RESs can contribute to the protection of the environment and the economic development of the island. The development of photovoltaic systems could make Mykonos an energy-independent island but also, they could supply electricity to other islands [44]. Considering the above possibilities, the urgent need to exploit the potential of solar energy in Greece has been demonstrated, while according to another study, there are ways to commercialize this technology [45]. However, not all areas are suitable for the exploitation of RESs in Greece. According to measurements, there are some areas that are suitable for the installation of wind turbines in Greece and some others that are contraindicated [46]. A similar study investigated photovoltaic parks in Greece, which showed the areas with the highest and lowest electricity-generation capacity [47]. In addition, it was found that in the region of Greece, given its natural wealth, the production of electricity through photovoltaic systems is very profitable and has many benefits for the environment, as it does not burden it with greenhouse gases. The same conclusion was generally reached by Baltas and Dervos [48] for the RES investments, while also presenting a regulatory framework for the decision to select appropriate areas for RES projects, in order to properly integrate them into the local environment according to the characteristics of each region. An empirical model examines the relationships between carbon dioxide emissions, tourism, real income, and housing policy, amid uncertainties in the period from 1999 to 2015 [49]. Finally, it has been indicated that regular oil investors are likely to move their investments into renewable energy, thereby causing the expansion and profitability of this market. There is now a growing awareness of climate change. Doukas et al. [50] presented a comprehensive framework for enterprise, energy and environmental policies (ENTRÉE policies) that will be adopted in the Greek energy market, capable of measuring and accessing the carbon footprint of companies and providing proposals for strategic interventions, thereby promoting environmentally friendly technologies such as RESs and Rational Energy Use (RUE). This framework combines business research (multi-criteria and decision support systems by experts) and information technology (information systems, technologies, applications and the Internet) to incorporate RESs and RUE into Greek business operations and processes, to regularly monitor the environmental responsibility of companies and to determine the overall image of companies, as well as to identify changes and diversity in the situation of Greece in relation to the European and global market.

Another study conducted by Tarquinio et al. examines the performance indicators presented in SR reports based on GRI, for Italy, Spain and Greece [22]. It also verifies how some corporate variables, such as country-of-origin variables and the “characteristics” of the reports, explain the exported GRI indicators. The same conclusion was drawn in the study of Bardu et al. (2014), where it was demonstrated that “the level and quality of environmental disclosure are dependent on the legal, social, cultural, and political context of the company” [51].

In their work, Metaxas and Tsavdaridou (2017) conducted a case study to present how climate change is interpreted in the CSR reports of Greek oil refineries [52]. A comparative study was conducted among the three largest Greek energy supply companies (DEI, DEPA and ELPE) in terms of sustainability reporting. In general, in CSR reports they appear to publish their activities related to environmental impacts, although they do not evaluate their methods. An exception to this is ELPE, which uses the GRI index for their environmental activities. It is noted that in the past, there were not CSR reports for each year, and it was a disadvantage that their activities were not evaluated internally by companies or externally by auditors or by the public. It seems that these companies have realized their responsibility and role in society and have incorporated them into their business strategy, but their CSR tactics need to be further improved. This study enriches the literature on climate change and CSR, while showing that although Greece is in a time of crisis, CSR can be implemented.

3. Materials and Methods

This paper is based on reports published by companies on their websites and is open to the public. Data concerning some of the largest companies operating in this field in Greece will be collected, presented, and analyzed. A data comparison of the companies will also be presented, where this is possible, and the participation of the interested parties will also be investigated.

The examination configuration incorporates the comparison of information from yearly reports. Most Greek RES companies do not compose CSR reports at all. At best, they just make a simple reference to social, environmental, and economic policy, without specifically referring to the standards that they follow. However, the big companies in the field, to a large or small extent, publish reports, just like the companies in the rest of the world do. It should be made clear from the outset that it was not possible to access companies’ non-free data (internal surveys, records, forecasts); thus, the background of these reports could not be fully understood. This study was based on secondary data that are open to the community, and this has limited the completeness of the research. Specifically, a content analysis was performed, which was both qualitative and quantitative. In the quantitative analysis (media research), we tried to gather all the information and to define the quantities of that under consideration. On the other hand, when we tried to perform the qualitative analysis, we tried to reveal the true dimensions and the meaning of the subject under consideration. The data will be presented in words, in figures and in comparative tables. In the current study, a manifest analysis is going to take place, in which the data will be presented as they are already published online by the companies. On top of this, in some cases, a latent analysis will also be made, in which the real meaning of the published data and the significance of the results will be presented.

Content analysis is a methodology that is broadly used in this kind of research [53,54,55] and is the research method commonly used and preferred for the evaluation of a company’s social and environmental disclosures [56]. According to Berelson, the advantage of this analysis is that it consists of “a technique for objective, systematic, and quantitative description of the manifest content of communication” [57]. Another advantage of this method is that it consists of a research method in order to make replicable and valid assumptions from the given data [58]. Thinking only from the perspective of the CSR study, content analysis is “a technique for gathering data that consists of codifying qualitative information in anecdotal and literary form into categories in order to derive quantitative scales of varying levels of complexity” [59].

The point of this examination is to introduce, analyze and assess the sustainability and corporate social responsibility of the more prominent organizations in Greece dealing with renewable energy sources, to see how the sustainability and corporate duty of the organizations is evolving consistently. The examination comprised of the CSR reports distributed for the ongoing years, and are accessible to download from the official web pages of these organizations. Extra data accessible through different methods, for example, site pages, online journals, etc., were also contemplated during this analysis, in order to obtain a superior view over the working circle of these organizations.

