Received:
2022-12-11 | Accepted:
2023-03-14 | Published:
2023-03-30
Title
Sustainability information – analysis of current trends in sustainability monitoring & reporting
Abstract
Government legislation, investor and stakeholder expectations, as well as international voluntary initiatives have all contributed to the rising demand for high-quality information and reporting on sustainability issues. The scientific community exploring sustainability issues is expanding quickly, and the need for sustainability data has grown significantly in recent years. Sustainability reporting is a fast developing topic with many different monitoring and reporting frameworks, some criteria that overlap, and problems with worldwide consistency. This frequently causes uncertainty on how data and information should be used to produce useful results and science-based resources. The paper ascertains current trends in monitoring and reporting sustainability-related information, including a particular analysis for each relevant level (i.e. country and corporate). The study commences with an updated review of sustainability reporting literature followed by an emphasis on the well-known instruments (i.e. SDGs index and the International Spillover index) used to monitor and report the nations progress toward SDGs. Also, the connections among different international approaches/initiatives for increasing the accountability of companies for sustainability actions were analysed and the improvements were emphasized. Although the worldwide reporting seems to be led by the adoption of the GRI and SASB standards, the range of metrics and disclosure patterns is wide and displays a high variation across industries, sectors, sizes, complexity and location. Through a structured analysis, the paper argued international initiatives (i.e. European Sustainability Reporting Standards and IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards) are of valuable importance for counteracting the fragmentation of available sustainability information and assuring the alignment and interoperability between different sustainability information.
Keywords
sustainable development, sustainability disclosure, sustainability information, international initiatives, reporting standards
JEL classifications
M14
, M48
, M21
URI
http://jssidoi.org/jesi/article/1066
DOI
Pages
274-287
Funding
This is an open access issue and all published articles are licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
References
Abeysekera, I. (2022). A Framework for Sustainability Reporting. Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, 13(6), 1386-1409. https://doi.org/10.1108/SAMPJ-08-2021-0316
Search via ReFindit
Aigner, G. F., Imoniana, J. O., & Silva, W. L. (2022). On the Relation between Sustainability Report and Assurance Standards in Brazilian Financial Institutions. Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues, 9(3), 298-316. https://doi.org/10.9770/jesi.2022.9.3(18)
Search via ReFindit
Backes, J. G., Traverso, M. (2022). Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment as a Metrics towards SDGs Agenda 2030. Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry, 38, 100683. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogsc.2022.100683
Search via ReFindit
Bengo, I., Boni, L., & Sancino, A. (2022). EU Financial Regulations and Social Impact Measurement Practices: A Comprehensive Framework on Finance for Sustainable Development. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 29(4), 809-819. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.2235
Search via ReFindit
Calabrese, A., Costa, R., Levialdi Ghiron, N., & Menichini, T. (2017). Materiality Analysis in Sustainability Reporting: A Method for Making it Work in Practice. European Journal of Sustainable Development, 6(3), 439-447. https://doi.org/10.14207/ejsd.2017.v6n3p439
Search via ReFindit
Chan, K. M. A,, Boyd, D. R, Gould, R. K, et al. (2020). Levers and Leverage Points for Pathways to Sustainability. People and Nature, 2, 693-717. https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10124
Search via ReFindit
Costa, R., Menichini, T., & Salierno, G. (2022). Do SDGs Really Matter for Business? Using GRI Sustainability Reporting to Answer the Question. European Journal of Sustainable Development, 11(1), 113-123. https://doi.org/10.14207/ejsd.2022.v11n1p113
Search via ReFindit
Czaja-Cieszyńska, H., Kordela, D., & Zyznarska-Dworczak, B. (2021). How to Make Corporate Social Disclosures Comparable? Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues, 9(2), 268-288. http://doi.org/10.9770/jesi.2021.9.2(18)
Search via ReFindit
