Implications for Sustainable Development Goals: A framework to assess company disclosure in sustainability reporting

2021 ◽  
pp. 128624
Author(s):  
Armando Calabrese ◽  
Roberta Costa ◽  
Massimo Gastaldi ◽  
Nathan Levialdi Ghiron ◽  
Roberth Andres Villazon Montalvan
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Development Goals

scholarly journals Financial Institutions’ Risk Profile and Contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 7738
Author(s):  
Nicolás Gambetta ◽  
Fernando Azcárate-Llanes ◽  
Laura Sierra-García ◽  
María Antonia García-Benau
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Financial Institutions ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Risk Profile ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Corporate Reporting ◽  
2030 Agenda ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
The Impact

This study analyses the impact of Spanish financial institutions’ risk profile on their contribution to the 2030 Agenda. Financial institutions play a significant role in ensuring financial inclusion and sustainable economic growth and usually incorporate environmental and social considerations into their risk management systems. The results show that financial institutions with less capital risk, with lower management efficiency and with higher market risk usually make higher contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), according to their sustainability reports. The novel aspect of the present study is that it identifies the risk profile of financial institutions that incorporate sustainability into their business operations and measure the impact generated in the environment and in society. The study findings have important implications for shareholders, investors and analysts, according to the view that sustainability reporting is a vehicle that financial institutions use to express their commitment to the 2030 Agenda and to higher quality corporate reporting.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): a rising tide lifts all boats? Global reporting implications in a post SDGs world

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amr Elalfy ◽  
Olaf Weber ◽  
Sean Geobey
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Organizational Legitimacy ◽  
Global Reporting Initiative ◽  
Organizational Size ◽  
Legitimacy Theory ◽  
Regional Effect ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Development Goals

PurposeWe investigate the integration of the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)– based reporting thus exploring the factors that influence the adoption of the SDGs by organizations.Design/methodology/approachWe analyzed the GRI dataset provided by the GRI data secretariat. We analyzed 14,308 reports provided by 9,397 organizations between 2016 and 2017.FindingsLarger organizations are more likely to integrate the SDGs into their reporting than smaller organizations. Secondly, publicly listed firms are more likely to address the SDGs. Thirdly, industries with higher sustainability impacts are more likely to address the SDGs in their reporting. Fourthly, our data confirm a regional effect with regard to SDG reporting. Moreover, organizations that follow international sustainability guidelines and standards such as becoming a member of the GRI Gold Community or using the GRI Content Index services and having external assurance are more likely to report on the SDGs.Research limitations/implicationsCorporations play an essential role in the achievement of the SDGs, which shape the future of the world's sustainable development. Nevertheless, SDGs reporting needs more research to analyze the factors that can influence it. The study contributed to the academic literature on CSR and legitimacy theory by analyzing institutional and regional factors that impact SDGs reporting.Practical implicationsThe study provides insights about the integration of the SDGs into organizational reporting and accounting, including the adoption of the SDGs by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and the benefits of the SDGs as a framework for strategic corporate sustainability.Social implicationsA global sustainability framework, such as the SDGs can be integrated into organizations sustainability reporting and accounting in a meaningful way.Originality/valueThis is the first study that analyzes the integration of the SDGs into GRI-based reporting. The study contributes to legitimacy theory by highlighting the factors, which contribute to the legitimacy-based adoption of the SDGs, including organizational size, being publicly listed, being from high-impact industries and certain global regions, etc. SDG reporting can help firms increase their organizational legitimacy across their stakeholders.

scholarly journals Corporate social responsibility of financial sector institutions in the light of sustainable development goals financing: the role of banks and stock exchanges

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Inna Makarenko ◽  
Yulia Yelnikova ◽  
Anna Lasukova ◽  
Abdul Rahman Barhaq
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Financial Sector ◽  
Stock Exchanges ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Corporate Social

Significant gap in investment resources for financing Sustainable Development Goals can be overcome with the revitalization of the corporate social responsibility mechanism of the financial sector institutions, for example banks and stock exchanges as the largest players in the global financial sector. The most relevant for them are Goals 1, 5, 8, 10, 13, 17. Incorporating these goals into activities of the financial sector institutions requires not only the activation of their CSR mechanism in the directions indicated by the targets, but also the radical restructuring of all business processes and the reorientation of their overall sustainability strategy. Analysis of current sustainability reporting disclosure by financial sector institutions in global and regional aspects was conducted. Based on the analysis, the authors define the role of CSRs of banks and stock exchanges in SDG financing as follows: banks – ensuring their own sustainability and efficiency through CSR mechanisms, formation of new tools, methods and technologies of financial support of SDG; stock exchanges – minimization of information asymmetry in investor decision making, taking into consideration ESG criteria, formation of exemplary disclosure practices and new markets and market benchmarks by listing companies.

scholarly journals Gender diversity and sustainability responsiveness: evidence from Nigerian fixed money deposit banks

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emmanuel Ozordi ◽  
Damilola Felix Eluyela ◽  
Uwalomwa Uwuigbe ◽  
Olubukola Ranti Uwuigbe ◽  
Chukwu Emmanuel Nwaze
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Management Team ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
Statistical Tool ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
The Impact