In Greece, several companies are active in the field of renewable energy sources. These companies are either purely Greek, Greek companies cooperating with foreign companies, or purely foreign and international companies. The present study examined the corporate social responsibility of the largest of these companies, on which the exploitation of RESs in Greece is based, to a greater extent. Initially, data needed to be collected to show the state of entrepreneurship in this field and especially in the field of wind farms, on which the greatest interest seems to be focused by a large part of the business world. It is important to mention that companies that deal with the RES sector are not only the ones that finance and exploit them, but also the companies that equip them. For example, wind-turbine manufacturing and maintenance companies could not be left out of this study, as they operate in Greece, offering services, products, labor, etc. In any case, the data were categorized by business sector in order to draw useful conclusions. The data of the companies that have issued reports in the last 5 years will be presented (where possible). The evolution of the companies’ reports and the more relevant points will be presented. An attempt will also be made to compare recent CSR reports by industry, their corporate vision and their corporate social strategy.

4. Results

The research part of this work focused on how and whether RES companies operating in Greece compose non-financial reports through the preparation of statements/reports of non-financial information, which is part of the management report of the Board of Directors. The first step of the research was the review of the annual reports from the websites of the companies, with the aim of searching and locating the most recent non-financial reports (statements) published by them. The second phase of the investigation focused on whether these statements complied with the guidelines of the respective directives. At this point, it should be emphasized that, in the cases of companies where the relevant report was not identified because it was simply not written and not published by the organization, an attempt was made to locate published non-financial data in any form of publication on the relevant website as much as possible. The selected companies of the study were those with the largest share in the market of RES operation in Greece and those with the largest share of wind-turbine supply in Greece. The reason why this choice was made is that the rest of the companies, for the most part, do not compose similar reports and their turnover is meager.

4.1. Leading RES OPERATORS in Greece

In Greece, due to the favorable weather conditions, as discussed earlier, many companies have begun exploiting RESs. For this reason, companies that used to deal in construction or traditional forms of energy have now started to be active in the field of RESs. There is a long list of companies that deal in this form of energy, some to a greater extent and others to a lesser degree. This list could include micro-enterprises engaged in the marketing and installation of photovoltaics for individuals, or those operating in very small projects. It could even include large multinational companies that construct, maintain and operate large photovoltaic or wind farms. It is obvious that when we want to study CSR, large companies are more significant: those who employ more people in their classes, those that have a greater energy footprint, and those who can affect the local society, the economy and the environment with their decisions. For this reason, Figure 1 depicts the companies that hold a leading position in the Greek RES energy sector and mainly in wind energy production. All these statistical data were drawn from the Hellenic Wind Energy Association [60].

It can be observed that the two first companies in this ranking are Greek.

Table 1. Capacity (MW) per wind-energy producer and CSR reporting.

Company	Capacity (MW)	CSR Report	Source
Terna Energy	554.1	Yes	[61]
Ellaktor	397.6	Yes	[62]
Enel Green Power	354.6	Yes	[63]
Total Eren	268.5	Yes	[64]
Iberdrola Rokas	254.7	Yes	[65]
Edf En Hellas SA	238.2	Yes	[66]
Mytilineos Group	187.9	Yes	[67]
Cf Ventus	181	No	-
PPC Renewables	89.9	Yes	[68]
Eunice	81.5	No	[69]
Edeka	67	No	[70]
Elsewedy	60.4	Yes	[71]

portrays that most of these companies, holding a leading position in the field of wind energy in Greece, issue CSR reports according to the GRI standards.

In this study, the top seven of them were examined, emphasizing what policy each of them follows and to what extent they follow these standards.

Table 2. GRI sustainability disclosures of companies exploiting RESs in Greece.