European Commission. (2022). Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence. Directive (EU) 2022/0051/EU. Brussels: European Commission. COM (2022) 71 final. Retrieved December 9, 2022, from https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A52022PC0071
Search via ReFindit
European Commission. Joint Research Centre. Papadimitriou, E., Neves, A., Becker, W. (2019). JRC Statistical Audit of the Sustainable Development Goals Index and Dashboards. Publications Office. Retrieved December 15, 2022 from https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2760/723763
Search via ReFindit
European Financial Reporting Advisory Group. EFRAG. (2022). First Set of draft European Sustainability Reporting Standards – ESRS. Retrieved December 28, 2022 from https://efrag.org/lab6
Search via ReFindit
European Union. (2022). Directive (EU) 2022/2464 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 December 2022 amending regulation (EU) no 537/2014, Directive 2004/109/EC, Directive 2006/43/EC and Directive 2013/34/EU, as regards Corporate Sustainability Reporting. Official Journal of the European Union, 322 (15), 1-66. Retrieved December 28, 2022 from https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32022L2464
Search via ReFindit
Fleacă, E., Fleacă, B., & Maiduc, S. (2018). Aligning Strategy with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Process Scoping Diagram for Entrepreneurial Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Sustainability, 10(4), 1032. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10041032
Search via ReFindit
García-Muiña, F., Medina-Salgado, M.S., González-Sánchez, R., Huertas-Valdivia, I., Ferrari, A.M., Settembre-Blundo, D. (2022). Social Organizational Life Cycle Assessment (SO-LCA) and Organization 4.0: An easy-to-implement method. MethodsX, 9, 101692. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mex.2022.101692
Search via ReFindit
Global Reporting Initiative. (2022). Consolidated Set of the GRI Standards. Retrieved December 20, 2022 from https://www.globalreporting.org/how-to-use-the-gri-standards/gri-standards-english-language/
Search via ReFindit
IFRS. (2022). IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards. Retrieved December 28, 2022 from https://www.ifrs.org/projects/work-plan/general-sustainability-related-disclosures/
Search via ReFindit
ISO/DIS 26000:2010. (2010). Guidance on Social Responsibility. Retrieved December 20, 2022 from https://www.iso.org/files/live/sites/isoorg/files/store/en/PUB100258.pdf
Search via ReFindit
KPMG. (2022). Big Shifts. Small Steps. Survey of Sustainability Reporting 2022. Retrieved December 15, 2022 from https://assets.kpmg/content/dam/kpmg/sg/pdf/2022/10/ssr-small-steps-big-shifts.pdf
Search via ReFindit
Landau, A., Rochell, J., Klein, C., & Zwergel, B. (2020). Integrated Reporting of Environmental, Social, and Governance and Financial Data: Does the Market Value Integrated Reports? Business Strategy and the Environment, 29, 1750-1763. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.2467
Search via ReFindit
Lingnau, V., Fuchs, F. & Beham, F. (2022). The Link between Corporate Sustainability and Willingness to Invest: New Evidence from the Field of Ethical Investments. Journal of Management Control, 33, 335–369. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00187-022-00340-z
Search via ReFindit
Malik, A., Lafortune, G., Mora, J. C., Carter, S., & Lenzen, M. (2022). International Spillover Embodied in the EU’s Supply Chains. Bonn: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. Retrieved December 9, 2022, from https://resources.unsdsn.org/tracking-forced-labour-accidents-at-work-and-climate-impacts-in-eu-s-consumption-of-fossil-and-mineral-raw-materials
Search via ReFindit
Mion, G., & Loza Adaui, C. R. (2019). Mandatory Nonfinancial Disclosure and Its Consequences on the Sustainability Reporting Quality of Italian and German Companies. Sustainability, 11(17), 4612. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11174612
Search via ReFindit
Montalbán-Domingo, L., Pellicer, E., García-Segura, T., Sanz-Benlloch, A. (2021). An Integrated Method for the Assessment of Social Sustainability in Public-Works Procurement. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 89, 106581. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2021.106581
Search via ReFindit
Moses E., Che-Ahmad, A., Abdulmalik, S.O. (2020). Board Governance Mechanisms and Sustainability Reporting Quality: A Theoretical Framework. Cogent Business & Management, 7 (1), 1771075. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2020.1771075
Search via ReFindit