This paper aims to explore the impact of gender diversity on firms’ sustainability responsiveness in ensuring collective drive toward achieving sustainable development goals (agenda) for Nigeria. This study explored female engagement from three major platforms, namely women as directors, management team leaders, and female workforce. The data used to conduct this study were derived from the annual reports of the sampled banks spanning through the period of 2013–2016. However, while data for this study were analyzed using EViews statistical tool, the sustainability reporting data were ascertained using the content analysis method. The outcome of this study depicts that female directors, female workforce, and women in the management team all had an adverse and positive association with sustainability reporting. However, this association was all insignificant. This further buttresses that gender diversity was not the major driving force behind the sustainability reporting of the sampled banks in Nigeria. This is because the sector is highly regulated. Hence, the study recommends that notwithstanding the outcome, in attaining the sustainable development goals (SDGs), there is a need to have more female representation on the strategic position of authority.

scholarly journals Mapping a university’s research outputs to the UN Sustainable Development Goals

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 61
Author(s):  
Asha Mistry ◽  
Hannah Sellers ◽  
Jeremy Levesley ◽  
Sandra Lee
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Software Tool ◽  
Mathematical Text ◽  
Develop Software ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Automated Software ◽  
The University

The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide a framework to achieve sustainable development and fulfilling these Goals will take an unprecedented effort by all sectors in society. Many universities and businesses are using the Goals within their strategies and sustainability reporting. However, this is difficult as there is currently no standard methodology to map the 17 goals, 169 targets and 232 indicators. Work at the University of Leicester has focused on developing a robust methodology to map a higher education institution’s (HEI’s) research contribution to the Goals. We have integrated this unique methodology into an automated software tool to measure a university’s academic contribution to the Goals using mathematical text mining techniques. Our ability to quickly and effectively map institutions’ research contributions has boosted our ambitions and efforts to develop software to map the full operations of an HEI or business.

scholarly journals Sustainability Reporting in the Antwerp Port Ecosystem, Belgium: Understanding the Relationship Between Reporting on the Sustainable Development Goals and Integrated Thinking

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Beyne ◽  
Wayne Visser ◽  
Imane Allam
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Online Information ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Integrated Strategies ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Good Starting Point ◽  
The Relationship

This paper is aimed at elucidating the interrelations between reporting on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and integrated thinking. A review of online information on sustainability by port community companies in Antwerp, Belgium was applied. The research made use of a database from Port Plus investigating 769 companies. The data were analyzed using a combination of descriptive and inferential analyses. The research shows that reporting on the SDGs and integrated thinking have reciprocal reinforcing relationships, where the SDGs are a good starting point for planning integrated strategies for sustainability. The article reinforces that using the SDGs in communication and reporting can help companies better and more holistically integrate their efforts for sustainability into their strategies and processes.

Between cost and value

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 481-496 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amina Buallay
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Financial Institutions ◽  
Business Performance ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Market Performance ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Development Goals

Purpose There are wide debates about the costs and benefits of sustainability reporting. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between sustainability reporting and a firm’s financial, operational and market performance in order to determine when sustainability reporting benefits a firm and when it adds cost. Design/methodology/approach This study examined 342 financial institutions within the 20 countries that top the list of achievers of sustainable development goals for the 10 years 2007 through 2016, for a total of 3,420 observations. The independent variable is the environmental, social and governance (ESG) score; the dependent variables are performance indicators (return on assets, return on equity and Tobin’s Q). Two types of control variables are used in this study: firm level and country level. Findings The findings deduced from the empirical results demonstrate that, on the one hand, ESG positively affects market performance, which supports value creation theory. On the other hand, ESG negatively affects financial and operational performance, which supports cost-of-capital reduction theory. Research limitations/implications This study aims to find how sustainable disclosure can and does play a role in contributing towards performance of financial institutions to eventually achieve country’s sustainable development goals. Practical implications The study provides insights into the effect of sustainability reporting on different perspectives of business performance, which might be utilised by financial institutions to re-arrange their disclosure policy to be aligned with their strategy. Originality/value This study sheds light on the rare prior studies that relate sustainability reporting to indicators of business performance (operational, financial and market).

Moving Businesses toward Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Evidence from an Italian “Benefit-For-Nature” Corporation

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Massimo Battaglia ◽  
Patrizia Gragnani ◽  
Nora Annesi
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Research Question ◽  
National Level ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Policy Framework ◽  
Recent Attempt ◽  
Benefit Corporations ◽  
Development Goals

AbstractSustainable development goals (SDGs) are the most relevant and recent attempt to integrate sustainable development ambitions and environmental concerns in a policy framework. Recently, few studies have been conducted to investigate the gap between sustainability reporting and the SDGs, initiating a new stream of research (Lozano 2015; Rosati and Faria 2019). However, the role of accounting systems as a support for moving toward goals and targets outlined by the SDGs has been poorly deepened in not-traditional profit-oriented businesses. Among these, there are cooperatives: jointly owned benefit corporations. The peculiarity of cooperatives lays in the collective governance and the fact that profits are re-invested in the cooperative or in local projects and activities rather than being distributed to the shareholders. The present study intends to fill this gap by answering the following research question: can a cooperative, given its peculiar nature, contribute to sustainability? To do so, the annual sustainability reports of the largest Italian cooperative have been analyzed under the lens of SDGs. The results show that cooperatives can actively contribute to sustainability, especially on the local level. In fact, they have proved to be important players in transposing the SDGs from the national level to the local level, constituting an important link between the international community and the local one.

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