IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/corsem/v27y2020i4p1617-1629.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

New challenges for corporate sustainability reporting: United Nations' 2030 Agenda for sustainable development and the sustainable development goals

Author

Listed:
  • Thomas A. Tsalis
  • Kyveli E. Malamateniou
  • Dimitrios Koulouriotis
  • Ioannis E. Nikolaou

Abstract

Complying with the requirements of sustainability development is a very high priority for the business community. The United Nations' 2030 Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (UN_SDGs) pose new challenges for firms, which have to adjust their operations and strategies to the requirements of SDGs. In this context, this paper aims to develop a methodological framework for evaluating the level of alignment of corporate sustainability reporting practices with the scope of UN_SDGs. Based on disclosure topics from Global Reporting Initiative and a scoring system, an evaluation framework was developed in order to assess the quality of information published in sustainability reports with respect to each UN_SDG. An empirical analysis was performed in a sample of sustainability reports in order to examine the structure and the applicability of the proposed methodological framework. The outcomes of the empirical analysis reflect some implications for future research on the UN_SDG reporting practices.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas A. Tsalis & Kyveli E. Malamateniou & Dimitrios Koulouriotis & Ioannis E. Nikolaou, 2020. "New challenges for corporate sustainability reporting: United Nations' 2030 Agenda for sustainable development and the sustainable development goals," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(4), pages 1617-1629, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:corsem:v:27:y:2020:i:4:p:1617-1629
    DOI: 10.1002/csr.1910
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1910
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/csr.1910?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ram Nayan Yadava & Bhaskar Sinha, 2016. "Scoring Sustainability Reports Using GRI 2011 Guidelines for Assessing Environmental, Economic, and Social Dimensions of Leading Public and Private Indian Companies," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 138(3), pages 549-558, October.
    2. Nigel Roome, 1992. "Developing environmental management strategies," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 1(1), pages 11-24, March.
    3. Paolo Perego & Ans Kolk, 2012. "Multinationals’ Accountability on Sustainability: The Evolution of Third-party Assurance of Sustainability Reports," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 110(2), pages 173-190, October.
    4. Ingram, Rw & Frazier, Kb, 1980. "Environmental Performance And Corporate Disclosure," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(2), pages 614-622.
    5. Igor Álvarez Etxeberria & Eduardo Ortas & Stefan Schaltegger & Stefan Schaltegger & Igor Álvarez Etxeberria & Eduardo Ortas, 2017. "Innovating Corporate Accounting and Reporting for Sustainability – Attributes and Challenges," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(2), pages 113-122, March.
    6. Francesco Rosati & Lourenço Galvão Diniz Faria, 2019. "Business contribution to the Sustainable Development Agenda: Organizational factors related to early adoption of SDG reporting," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(3), pages 588-597, May.
    7. Willem Schramade, 2017. "Investing in the UN Sustainable Development Goals: Opportunities for Companies and Investors," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 29(2), pages 87-99, June.
    8. Stefanella Stranieri & Luigi Orsi & Alessandro Banterle & Elena Claire Ricci, 2019. "Sustainable development and supply chain coordination: The impact of corporate social responsibility rules in the European Union food industry," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(2), pages 481-491, March.
    9. Bebbington, Jan & Russell, Shona & Thomson, Ian, 2017. "Accounting and sustainable development: Reflections and propositions," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 21-34.
    10. Gimenez, Cristina & Sierra, Vicenta & Rodon, Juan, 2012. "Sustainable operations: Their impact on the triple bottom line," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(1), pages 149-159.
    11. J. Emil Morhardt & Sarah Baird & Kelly Freeman, 2002. "Scoring corporate environmental and sustainability reports using GRI 2000, ISO 14031 and other criteria," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 9(4), pages 215-233, December.
    12. Stephen Brammer & Stephen Pavelin, 2008. "Factors influencing the quality of corporate environmental disclosure," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(2), pages 120-136, February.
    13. Güler Aras & David Crowther, 2009. "Corporate Sustainability Reporting: A Study in Disingenuity?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 87(1), pages 279-288, April.