GRI Standards		Disclosure	GRI Code	Terna Energy 2018	Ellaktor 2019	Enel Green Power 2019	Total Eren 2019	Rokas Iberdrola 2019	EDF EN Hellas 2018	Mytilineos 2018
Foundation 2016			101	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
GENERAL DISCLOSURES 2016 GRI 102	Organizational profile	Name of the organization	102-1	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
		Activities, brands, products and services	102-2	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
		Location and headquarters	102-3	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
		Location of operations	102-4	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
		Ownership and legal form	102-5	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
		Markets served	102-6	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
		Scale of the organization	102-7	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
		Information on employees and other workers	102-8	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
		Supply chain	102-9	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
		Significant changes to the organization and its supply chain	102-10	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
		Precautionary principle or approach	102-11	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
		External initiatives	102-12	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
		Membership of associations	102-13	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
	Strategy	Statement from senior decision maker	102-14	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
		Key impacts, risks, and opportunities	102-15	▬	✔	✔	▪	✔	▬	▪
	Ethics and integrity	Values, principles, standards, and norms of behavior	102-16	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
		Location and headquarters	102-17	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	▬	▬
	Governance	Mechanisms for advice and concerns about ethics	102-18	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
		Governance structure	102-19	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	▬	▪
		Delegating authority	102-20	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	▬	▪
		Executive-level responsibility for economic, environmental, and social topics	102-21	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	▬	▪
		Consulting stakeholders on economic, environmental, and social topics	102-22	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	▬	▪
		Chair of the highest governance body	102-23	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	▬	▪
		Nominating and selecting the highest governance body	102-24	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	▬	▪
		Conflicts of interest	102-25	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	▬	▪
		Role of highest governance body in setting purpose, values, and strategy	102-26	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	▬	▪
		Collective knowledge of highest governance body	102-27	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	▬	▪
		Evaluating the highest governance body’s performance	102-28	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	▬	▪
		Identifying and managing economic, environmental, and social impacts	102-29	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	▬	▬
		Effectiveness of risk management processes	102-30	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	▬	▬
		Review of economic, environmental and social issues	102-31	▬	▬	▬	✔	✔	▬	▬
		Highest governance body’s role in sustainability reporting	102-32	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	▬	▪
		Communicating critical concerns	102-33	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	▬	▬
		Nature and total number of critical concerns	102-34	▬	▬	▬	▬	✔	▬	▬
		Remuneration policies	102-35	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	▬	▪
		Process for determining remuneration	102-36	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	▬	▪
		Stakeholders’ involvement in remuneration	102-37	▬	▬	▬	✔	✔	▬	▪
		Annual total compensation ratio	102-38	▬	▬	▬	✔	✔	▬	▬
		Percentage increase in annual total compensation ratio	102-39	▬	▬	▬	✔	✔	▬	▬
	Stakeholder engagement	List of stakeholder groups	102-40	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
		Collective bargaining agreements	102-41	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
		Identifying and selecting stakeholders	102-42	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
		Approach to stakeholder engagement	102-43	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
		Key topics and concerns raised	102-44	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
	Reporting practice	Entities included in the consolidated financial statements	102-45	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
		Defining report content and topic boundaries	102-46	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
		List of material topics	102-47	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
		Restatements of information	102-48	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
		Changes in reporting	102-49	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
		Reporting period	102-50	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
		Date of most recent report	102-51	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
		Reporting cycle	102-52	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
		Contact point for questions regarding the report	102-53	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
		Claims of reporting in accordance with the GRI Standards	102-54	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
		GRI content index	102-55	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
		External assurance	102-56	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
MANAGEMENT APPROACH 2016 GRI 103		Explanation of the material topic and its boundary	103-1	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
		The management approach and its components	103-2	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
		Evaluation of the management approach	103-3	✔	✔	▬	✔	✔	✔	✔
ECONOMIC STANDARD SERIES GRI 200	Economic Performance 2016 GRI 201	Direct economic value generated and distributed	201-01	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	▪
		Financial implications and other risks and opportunities due to climate change	201-02	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	✔	▪
		Defined-benefit plan obligations and other retirement plans	201-03	▬	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	▪
		Financial assistance received from government	201-04	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	▬	▪
	Market Presence 2016 GRI 202	Ratios of standard entry-level wage by gender compared to local minimum wage	202-01	▬	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	▬
		Proportion of senior management hired from the local community	202-02	▬	✔	▬	✔	✔	▬	▬
	Indirect Economic Impacts 2016 GRI 203	Infrastructure investments and services supported	203-01	▬	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	✔
		Significant indirect economic impacts	203-02	▬	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	▬
	Procurement Practices 2016 GRI 204	Proportion of spending on local suppliers	204-01	▬	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	▪
	Anti-corruption 2016 GRI 205	Operations assessed for risks related to corruption	205-01	▬	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	▬
		Communication and training about anti-corruption policies and procedures	205-02	▬	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	▬
		Confirmed incidents of corruption and actions taken	205-03	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
	Anti-competitive Behavior 2016 GRI 206	Legal actions for anti-competitive behavior, anti-trust, and monopoly practices	206-01	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	✔	▪
	Tax 2019 GRI 207	Approach to tax	207-01	▬	▬	▬	✔	▬	✔	▬
		Tax governance, control, and risk management	207-02	▬	▬	▬	✔	▬	✔	▬
		Stakeholder engagement and management of concerns related to tax	207-03	▬	▬	▬	✔	▬	✔	▬
		Country-by-country reporting	207-04	▬	▬	▬	✔	▬	✔	▬
ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS SERIES GRI 300	Materials 2016 GRI 301	Materials used by weight or volume	301-01	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	✔	▬
		Recycled input materials used	301-02	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	▬	▪
		Reclaimed products and their packaging materials	301-03	▬	▬	▬	✔	✔	▬	▬
	Energy 2016 GRI 302	Energy consumption within the organization	302-01	▬	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
