Determinants of the sustainable development goals disclosure on websites of Portuguese Municipalities

This paper aims to analyse the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) related-disclosure practices on the internet, as well as to identify the main drivers of SDGs e-reporting in Portuguese municipalities. A qualitative methodology was adopted through the content analysis of all the 308 Portuguese municipalities’ websites. Based on theoretical assumptions of legitimacy and stakeholder theories, we associate the SDGs e-reporting with some municipalities’ characteristics (such as location and size) as well as with the use of ODSLocal platform. Our findings indicate that only a quarter of municipalities refer to the SDGs in their websites. None of the presidents’ messages mention the SDGs. Only 10 entities have a separated tab on the website to disclose information related to the SDGs. Most information is generic and not about specific SDGs. Almost 64% of the disclosing municipalities disclose information related to SDG in the news. Looking to some contextual factors, the results indicate that coastal and larger municipalities are more likely to disclosure about SGDs; on the other hand, the use of ODS local platform does not seem to influence.