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. 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.
    3. 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.
    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. William L. Smith & Yue Cai Hillon & Yanni Liang, 2019. "Reassessing measures of sustainable firm performance: A consultant's guide to identifying hidden costs in corporate disclosures," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(2), pages 353-365, February.
    4. Massimiliano Celli & Simona Arduini & Tommaso Beck, 2024. "Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and His Future Application Scenario for Italian SMEs," International Journal of Business and Management, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 19(4), pages 1-44, July.
    5. Taryn Renatta De Mendonca & Yan Zhou, 2019. "Environmental Performance, Customer Satisfaction, and Profitability: A Study among Large U.S. Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(19), pages 1-15, September.
    6. Mario Morales-Parragué & Luis Araya-Castillo & Fidel Molina-Luque & Hugo Moraga-Flores, 2022. "Scientometric Analysis of Research on Corporate Social Responsibility," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-22, February.
    7. Elena Ferrer & Francisco J. López‐Arceiz & Cristina del Rio, 2020. "Sustainability disclosure and financial analysts' accuracy: The European case," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 2939-2952, December.
    8. Mark G. Edwards, 2021. "The growth paradox, sustainable development, and business strategy," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(7), pages 3079-3094, November.
    9. 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.
    10. Robin Hogrefe & Sabine Bohnet-Joschko, 2023. "The Social Dimension of Corporate Sustainability: Review of an Evolving Research Field," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-22, February.
    11. Ruixin Su & Bojan Obrenovic & Jianguo Du & Danijela Godinic & Akmal Khudaykulov, 2022. "COVID-19 Pandemic Implications for Corporate Sustainability and Society: A Literature Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-23, January.
    12. Jukka Mähönen, 2020. "Comprehensive Approach to Relevant and Reliable Reporting in Europe: A Dream Impossible?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(13), pages 1-38, June.
    13. Cristina Sousa Rocha & Paula Antunes & Paulo Partidário, 2023. "Design for Circular Economy in a Strong Sustainability Paradigm," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-30, December.
    14. 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.
    15. Honghui Zhu & Xin Zheng, 2024. "Evolutionary Characteristics, Regional Differences and Spatial Convergence of China’s Sustainable Agricultural Development Level," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-29, June.
    16. Iulia-Diana Costea & Camelia-Daniela Hategan, 2025. "Adapting to ESG Trends: Sustainability Reporting and Assurance Practices in Romania," Journal of Financial Studies, Institute of Financial Studies, vol. 10(18), pages 73-90, May.
    17. Mathias Cöster & Gunnar Dahlin & Raine Isaksson, 2020. "Are They Reporting the Right Thing and Are They Doing It Right?—A Measurement Maturity Grid for Evaluation of Sustainability Reports," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-19, December.
    18. Tiberio Daddi & Domenico Ceglia & Guia Bianchi & Marcia Dutra de Barcellos, 2019. "Paradoxical tensions and corporate sustainability: A focus on circular economy business cases," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(4), pages 770-780, July.
    19. Thomas A. Tsalis & Maria Terzaki & Dimitrios Koulouriotis & Konstantinos P. Tsagarakis & Ioannis E. Nikolaou, 2023. "The nexus of United Nations' 2030 Agenda and corporate sustainability reports," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(2), pages 784-796, April.
    20. Taryn De Mendonca & Yan Zhou, 2020. "When companies improve the sustainability of the natural environment: A study of large U.S. companies," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 801-811, March.

    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.