		Energy consumption outside of the organization	302-02	▬	▬	▬	✔	✔	▬	▬
		Energy intensity	302-03	▬	✔	✔	✔	✔	▬	✔
		Reduction in energy consumption	302-04	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	▬	▬
		Reduction in energy requirements of products and services	302-05	▬	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	▬
	Water and Effluents 2018 GRI 303	Interactions with water as a shared resource	303-01	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
		Management of water discharge-related impacts	303-02	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	✔	▪
		Water withdrawal	303-03	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	✔	▪
		Water discharge	303-04	▬	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	▬
		Water consumption	303-05	▬	✔	▬	✔	✔	✔	▪
	Biodiversity 2016 GRI 304	Operational sites owned, leased, managed in, or adjacent to, protected areas and areas of high biodiversity value outside protected areas	304-01	▬	✔	▬	✔	✔	✔	▪
		Significant impacts of activities, products, and services on biodiversity	304-02	✔	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	▪
		Habitats protected or restored	304-03	▬	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	▬
		IUCN Red List species and national-conservation-listed species with habitats in areas affected by operations	304-04	▬	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	▬
	Emissions 2016 GRI 305	Direct (Scope 1) GHG emissions	305-01	▬	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	▬
		Energy indirect (Scope 2) GHG emissions	305-02	▬	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	▪
		Other indirect (Scope 3) GHG emissions	305-03	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
		GHG emission intensity	305-04	▬	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
		Reduction in GHG emissions	305-05	▬	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	▬
		Emissions of ozone-depleting substances (ODS)	305-06	▬	▬	▬	✔	✔	▬	✔
		Nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx), and other significant air emissions	305-07	▬	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
	Effluents and Waste 2016 GRI 306	Water discharge by quality and destination	306-01	▬	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	✔
		Waste by type and disposal method	306-02	▬	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
		Significant spills	306-03	▬	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	▪
		Transport of hazardous waste	306-04	▬	✔	▬	✔	✔	✔	▬
		Water bodies affected by water discharges and/or runoff	306-05	▬	▬	▬	✔	✔	▬	▬
	Environmental Compliance 2016 GRI 307	Non-compliance with environmental laws and regulations	307-01	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	▪
	Supplier Environmental Assessment 2016 GRI 308	New suppliers that were screened using environmental criteria	308-01	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	✔	▬
		Negative environmental impacts in the supply chain and actions taken	308-02	▬	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	▬
SOCIAL STANDARDS SERIES GRI 400	Employment 2016 GRI 401	New employee hires and employee turnover	401-01	▬	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
		Benefits provided to full-time employees that are not provided to temporary or part-time employees	401-02	▬	✔	▬	✔	✔	✔	▪
		Parental leave	401-03	▬	✔	▬	✔	✔	✔	▪
	Labor/Management Relations 2016 GRI 402	Minimum notice periods regarding operational changes	402-01	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	✔	▪
	Occupational Health and Safety 2018 GRI 403	Occupational health and safety management system	403-01	▬	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	▪
		Hazard identification, risk assessment, and incident investigation	403-02	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
		Occupational health services	403-03	▬	✔		✔	✔	✔	▪
		Worker participation, consultation, and communication on occupational health and safety	403-04	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	✔	▬
		Worker training on occupational health and safety	403-05	▬	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	▬
		Promotion of worker health	403-06	▬	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	▬
		Prevention and mitigation of occupational health and safety impacts directly linked by business relationships	403-07	▬	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	▬
		Workers covered by an occupational health and safety management system	403-08	▬	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	▬
		Work-related injuries	403-09	▬	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	▬
		Work-related ill health	403-10	▬	▬		✔	✔	✔	▬
	Training and Education 2016 GRI 404	Average hours of training per year per employee	404-01	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
		Programs for upgrading employee skills and transition assistance programs	404-02	▬	✔	▬	✔	✔	✔	▪
		Percentage of employees receiving regular performance and career-development reviews	404-03	▬	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
	Diversity and Equal Opportunity 2016 GRI 405	Diversity of governance bodies and employees	405-01	▬	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	▪
		Ratio of basic salary and remuneration of women to men	405-02	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	✔	▬
	Non-discrimination 2016 GRI 406	Incidents of discrimination and corrective actions taken	406-01	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	▪
	Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining 2016 GRI 407	Operations and suppliers in which the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining may be at risk	407-01	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	✔	▪
	Child Labor2016 GRI 408	Operations and suppliers at significant risk for incidents of child labor	408-01	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	✔	▪
	Forced or Compulsory Labor 2016 GRI 409	Operations and suppliers at significant risk for incidents of forced or compulsory labor	409-01	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	✔	▪
	Security Practices 2016 GRI 410	Security personnel trained in human-rights policies or procedures	410-01	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	✔	▬
	Rights of Indigenous Peoples 2016 GRI 411	Incidents of violations involving rights of indigenous peoples	411-01	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	✔	▬
	Human Rights Assessment 2016 GRI 412	Operations that have been subject to human rights reviews or impact assessments	412-01	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	✔	▪
		Employee training on human-rights policies or procedures	412-02	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	✔	▬
		Significant investment agreements and contracts that include human-rights clauses or that underwent human-rights screening	412-03	▬	✔	▬	✔	✔	✔	▬
	Local Communities 2016 GRI 413	Operations with local community engagement, impact assessments, and development programs	413-01	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	▪
		Operations with significant actual and potential negative impacts on local communities	413-02	▬	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	▬
	Supplier Social Assessment 2016 GRI 414	New suppliers that were screened using social criteria	414-01	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	✔	▬
		Negative social impacts in the supply chain and actions taken	414-02	▬	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	▬
	Public Policy 2016 GRI 415	Political contributions	415-01	▬	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	▪
	Customer Health and Safety 2016 GRI 416	Assessment of the health and safety impacts of product and service categories	416-01	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	✔	▬
		Incidents of non-compliance concerning the health and safety impacts of products and services	416-02	▬	▬	▬	✔	✔	▬	▪
	Marketing and Labeling 2016 GRI 417	Requirements for product and service information and labeling	417-01	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	✔	▪
		Incidents of non-compliance concerning product and service information and labeling	417-02	▬	▬	▬	▬	✔	✔	▪
		Incidents of non-compliance concerning marketing communications	417-03	▬	✔	✔	▬	✔	▬	▪
	Customer Privacy 2016 GRI 418	Substantiated complaints concerning breaches of customer privacy and losses of customer data	418-01	▬	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	▪
	Socioeconomic Compliance 2016 GRI 419	Non-compliance with laws and regulations in the social and economic area	419-01	✔	▬	▬	✔	✔	✔	▪