Nicolò, G., Zanellato, G., & Tiron-Tudor, A. (2020). Integrated Reporting and European State-Owned Enterprises: A Disclosure Analysis Pre and Post 2014/95/EU. Sustainability, 12(5), 1908. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12051908
Search via ReFindit
OECD. (2018). OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct. Retrieved December 20, 2022 from http://mneguidelines.oecd.org/OECD-Due-Diligence-Guidance-for-Responsible-Business-Conduct.pdf
Search via ReFindit
OECD.(2011). OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. Retrieved December 20, 2022 from https://www.oecd.org/daf/inv/mne/48004323.pdf
Search via ReFindit
Pasko, O., Chen, F., Oriekhova, A., Brychko, A. & Shalyhina, I. (2021). Mapping the Literature on Sustainability Reporting: A Bibliometric Analysis Grounded in Scopus and Web of Science Core Collection. European Journal of Sustainable Development, 10(1), 303-322. https://doi.org/10.14207/ejsd.2021.v10n1p303
Search via ReFindit
Sachs, J., Lafortune, G., Kroll, C., Fuller, G., & Woelm, F. (2022). From Crisis to Sustainable Development: the SDGs as Roadmap to 2030 and Beyond. Sustainable Development Report 2022. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Search via ReFindit
SAI. (2014a). Social Accountability 8000 International Standard. SA8000:2014. Retrieved December 20, 2022 from https://sa-intl.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/SA8000Standard2014.pdf
Search via ReFindit
SAI. (2014b). Performance Indicators Annex. SA8000:2014. Retrieved December 20, 2022 from https://sa-intl.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/SA8000-Performance-Indicator-Annex-1.pdf
Search via ReFindit
Sætra, H. S. (2022). The AI ESG protocol: Evaluating and Disclosing the Environment, Social, and Governance Implications of Artificial Intelligence Capabilities, Assets, and Activities. Sustainable Development, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.2438
Search via ReFindit
Ștefănescu, C. A. (2021). Sustainability Reporting in the Public Realm—Trends and Patterns in Knowledge Development. Sustainability, 13(8), 4128. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13084128
Search via ReFindit
Sustainability Accounting Standards Board, SASB. (2018a). Sustainability Accounting Standards. Retrieved December 20, 2022 from https://www.sasb.org/standards/archive/
Search via ReFindit
Sustainability Accounting Standards Board, SASB. (2018b). SASB’s Sustainable Industry Classification System. Retrieved December 20, 2022 from https://www.sasb.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/SICS-Industry-List.pdf
Search via ReFindit
Sustainable Development Report. (2022). International Spillover Index. Retrieved December 9, 2022, from https://dashboards.sdgindex.org/rankings/spillovers
Search via ReFindit
Szopik-Depczyńska, K., Cheba, K., Vikhasta, M., & Depczyński, R. (2021). New Form of Innovations related to the Environment – a Systematic Review. Procedia Computer Science, 192, 5039-5049. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2021.09.282
Search via ReFindit
The AccountAbility Standards Board, ASB. (2018). AA1000 Series of Standards. Retrieved December 28, 2022 from https://www.accountability.org/static/6b3863943105f2a5c4d5fc96affb750d/aa1000_accountability_principles_2018.pdf
Search via ReFindit
The AccountAbility Standards Board, ASB. (2020). The AA1000 Assurance Standard (AA1000AS v3). https://www.accountability.org/static/3ff15429033873cdc775212ca63572fb/aa1000as_v3_final.pdf
Search via ReFindit
Torkayesh, A. E., Ali Rajaeifar, M., Rostom, M., Malmir, B., Yazdani, M., Suh, S., Heidrich, O. (2022). Integrating Life Cycle Assessment and Multi Criteria Decision Making for Sustainable Waste Management: Key Issues and Recommendations for Future Studies. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 168, 112819. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2022.112819
Search via ReFindit
UN Global Compact. (2014). Guide to Corporate Sustainability. Retrieved December 15, 2022 from https://d306pr3pise04h.cloudfront.net/docs/publications%2FUN_Global_Compact_Guide_to_Corporate_Sustainability.pdf
Search via ReFindit
UNEP Finance Initiative and UN Global Compact. (2017). A Blueprint for Responsible Investment. Retrieved December 15, 2022 from https://www.unpri.org/download?ac=5330
Search via ReFindit
United Nations. (2015). Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. A/RES/70/1. United Nations General Assembly, 16301, 1-35. Retrieved December 15, 2022 from https://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/generalassembly/docs/globalcompact/A_RES_70_1_E.pdf
Search via ReFindit