IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/jis/ejistu/y2025i02id570.html

Planetary and Social Boundaries in European Banking: Comparative Content Analysis of Sustainability Reports from Western and Central-Eastern Europe (2017–2024)

Author

Listed:
  • GIURCĂ Răzvan-Octavian

Abstract

Earth's ecosystems face increased pressure from human economic activities, which has led businesses to adopt various sustainability principles in their operational frameworks and disclosure systems. This research examines the degree to which major Western and Central-Eastern European banks include the planetary and social boundaries defined by Rockström et al. (2009) and Raworth (2012) within their sustainability disclosure reports. The content analysis of 134 official sustainability reports from leading banks in Germany, France, Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Austria, Poland, Hungary, Romania and the Czech Republic, between 2017 and 2024, reveals selective sustainability reporting practices. Banks throughout both regions maintained continuous focus on climate change since the European Union introduced its Green Deal in 2019. However, other planetary boundaries such as biodiversity loss, freshwater use and land-system change received minimal attention. Social boundaries, including education, employment, gender equality, income and healthcare received significant attention from banks because of the socio-economic disruptions, especially during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Western European banks demonstrated stronger environmental regulatory compliance, while Central-Eastern European banks focused on developing their socio-economic aspects. The study demonstrates that European banking sector sustainability reporting is primarily compliant rather than transformational, underscoring a need for enhanced regulatory frameworks and strategic sustainability integration to achieve systemic change.

Suggested Citation

  • GIURCĂ Răzvan-Octavian, 2025. "Planetary and Social Boundaries in European Banking: Comparative Content Analysis of Sustainability Reports from Western and Central-Eastern Europe (2017–2024)," European Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, Bucharest Economic Academy, issue 02, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:jis:ejistu:y:2025:i:02:id:570
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ejist.ro/files/pdf/570.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://ejist.ro/abstract/570/Planetary-and-Social-Boundaries-in-European-Banking-Comparative-Content.html
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nancy E. Landrum & Brian Ohsowski, 2018. "Identifying Worldviews on Corporate Sustainability: A Content Analysis of Corporate Sustainability Reports," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(1), pages 128-151, January.
    2. Liesel Kassier, 2024. "Identifying transitions in corporate sustainability reporting: a content analysis of JSE/FTSE multinational sustainability reports from 2016 to 2021," International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 1-23, December.
    3. Michael Adelowotan, 2021. "Software, Method, and Analysis: Reflections on the Use of ATLAS.ti in a Doctoral Research Study," Eurasian Journal of Economics and Finance, Eurasian Publications, vol. 9(3), pages 189-204.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Giurcă Răzvan-Octavian, 2025. "Tracking of Planetary and Social Boundaries in Banking: A Content Analysis of Sustainability Reports in Central-Eastern Europe," Proceedings of the International Conference on Business Excellence, Sciendo, vol. 19(1), pages 4557-4571.
    2. Fábio Albuquerque & Ana Isabel Dias & Alexandra Domingos, 2023. "The Students’ Intrinsic Motivation for Learning Non-Financial Information Matters from Their Self-Identification as Global Citizens," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-19, May.
    3. Gerard Farias & Christine Farias & Isabella Krysa & Joel Harmon, 2020. "Sustainability Mindsets for Strategic Management: Lifting the Yoke of the Neo-Classical Economic Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-14, August.
    4. António Pedro Vieira & Gregor Radonjič, 2020. "Disclosure of eco‐innovation activities in European large companies' sustainability reporting," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(5), pages 2240-2253, September.
    5. Mähönen Jukka, 2020. "Integrated Reporting and Sustainable Corporate Governance from European Perspective," Accounting, Economics, and Law: A Convivium, De Gruyter, vol. 10(2), pages 1-40, July.
    6. Anette Hallin & Tina Karrbom‐Gustavsson & Peter Dobers, 2021. "Transition towards and of sustainability—Understanding sustainability as performative," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 1948-1957, May.
    7. Pereira, Vijay & Tuffour, James & Patnaik, Swetketu & Temouri, Yama & Malik, Ashish & Singh, Sanjay Kumar, 2021. "The quest for CSR: Mapping responsible and irresponsible practices in an intra-organizational context in Ghana’s gold mining industry," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 268-281.
    8. Cristina Maranesi & Pietro De Giovanni, 2020. "Modern Circular Economy: Corporate Strategy, Supply Chain, and Industrial Symbiosis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-25, November.
    9. Zhang, Junru & Shan, Yuan George & Kapu Arachchilage, Nirosha Dilhani, 2026. "Do students have satisfying educational experiences at sustainable universities? Evidence from Australian universities," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 58(1).
    10. Hana Trollman & James Colwill & Alan Brejnholt, 2020. "Ecologically Embedded Design in Manufacturing: Legitimation within Circular Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-13, May.
    11. Martin Ritter & Heiner Schanz, 2021. "Carsharing Business Models’ Strategizing Mindsets Regarding Environmental Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-18, November.
    12. Thaís Vieira Nunhes & Maximilian Espuny & Thalita Lauá Reis Campos & Gilberto Santos & Merce Bernardo & Otávio José Oliveira, 2022. "Guidelines to build the bridge between sustainability and integrated management systems: A way to increase stakeholder engagement toward sustainable development," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(5), pages 1617-1635, September.
    13. Taryn De Mendonca & Yan Zhou, 2019. "What does targeting ecological sustainability mean for company financial performance?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(8), pages 1583-1593, December.
    14. Raphaëlle Stewart & Monia Niero, 2018. "Circular economy in corporate sustainability strategies: A review of corporate sustainability reports in the fast‐moving consumer goods sector," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(7), pages 1005-1022, November.
    15. Hana Trollman & James Colwill & Sandeep Jagtap, 2021. "A Circularity Indicator Tool for Measuring the Ecological Embeddedness of Manufacturing," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-23, August.
    16. Emilio Abad-Segura & Francisco Joaquín Cortés-García & Luis J. Belmonte-Ureña, 2019. "The Sustainable Approach to Corporate Social Responsibility: A Global Analysis and Future Trends," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(19), pages 1-24, September.
    17. Benjamin S. Thompson, 2019. "Payments for ecosystem services and corporate social responsibility: Perspectives on sustainable production, stakeholder relations, and philanthropy in Thailand," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(4), pages 497-511, May.
    18. Francisco Javier Forcadell & Elisa Aracil & Fernando Ubeda, 2020. "Using reputation for corporate sustainability to tackle banks digitalization challenges," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(6), pages 2181-2193, September.
    19. Calabrese, Armando & Costa, Roberta & Ghiron, Nathan Levialdi & Tiburzi, Luigi & Pedersen, Esben Rahbek Gjerdrum, 2021. "How sustainable-orientated service innovation strategies are contributing to the sustainable development goals," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    20. Rodrigo Zeidan, 2022. "Why don't asset managers accelerate ESG investing? A sentiment analysis based on 13,000 messages from finance professionals," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(7), pages 3028-3039, November.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • P46 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Other Economic Systems - - - Consumer Economics; Health; Education and Training; Welfare, Income, Wealth, and Poverty
    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General
    • Q50 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - General
    • F69 - International Economics - - Economic Impacts of Globalization - - - Other
    • G20 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:jis:ejistu:y:2025:i:02:id:570. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Alina Popescu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/frasero.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.