portrays the results of the most recent reports currently available for each company. In the first column, the disclosure category is mentioned; in the second column, we mention the disclosure description, according to the guidelines of the GRI Standards; in the third column we mention the relevant code; while in the other columns we mention the surveyed companies and the year of the relevant report. When the company disclosed the corresponding information in accordance with the GRI standards, the ✔ symbol was used in the corresponding cell. In cases of non-compliance (non-reporting), the symbol ▬ was used. In cases of partial compliance, the symbol ▪ is used.

The following diagram summarizes the above results (Figure 2). The purely Greek companies, such as Terna, Ellactor and Mytilineos Group, showed the lowest percentages of compliance with the standards.

On the contrary, the consortium of Rokas Iberdrola and the other three foreign companies complied to a greater extent with these standards. It is also very important to observe, through a diagram resulting from the data in the table, the contribution in each category, so that the reports of each of them approach the maximum of 149 points, which is the total number of the GRI codes. This information is depicted in Figure 3.

It is crucial to note that other Greek companies are also expanding dynamically in this sector, such as Edeka and Damco Energy (Kopelouzos group), while the oil groups ELPE and Motor Oil are now strategically looking at the market for partnerships and acquisitions. Both ELPE and Motor Oil claim an important role in the operation of the energy market with the launch of their target models. This is why both of them received permission from the Regulatory Authority for Energy (RAE), the cumulative representation body, for a capacity of 300 MW each. The medium-term goal of ELPE is the creation of an RES portfolio of 300–400 MW within five years, which in the long run will expand to 1000 MW. PPC has also set an ambitious target for the RES market, aiming for the installation of 1000 MW by 2024, a power that will increase its total share from 2% today to 10–20% in the future. The company has submitted applications to RAE for production licenses of a total capacity of 1.5 GW of photovoltaics, which will be installed in its non-operating mines in Western Macedonia and Megalopolis. The inter-ministerial committee on strategic investments approved two large-scale RES investments. The first concerns an investment project by Total-Eren to develop 16 power plants from RESs, with a total installed capacity of 177 MW, in the prefectures of Serres and Viotia. The investment amounts to 172 million euros. The second is about the investment project of “Consortium Solar Power Systems S.A.”, of a total cost of 214 million euros for the development of photovoltaic stations with a total capacity of 284 MW in 12 regions of Thessaly and Central Greece. The emblematic RES projects include the design of the Norwegian Equinor (the former state-owned Statoil) for the installation of a floating wind farm in the sea area between Tinos, Syros and Mykonos, with the possibility of supplying electricity to 40,000 households [72]. All the above show that the energy landscape in Greece, in terms of RESs, has not stabilized, and it is expected to change in the forthcoming years. It is encouraging that other Greek companies seem to be getting involved in the market. Currently, the RES energy status is as described above and, regarding the CSR reporting, there will be a discussion about each company separately, and it will be seen to where they assign more importance and where they lag behind.

4.2. Leading Wind-Turbine Manufacturing Companies

In the field of wind-turbine manufacturing, according to [60], the number of dominant companies operating in Greece are fewer. Specifically to the discussion, this includes five foreign companies which cooperate with the operators and install and maintain wind turbines for them. The following diagram depicts which company has installed the most wind turbines in Greece, in terms of capacity, as well as the differences in recent years in the installations of these machines (Figure 4).

It makes sense that Vestas, due to its cooperation with the leading windfarm operator (Terna), is a pioneer in the installation of wind turbines in Greece, having the greatest market share (Figure 5).

Nevertheless, their position, as depicted in the schemes of the figure below, seems to have been threatened in recent years (Figure 6).

It is obvious that as other operators grow and create partnerships with other manufacturers, there is a lot of competition, even in terms of equipment.

As Figure 6 depicts, Vestas seems to have lost its dominant position, while Enercon has risen in the rankings every year. In addition, General Electric Renewable Energy seems to have installed a significant proportion of wind turbines in 2019, while in previous years the rates were low or zero. In

Table 3. Capacity (MW) per wind-turbine manufacturer and CSR reporting.

Company	Capacity (MW)	CSR Report	Source
Vestas	1657.6	Yes	[73]
Enercon	932.1	No	[74]
Siemens Gamesa	635.0	Yes	[75]
Nordex	188.8	Yes	[76]
GE Renewable Energy	238.2	UNGC	[77]

, it is portrayed that most of these companies holding a leading position. in the field of wind-turbine manufacturing, concerning the windfarms in Greece, issue CSR reports according to the GRI standards.

In this part of the study, the policy of each of these manufacturers is presented, as well as to what extent they follow these standards. The following (

Table 4. GRI sustainability disclosures of wind-turbine manufacturers for windfarms in Greece.

