Disclosure of Land Use Indicators in Sustainability Reporting

Since the agricultural sector is one of the industries with a high environmental impact, ESG reporting issues and the disclosure of non-financial land-use indicators are becoming necessary to ensure transparency in agribusiness activities, increase accountability, and enhance investment attractiveness. This article provides a systematic review of the international regulatory framework for sustainability reporting, with a special emphasis on the requirements for rational land-use indicators, and assesses the level of disclosure of land-use indicators by large agricultural companies in Ukraine in their sustainability reports. The research methodology is based on a comprehensive interdisciplinary approach that combines regulatory and comparative analysis, content analysis of corporate reporting, and case analysis of the practice of disclosing land-use indicators. The results of the study show that a multi-level system of regulatory oversight for the disclosure of land-use indicators in sustainability reporting has been established at the global level, with different frameworks performing complementary functions. International practice is gradually shifting from a declaratory description of environmental responsibility to a measurable, spatially detailed, and integrated disclosure of land-use indicators. Among all regulatory frameworks, the ESRS and TNFD offer the most comprehensive approach, requiring not only performance reporting but also indicators to assess ecosystem risks, land degradation, land-use changes, and business dependence on natural capital. In Ukraine, the largest agroholdings either do not publish sustainability reporting at all or limit it to a declaratory description of environmental initiatives, without providing quantitative indicators suitable for independent assessment and comparison. This indicates a lack of institutional maturity of ESG disclosure practices in the Ukrainian agricultural sector. Among Ukrainian agroholdings, Kernel Holding S.A. demonstrates the most systematic approach to disclosing land-use indicators, combining elements of the GRI, TNFD, and CDP methodologies. The practical value of such disclosure is moderate. However, we identified significant gaps in the company’s corporate reporting on sustainable land-use indicators, which are important under the ESRS E4 standards and the TNFD recommendations. The results of this study lay the foundation for improving Ukrainian corporate disclosure of ESG indicators in the agricultural sector.