    14. Ioannis E. Nikolaou & Konstantinos I. Evangelinos, 2010. "Classifying current social responsibility accounting methods for assisting a dialogue between business and society," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 6(4), pages 562-580, October.
    15. Chiara Mio, 2010. "Corporate social reporting in Italian multi‐utility companies: an empirical analysis," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(5), pages 247-271, September.
    16. Patrycja Hąbek & Radosław Wolniak, 2016. "Assessing the quality of corporate social responsibility reports: the case of reporting practices in selected European Union member states," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 50(1), pages 399-420, January.
    17. Alberto Romolini & Silvia Fissi & Elena Gori, 2014. "Scoring CSR Reporting in Listed Companies – Evidence from Italian Best Practices," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 21(2), pages 65-81, March.
    18. Ans Kolk, 2008. "Sustainability, accountability and corporate governance: exploring multinationals' reporting practices," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(1), pages 1-15, January.
    19. Ekins, Paul & Simon, Sandrine & Deutsch, Lisa & Folke, Carl & De Groot, Rudolf, 2003. "A framework for the practical application of the concepts of critical natural capital and strong sustainability," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(2-3), pages 165-185, March.
    20. Markus Milne & Rob Gray, 2013. "W(h)ither Ecology? The Triple Bottom Line, the Global Reporting Initiative, and Corporate Sustainability Reporting," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 118(1), pages 13-29, November.
    21. Aerts, Walter & Cormier, Denis, 2009. "Media legitimacy and corporate environmental communication," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 1-27, January.
    22. James J. Cordeiro & Joseph Sarkis, 1997. "Environmental proactivism and firm performance: evidence from security analyst earnings forecasts," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 6(2), pages 104-114, May.
    23. Hediger, Werner, 2010. "Welfare and capital-theoretic foundations of corporate social responsibility and corporate sustainability," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 39(4), pages 518-526, August.
    24. Jarrod Grainger-Brown & Shirin Malekpour, 2019. "Implementing the Sustainable Development Goals: A Review of Strategic Tools and Frameworks Available to Organisations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-18, March.
    25. Anna Avrampou & Antonis Skouloudis & George Iliopoulos & Nadeem Khan, 2019. "Advancing the Sustainable Development Goals: Evidence from leading European banks," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(4), pages 743-757, July.
    26. Málovics, György & Csigéné, Noémi Nagypál & Kraus, Sascha, 2008. "The role of corporate social responsibility in strong sustainability," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 907-918, June.
    27. Wiseman, Joanne, 1982. "An evaluation of environmental disclosures made in corporate annual reports," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 7(1), pages 53-63, January.
    28. Parsons, Richard & Lacey, Justine & Moffat, Kieren, 2014. "Maintaining legitimacy of a contested practice: How the minerals industry understands its ‘social licence to operate’," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 83-90.
    29. Stephen Tsang & Richard Welford & Michelle Brown, 2009. "Reporting on community investment," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(3), pages 123-136, May.
    30. World Commission on Environment and Development,, 1987. "Our Common Future," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780192820808.
    31. Christine Oliver, 1997. "Sustainable competitive advantage: combining institutional and resource‐based views," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(9), pages 697-713, October.
    32. Anushree Poddar & Sapna A. Narula & Ambika Zutshi, 2019. "A study of corporate social responsibility practices of the top Bombay Stock Exchange 500 companies in India and their alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(6), pages 1184-1205, November.
    33. Jan Bebbington & Jeffrey Unerman, 2018. "Achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 31(1), pages 2-24, January.
    34. Laura Girella & Stefano Zambon & Paola Rossi, 2019. "Reporting on sustainable development: A comparison of three Italian small and medium‐sized enterprises," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(4), pages 981-996, July.
    35. Regina Scheyvens & Glenn Banks & Emma Hughes, 2016. "The Private Sector and the SDGs: The Need to Move Beyond ‘Business as Usual’," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(6), pages 371-382, November.
    36. Daniel Kouloukoui & Ângelo Marcio Oliveira Sant'Anna & Sônia Maria da Silva Gomes & Marcia Mara de Oliveira Marinho & Pieter de Jong & Asher Kiperstok & Ednildo Andrade Torres, 2019. "Factors influencing the level of environmental disclosures in sustainability reports: Case of climate risk disclosure by Brazilian companies," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(4), pages 791-804, July.