GRI Standards		Disclosure	GRI Code	Vestas 2018	Siemens Gamesa 2018	Nordex 2019
Foundation 2016			101	✔	✔	✔
GENERAL DISCLOSURES 2016 GRI 102	Organizational profile	Name of the organization	102-1	✔	✔	✔
		Activities, brands, products and services	102-2	✔	✔	✔
		Location and headquarters	102-3	✔	✔	✔
		Location of operations	102-4	✔	✔	✔
		Ownership and legal form	102-5	✔	✔	✔
		Markets served	102-6	✔	✔	✔
		Scale of the organization	102-7	✔	✔	✔
		Information on employees and other workers	102-8	✔	✔	✔
		Supply chain	102-9	✔	✔	✔
		Significant changes to the organization and its supply chain	102-10	✔	✔	✔
		Precautionary principle or approach	102-11	✔	✔	✔
		External initiatives	102-12	✔	✔	✔
		Membership of associations	102-13	✔	✔	✔
	Strategy	Statement from senior decision maker	102-14	✔	✔	✔
		Key impacts, risks, and opportunities	102-15	✔	✔	✔
	Ethics and integrity	Values, principles, standards, and norms of behavior	102-16	✔	✔	✔
		Location and headquarters	102-17	✔	✔	▬
	Governance	Mechanisms for advice and concerns about ethics	102-18	✔	✔	✔
		Governance structure	102-19	✔	✔	▬
		Delegating authority	102-20	✔	✔	▬
		Executive-level responsibility for economic, environmental, and social topics	102-21	✔	✔	▬
		Consulting stakeholders on economic, environmental, and social topics	102-22	✔	✔	▬
		Chair of the highest governance body	102-23	✔	✔	▬
		Nominating and selecting the highest governance body	102-24	✔	✔	▬
		Conflicts of interest	102-25	✔	✔	▬
		Role of highest governance body in setting purpose, values, and strategy	102-26	✔	✔	▬
		Collective knowledge of highest governance body	102-27	✔	✔	▬
		Evaluating the highest governance body’s performance	102-28	✔	✔	▬
		Identifying and managing economic, environmental, and social impacts	102-29	✔	✔	▬
		Effectiveness of risk-management processes	102-30	✔	✔	▬
		Review of economic, environmental and social issues	102-31	✔	✔	▬
		Highest governance body’s role in sustainability reporting	102-32	✔	✔	▬
		Communicating critical concerns	102-33	✔	✔	▬
		Nature and total number of critical concerns	102-34	✔	✔	▬
		Remuneration policies	102-35	✔	✔	▬
		Process for determining remuneration	102-36	✔	✔	▬
		Stakeholders’ involvement in remuneration	102-37	✔	✔	▬
		Annual total compensation ratio	102-38	✔	✔	▬
		Percentage increase in annual total compensation ratio	102-39	✔	✔	▬
	Stakeholder engagement	List of stakeholder groups	102-40	✔	✔	✔
		Collective bargaining agreements	102-41	✔	✔	✔
		Identifying and selecting stakeholders	102-42	✔	✔	✔
		Approach to stakeholder engagement	102-43	✔	✔	✔
		Key topics and concerns raised	102-44	✔	✔	✔
	Reporting practice	Entities included in the consolidated financial statements	102-45	✔	✔	✔
		Defining report content and topic boundaries	102-46	✔	✔	✔
		List of material topics	102-47	✔	✔	✔
		Restatements of information	102-48	✔	✔	✔
		Changes in reporting	102-49	✔	✔	✔
		Reporting period	102-50	✔	✔	✔
		Date of most recent report	102-51	✔	✔	✔
		Reporting cycle	102-52	✔	✔	✔
		Contact point for questions regarding the report	102-53	✔	✔	✔
		Claims of reporting in accordance with the GRI Standards	102-54	✔	✔	✔
		GRI content index	102-55	✔	✔	✔
		External assurance	102-56	✔	✔	✔
MANAGEMENT APPROACH 2016 GRI 103		Explanation of the material topic and its boundary	103-1	✔	✔	✔
		The management approach and its components	103-2	✔	✔	✔
		Evaluation of the management approach	103-3	✔	✔	✔
ECONOMIC STANDARD SERIES GRI 200	Economic Performance 2016 GRI 201	Direct economic value generated and distributed	201-01	✔	✔	✔
		Financial implications and other risks and opportunities due to climate change	201-02	▬	✔	✔
		Defined benefit plan obligations and other retirement plans	201-03	▬	✔	▬
		Financial assistance received from government	201-04	▬	✔	✔
	Market Presence 2016 GRI 202	Ratios of standard entry-level wage by gender compared to local minimum wage	202-01	▬	✔	▬
		Proportion of senior management hired from the local community	202-02	▬	✔	▬
	Indirect Economic Impacts 2016 GRI 203	Infrastructure investments and services supported	203-01	✔	✔	▬
		Significant indirect economic impacts	203-02	▬	✔	▬
	Procurement Practices 2016 GRI 204	Proportion of spending on local suppliers	204-01	▬	✔	✔
	Anti-corruption 2016 GRI 205	Operations assessed for risks related to corruption	205-01	✔	✔	✔
		Communication and training about anti-corruption policies and procedures	205-02	✔	✔	✔
		Confirmed incidents of corruption and actions taken	205-03	✔	✔	✔
	Anti-competitive Behavior 2016 GRI 206	Legal actions for anti-competitive behavior, anti-trust, and monopoly practices	206-01	✔	✔	✔
	Tax 2019 GRI 207	Approach to tax	207-01	▬	▬	▬
		Tax governance, control, and risk management	207-02	▬	▬	▬
		Stakeholder engagement and management of concerns related to tax	207-03	▬	▬	▬
		Country-by-country reporting	207-04	▬	▬	▬
ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS SERIES GRI 300	Materials 2016 GRI 301	Materials used by weight or volume	301-01	▬	✔	✔
		Recycled input materials used	301-02	▬	✔	▬
		Reclaimed products and their packaging materials	301-03	▬	✔	▬
	Energy 2016 GRI 302	Energy consumption within the organization	302-01	✔	✔	✔
		Energy consumption outside of the organization	302-02	✔	✔	▬
		Energy intensity	302-03	✔	✔	✔
		Reduction in energy consumption	302-04	▬	✔	✔
		Reduction in energy requirements of products and services	302-05	✔	✔	✔
	Water and Effluents 2018 GRI 303	Interactions with water as a shared resource	303-01	✔	✔	✔
		Management of water-discharge-related impacts	303-02	✔	✔	▬
