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The Jungle of Sustainability Frameworks and Standards: Evidence from European Listed Companies

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Business Development and Economic Governance in Southeastern Europe

Abstract

In the last decade, corporate reporting has undergone a radical transformation, adding sustainability reporting to traditional financial reporting. The Barnier Directive (2014/95/EU) introduced into European law the obligation for large public-interest entities to prepare and publish a non-financial statement. This document must contain information relating to the environment, the social sphere, employee matters, respect for human rights, and the fight against active and passive corruption, aimed at ensuring an understanding of the company’s activities, performance, results, and impact. Indeed, to date, managers consider it necessary to adopt a holistic approach, considering both financial and non-financial aspects, to ensure the protection of the creation of corporate value. On April 2021, the European Commission adopted a proposal of Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) aiming at improving sustainability reporting in order to contribute to the transition towards a fully sustainable and inclusive economic and financial system. In this context, the topic of sustainability reporting has become relevant for companies. This paper reviews the main frameworks and standards developed by international standards available to companies, investigating the level of adoption by a sample of European listed companies.

This chapter represents the results of a joint research project carried out by the three authors. However, the various paragraphs of the paper are divided as follows: paragraphs 1 “Introduction”, 2.1 “A preliminary overview”, 2.2 “Global Reporting Initiative”, 2.3 “Sustainability Accounting Standards Board” and 6 “Conclusion” G. Dicuonzo; paragraph 2.4 “Carbon Disclosure Project”, 2.5 “Climate Disclosure Standards Board”, 3 “Literature review” and 4 “Methodology” F. Donofrio; paragraphs 2.6 “Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures”, 2.7 “International Integrated Reporting Council”, 4 “Methodology” and 5 “Results and discussion” S. Ranaldo.

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Correspondence to Francesca Donofrio .

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Appendix A: Euro Stoxx 50

Appendix A: Euro Stoxx 50

No

Country

Company

No

Country

Company

1

Netherlands

ASML HOLDING N.V

26

Netherlands

KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS N.V

2

France

LVMH MOËT HENNESSY

27

France

KERING SA

3

Germany

SAP SE

28

Germany

DEUTSCHE POST AG

4

Germany

LINDE PLC

29

France

AXA

5

Germany

SIEMENS AG

30

France

SAFRAN

6

France

TOTAL SE

31

France

DANONE

7

France

SANOFI

32

France

ESSILORLUXOTTICA

8

Germany

ALLIANZ SE

33

Italy

INTESA SANPAOLO S.P.A

9

France

L'ORÉAL

34

Germany

MUENCHENER RUECKVERSICH

10

France

SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC SE

35

France

PERNOD RICARD

11

Spain

IBERDROLA, S.A

36

Germany

VONOVIA SE

12

Italy

ENEL S.P.A

37

Germany

VOLKSWAGEN AG

13

France

AIR LIQUIDE

38

Netherlands

ING GROEP N.V

14

Germany

BASF SE

39

Ireland

CRH PLC

15

Germany

BAYER AG

40

Spain

INDUSTRIA DE DISEÑO TEX

16

Germany

ADIDAS AG

41

Finland

KONE OYJ

17

France

AIRBUS SE

42

Germany

DEUTSCHE BÖRSE AG

18

Netherlands

ADYEN N.V

43

Netherlands

AHOLD DELHAIZE N.V

19

Germany

DEUTSCHE TELEKOM AG

44

Ireland

FLUTTER ENTERTAINMENT P

20

Germany

DAIMLER AG

45

Spain

AMADEUS IT GROUP, S.A

21

France

BNP PARIBAS

46

France

ENGIE

22

Belgium

ANHEUSER-BUSCH INBEV

47

Germany

BMW AG

23

France

VINCI

48

France

VIVENDI SE

24

Netherlands

PROSUS N.V

49

Italy

ENI S.P.A

25

Spain

BANCO SANTANDER, S.A

50

Finland

NOKIA OYJ

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Dicuonzo, G., Donofrio, F., Ranaldo, S. (2022). The Jungle of Sustainability Frameworks and Standards: Evidence from European Listed Companies. In: Sklias, P., Polychronidou, P., Karasavvoglou, A., Pistikou, V., Apostolopoulos, N. (eds) Business Development and Economic Governance in Southeastern Europe. Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-05351-1_3

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