    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. Jose Manuel Diaz‐Sarachaga, 2021. "Monetizing impacts of Spanish companies toward the Sustainable Development Goals," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(4), pages 1313-1323, July.
    2. Jose Manuel Diaz‐Sarachaga, 2021. "Shortcomings in reporting contributions towards the sustainable development goals," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(4), pages 1299-1312, July.
    3. Simone Pizzi & Francesco Rosati & Andrea Venturelli, 2021. "The determinants of business contribution to the 2030 Agenda: Introducing the SDG Reporting Score," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 404-421, January.
    4. 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.
    5. Matthias S. Fifka, 2013. "Corporate Responsibility Reporting and its Determinants in Comparative Perspective – a Review of the Empirical Literature and a Meta‐analysis," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(1), pages 1-35, January.
    6. Nicole Darnall & Hyunjung Ji & Kazuyuki Iwata & Toshi H. Arimura, 2022. "Do ESG reporting guidelines and verifications enhance firms' information disclosure?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(5), pages 1214-1230, September.
    7. Maria del Mar Miralles‐Quiros & Jose Luis Miralles‐Quiros & Irene Guia Arraiano, 2017. "Are Firms that Contribute to Sustainable Development Valued by Investors?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 24(1), pages 71-84, January.
    8. Ferran Curtó-Pagès & Enrique Ortega-Rivera & Marc Castellón-Durán & Eva Jané-Llopis, 2021. "Coming in from the Cold: A Longitudinal Analysis of SDG Reporting Practices by Spanish Listed Companies Since the Approval of the 2030 Agenda," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-27, January.
    9. Camélia Radu & Claude Francoeur, 2017. "Does Innovation Drive Environmental Disclosure? A New Insight into Sustainable Development," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(7), pages 893-911, November.
    10. Lopin Kuo & Chin‐Chen Yeh & Hui‐Cheng Yu, 2012. "Disclosure of Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management: Evidence from China," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(5), pages 273-287, September.
    11. Amr ElAlfy & Kareem M. Darwish & Olaf Weber, 2020. "Corporations and sustainable development goals communication on social media: Corporate social responsibility or just another buzzword?," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(5), pages 1418-1430, September.
    12. J. Emil Morhardt, 2010. "Corporate social responsibility and sustainability reporting on the Internet," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(7), pages 436-452, November.
    13. Mitzi Cubilla‐Montilla & Ana‐Belén Nieto‐Librero & Ma Purificación Galindo‐Villardón & Ma Purificación Vicente Galindo & Isabel‐María Garcia‐Sanchez, 2019. "Are cultural values sufficient to improve stakeholder engagement human and labour rights issues?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(4), pages 938-955, July.
    14. María Luisa Pajuelo Moreno & Teresa Duarte-Atoche, 2019. "Relationship between Sustainable Disclosure and Performance—An Extension of Ullmann’s Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(16), pages 1-33, August.
    15. Maria Federica Izzo & Alberto Dello Strologo & Fabrizio Granà, 2020. "Learning from the Best: New Challenges and Trends in IR Reporters’ Disclosure and the Role of SDGs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-22, July.
    16. Concetta Carnevale & Maria Mazzuca & Sergio Venturini, 2012. "Corporate Social Reporting in European Banks: The Effects on a Firm's Market Value," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(3), pages 159-177, May.
    17. Markus Milne & Rob Gray, 2013. "W(h)ither Ecology? The Triple Bottom Line, the Global Reporting Initiative, and Corporate Sustainability Reporting," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 118(1), pages 13-29, November.
    18. Thaís Vieira Nunhes & Merce Bernardo & Otávio José de Oliveira, 2020. "Rethinking the Way of Doing Business: A Reframe of Management Structures for Developing Corporate Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-32, February.
    19. Nikolaos S. Trevlopoulos & Thomas A. Tsalis & Konstantinos I. Evangelinos & Konstantinos P. Tsagarakis & Konstantinos I. Vatalis & Ioannis E. Nikolaou, 2021. "The influence of environmental regulations on business innovation, intellectual capital, environmental and economic performance," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 163-178, March.
    20. María del Mar Alonso‐Almeida & Josep Llach & Frederic Marimon, 2014. "A Closer Look at the ‘Global Reporting Initiative’ Sustainability Reporting as a Tool to Implement Environmental and Social Policies: A Worldwide Sector Analysis," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 21(6), pages 318-335, November.

    More about this item

    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:wly:corsem:v:27:y:2020:i:4:p:1617-1629. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1002/(ISSN)1535-3966 .

    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.