		Water withdrawal	303-03	▬	✔	▬
		Water discharge	303-04	▬	▬	▬
		Water consumption	303-05	▬	▬	▬
	Biodiversity 2016 GRI 304	Operational sites owned, leased, managed in, or adjacent to protected areas and areas of high biodiversity value outside protected areas	304-01	▬	✔	▬
		Significant impacts of activities, products, and services on biodiversity	304-02	▬	✔	✔
		Habitats protected or restored	304-03	▬	✔	▬
		IUCN Red List species and national-conservation-listed species with habitats in areas affected by operations	304-04	▬	✔	▬
	Emissions 2016 GRI 305	Direct (Scope 1) GHG emissions	305-01	✔	✔	✔
		Energy indirect (Scope 2) GHG emissions	305-02	✔	✔	✔
		Other indirect (Scope 3) GHG emissions	305-03	✔	✔	✔
		GHG emission intensity	305-04	▬	✔	✔
		Reduction in GHG emissions	305-05	▬	✔	✔
		Emissions of ozone-depleting substances (ODS)	305-06	▬	✔	▬
		Nitrogen oxides (NOX), sulfur oxides (SOX), and other significant air emissions	305-07	▬	✔	▬
	Effluents and Waste 2016 GRI 306	Water discharge by quality and destination	306-01	✔	✔	✔
		Waste by type and disposal method	306-02	✔	✔	✔
		Significant spills	306-03	✔	✔	▬
		Transport of hazardous waste	306-04	▬	✔	▬
		Water bodies affected by water discharges and/or runoff	306-05	▬	✔	▬
	Environmental Compliance 2016 GRI 307	Non-compliance with environmental laws and regulations	307-01	✔	✔	✔
	Supplier Environmental Assessment 2016 GRI 308	New suppliers that were screened using environmental criteria	308-01	✔	✔	▬
		Negative environmental impacts in the supply chain and actions taken	308-02	▬	✔	▬
SOCIAL STANDARDS SERIES GRI 400	Employment 2016 GRI 401	New employee hires and employee turnover	401-01	✔	✔	✔
		Benefits provided to full-time employees that are not provided to temporary or part-time employees	401-02	✔	✔	▬
		Parental leave	401-03	✔	✔	✔
	Labor/Management Relations 2016 GRI 402	Minimum notice periods regarding operational changes	402-01	▬	✔	✔
	Occupational Health and Safety 2018 GRI 403	Occupational health and safety management system	403-01	✔	✔	✔
		Hazard identification, risk assessment, and incident investigation	403-02	✔	✔	✔
		Occupational health services	403-03	✔	✔	▬
		Worker participation, consultation, and communication on occupational health and safety	403-04	▬	✔	▬
		Worker training on occupational health and safety	403-05	▬	▬	▬
		Promotion of worker health	403-06	▬	▬	▬
		Prevention and mitigation of occupational health and safety impacts directly linked to business relationships	403-07	▬	▬	▬
		Workers covered by an occupational health-and-safety management system	403-08	▬	▬	▬
		Work-related injuries	403-09	▬	▬	▬
		Work-related ill health	403-10	▬	▬	▬
	Training and Education 2016 GRI 404	Average hours of training per year per employee	404-01	✔	✔	✔
		Programs for upgrading employee skills and transition assistance programs	404-02	▬	✔	✔
		Percentage of employees receiving regular performance and career-development reviews	404-03	✔	✔	✔
	Diversity and Equal Opportunity 2016 GRI 405	Diversity of governance bodies and employees	405-01	✔	✔	✔
		Ratio of basic salary and remuneration of women to men	405-02	▬	✔	✔
	Non-discrimination 2016 GRI 406	Incidents of discrimination and corrective actions taken	406-01	✔	✔	✔
	Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining 2016 GRI 407	Operations and suppliers in which the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining may be at risk	407-01	✔	✔	✔
	Child Labor2016 GRI 408	Operations and suppliers at significant risk for incidents of child labor	408-01	✔	✔	✔
	Forced or Compulsory Labor 2016 GRI 409	Operations and suppliers at significant risk for incidents of forced or compulsory labor	409-01	✔	✔	✔
	Security Practices 2016 GRI 410	Security personnel trained in human rights policies or procedures	410-01	▬	✔	▬
	Rights of Indigenous Peoples 2016 GRI 411	Incidents of violations involving the rights of indigenous peoples	411-01	▬	✔	▬
	Human Rights Assessment 2016 GRI 412	Operations that have been subject to human-rights reviews or impact assessments	412-01	✔	✔	▬
		Employee training on human-rights policies or procedures	412-02	✔	✔	✔
		Significant investment agreements and contracts that include human-rights clauses or that underwent human-rights screening	412-03	✔	✔	✔
	Local Communities 2016 GRI 413	Operations with local community engagement, impact assessments, and development programs	413-01	✔	✔	✔
		Operations with significant actual and potential negative impacts on local communities	413-02	✔	✔	▬
	Supplier Social Assessment 2016 GRI 414	New suppliers that were screened using social criteria	414-01	✔	✔	✔
		Negative social impacts in the supply chain and actions taken	414-02	✔	✔	✔
	Public Policy 2016 GRI 415	Political contributions	415-01	✔	✔	✔
	Customer Health and Safety 2016 GRI 416	Assessment of the health and safety impacts of product and service categories	416-01	▬	✔	✔
		Incidents of non-compliance concerning the health-and-safety impacts of products and services	416-02	▬	✔	▬
	Marketing and Labeling 2016 GRI 417	Requirements for product and service information and labeling	417-01	▬	✔	▬
		Incidents of non-compliance concerning product and service information and labeling	417-02	▬	✔	▬
		Incidents of non-compliance concerning marketing communications	417-03	▬	✔	▬
	Customer Privacy 2016 GRI 418	Substantiated complaints concerning breaches of customer privacy and losses of customer data	418-01	✔	✔	▬
	Socioeconomic Compliance 2016 GRI 419	Non-compliance with laws and regulations in the social and economic area	419-01	✔	✔	✔

) portrays the results of the most recent reports currently available for each manufacturer, as were previously presented in Table 2 for the operators in Greece. When the company disclosed the corresponding information, the ✔ symbol was used in the corresponding cell. In cases of non-compliance (non-reporting), the symbol ▬ was used.

From the table above, we can observe that Enercon and General Electric are missing. Enercon did not seem to publish any CSR report, while General Electric complied with the UNGC standards. The consolidated diagram depicted in Figure 7 summarizes the above results.

According to the above, the international SGRE presents the highest percentages of compliance with the standards, while Vestas and Nordex follow further behind with lower compliance rates. It is also very important to observe, through a diagram resulting from the data in Table 4, the contribution of each category, so that the reports of each of them approach the maximum of 149 points, which is the total number of the GRI codes. This information is depicted in Figure 8.

Currently, the supplier status in Greece concerning wind-turbine manufacturers is as described above and, regarding CSR reporting, there will be a discussion about each company separately, and it will be seen where they give more importance and where they lag behind.

5. Conclusions

The present study tried to describe the RES energy status in Greece, not only focusing on Greek companies but also on foreign ones with different and multiple frames of compliance and regulations. An attempt was made to find out whether and to what extent the RES companies operating in Greece prepare CSR reports in line with global and international standards. Although these companies do not belong to companies/businesses that heavily pollute the environment in which they operate, from the empirical data in our research it is obvious that the topic of corporate social responsibility and sustainability is an issue to which these companies attach great importance. This can be easily understood as long as we can see that the seven largest RES operators included in our research and 4 out of the 5 companies that are important in the production and installation of wind turbines comply, to some extent, with the international standards. They compile annual corporate social responsibility reports using many of the GRI standards. It can be seen as a big surprise that ENERCON, which in 2019 installed most of the wind turbines in Greece, has not been compiling CSR reports. There is also the example of General Electric, which has not been reporting CSR, but is in full compliance with UNGC principles. The above high rate of compliance of companies with international and global standards, in our opinion, is due to the fact that these organizations are required by legislation to prepare corporate social responsibility reports, in order to show their true character to employees, suppliers, customers but also to potential future investors.

In contrast, the percentages of small Greek companies that compile corporate social responsibility accounts and which employ less than 500 employees are negligible. These companies are mainly engaged in the exploitation and marketing of photovoltaic panels in parks and small-household wind turbines, and are mostly addressed to individuals. It is self-evident that the low rates of corporate social responsibility reports presented are because these companies were not required by the Greek legislation to prepare sustainability reports in accordance with international standards. For this reason, the present study focused on the major companies operating in the RES sector in Greece, even if they are not Greek.

The conclusion of our research justifies the research of Barbu et al. [51], which led to the conclusion that, firstly, half of the companies in their study did not disclose environmental information; secondly, large companies revealed more social/environmental information than the smaller ones, due to the legal, social, cultural and political context surrounding them at that time. Here, the smaller companies among those leading are the Greek companies of the sector. In addition, the compliance of companies with international standards depends on the national regulatory restrictions on environmental notifications.

Therefore, from the findings of the present study, we can draw the following conclusions:

Large RES companies have a higher percentage of environmental disclosures in comparison with smaller ones.

Companies that are obliged by law to disclose non-financial information have a high rate of information provision compared to companies that voluntarily, under the legislation, provide non-financial information where the rate is low. Even some of the leading companies do not provide such kind of reports.

Most of the small companies (i.e., those with 500 employees or less) do not conduct annual environmental/social reports.

Companies do not have to follow a specific regulatory compliance framework, but can choose which one suits them best.

It was found that RES companies that are required to disclose social/environmental information have a high rate of information provision. In addition, many of the large companies have been disclosing such non-financial information even before being required to do so by the legislation.

In general, the Greek RES companies need to comply to a greater extent with international standards and should be guided by the compliance rates of foreign or multinational companies. It is encouraging that from their reports, there seems to have been an improvement in their reporting scores over the years, while there are other companies that have started to invest in the RES field and are expected to have a significant share in the future.

The recommendations for companies who do not disclose non-financial information is to be more socially affected by this action. If they are compared with the ones which disclose this non-financial information, they are in a disadvantageous position. On the other hand, the policy makers have to support not only the development of renewable energy, but also provide the motivations to the companies which disclose non-financial information.

It would be very interesting if the researchers conducted a comparative study between purely Greek companies that exploit RESs in a more efficient way. A comparison in Communication on Progress (CoP) or Communication on Engagement (CoE) [78] terms would also be very interesting and helpful for the publication of a list of the exact rankings of these companies.

Cases such as ENERCON and General Electric could be drilled down and queried as to why they do not report CSR.

Another future study could include only the small companies which employ less than 500 employees. The low rates of corporate social responsibility reports should be thoroughly analyzed and not superficially justified by the fact that they are not obliged by Greek legislation to prepare sustainability reports.