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.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Aras, G. and Crowther, D. (2008), ‘Governance and sustainability: An investigation into the relationship between corporate governance and corporate sustainability’, Management Decision, Vol. 46 No. 3, pp. 433–448.
Aureli, S., Magnaghi, E. and Salvatori, F. (2019), ‘The Role of Existing Regulation and Discretion in Harmonising Non-Financial Disclosure’, Accounting in Europe, Taylor & Francis, Vol. 16 No. 3, pp. 290–312.
Badia, F., Dicuonzo, G., Petruzzelli, S. and Dell’Atti, V. (2019a), ‘Integrated reporting in action: mobilizing intellectual capital to improve management and governance practices’, Journal of Management and Governance, Vol. 23 No. 2, pp. 299–320.
Badia, F., Dicuonzo, G., Petruzzelli, S. and Dell’Atti, V. (2019b), ‘The Role of Stakeholder Engagement in the Measurement, Management, and Reporting of Intellectual Capital: A Qualitative Analysis on Integrated Reporting Practices’, Qualitative Research in Intangibles, Intellectual Capital and Integrated Reporting Practices. Opportunities, Criticalities and Future Perspectives, pp. 41–63.
Baldwin, R., Cave, M. and Lodge, M. (2011), Understanding Regulation: Theory, Strategy, and Practice, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Benlemlih, M., Ge, J. and Zhao, S. (2020), ‘Undervaluation and non-financial information: Evidence from voluntary disclosure of CSR news’, Journal of Business Finance and Accounting, pp. 1–49.
Beretta, S. and Bozzolan, S.J. (2008), ‘Quality versus Quantity: The Case of Forward-Looking Disclosure.’, Account. Audit. Financ., Vol. 23, pp. 333–376.
Bini, L., Dainelli, F. and Giunta, F. (2017), ‘Is a loosely specified regulatory intervention effective in disciplining management commentary? The case of performance indicator disclosure’, Journal of Management and Governance, Springer US, Vol. 21 No. 1, pp. 63–91.
Brechmann, E.C. and Czado, C. (2013), ‘Risk management with high-dimensional vine copulas : An analysis of the Euro Stoxx 50’, Vol. 342, pp. 307–342.
Brown, H.S., de Jong, M. and Levy, D.L. (2009), ‘Building institutions based on information disclosure: lessons from GRI’s sustainability reporting’, Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 17 No. 6, pp. 571-580.
CDP; CDSB; GRI; IIRC; SASB. (2020a), Statement of Intent to Work Together Towards Comprehensive Corporate Reporting.
CDP; CDSB; GRI; IIRC; SASB. (2020b), Open Letter to Erik Thedéen, Director General of Finansinspektionen, Sweden, Chair of the Sustainable Finance Task Force of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO).
CDSB. (2019), ‘CDSB Framework’, No. June, p. 43.
CDSB. (2020), ‘Application guidance for About the Climate Disclosure Standards Board’, No. July.
Chen, Y., Mantegna, R.N., Pantelous, A.A. and Zuev, M. (2018), A Dynamic Analysis of S & P 500 , FTSE 100 and EURO STOXX 50 Indices under Different Exchange Rates.
Commission Of The European Communities. (2001), GREEN PAPER: Promoting a European Framework for Corporate Social Responsibility.
Coulson, A.B., Adams, C.A., Nugent, M.N. and Haynes, K. (2015), ‘Exploring metaphors of capitals and the framing of multiple capitals: Challenges and opportunities for <ir>’, Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, Vol. 6 No. 3, pp. 290–314.
Dawn, J., Bodonik, P. and Dhaliwal, J. (2002), ‘Supporting the e-Business Readiness of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises: Approaches and Metrics’, Internet Research, Vol. 12 No. 2, pp. 139–195.
Deloitte. (2015), Non-Financial Reporting.
Doni, F., Bianchi Martini, S., Corvino, A. and Mazzoni, M. (2019), ‘Voluntary versus mandatory non-financial disclosure’, Meditari Accountancy Research, Vol. 28 No. 5, pp. 781–802.
Du, S. and Yu, K. (2020), ‘Do corporate social responsibility reports convey value relevant information? Evidence from report readability and tone.’, Journal of Business Ethics, pp. 1–22.
Edmans, A. (2011), ‘Does the Stock Market Fully Value Intangibles? Employee Satisfaction and Equity Prices.’, Journal of Financial Economics, Vol. 101 No. 3, pp. 621–640.
Elkington, J. (1997), Cannibals with Forks. The Triple Bottom Line of 21st Century Business, Capstone Publishing Ltd., Oxford, UK.
Elkington, J. (2004), ‘Enter the triple bottom line.’, Henriques, A., Richardson, J. (Eds.), The Triple Bottom Line: Does It All Add Up?, pp. 1–16.
European Commission. (2017), ‘Communication from the commission, guidelines on non-financial reporting (methodology for reporting non-financial information) (2017/C 215/01)’.
Girella, L., Zambon, S. and Rossi, P. (2019), ‘Reporting on sustainable development: A comparison of three Italian small and medium-sized enterprises’, Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, Vol. 26 No. 4, pp. 981–996.
Haller, A., Link, M. and Groß, T. (2017), ‘The Term “Non-financial Information”—A Semantic Analysis of a Key Feature of Current and Future Corporate Reporting’, Accounting in Europe, Vol. 14 No. 3, pp. 407–429.
Hess, D. (2007), ‘Social reporting and new governance regulation: The prospects of achieving corporate accountability through transparency.’, Business Ethics Quarterly, Vol. 17 No. 3, pp. 453–476.
Huberman, A.M. and Miles, M.B. (1994), ‘Data management and analysis methods’, Handbook of Qualitative Research, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
IIRC. (2021), <IR> Framework.
Jackson, G., Bartosch, J., Avetisyan, E., Kinderman, D. and Knudsen, J.S. (2020), ‘Mandatory Non-financial Disclosure and Its Influence on CSR: An International Comparison’, Journal of Business Ethics, Springer Netherlands, Vol. 162 No. 2, pp. 323–342.
Krippendorff, K. (2004), Content Analysis. An Introduction to Its Methodology, edited by Publications, S., Sage Publications.
Lokuwaduge, C.S.D.S. and Heenetigala, K. (2017), ‘Integrating Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Disclosure for a Sustainable Development: An Australian Study’, Business Strategy and the Environment, Vol. 26 No. 4, pp. 438–450.
Lopatta, K., Buchholz, F. and Kaspereit, T. (2016), ‘Asymmetric information and corporate social responsibility.’, Business and Society, Vol. 55 No. 3, pp. 458–488.
Makarenko, I. (2017), ‘Public companies non-financial reporting and audit in Ukraine: challenges and prospects’, Accounting and Financial Control, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 32–38.
Marston, C.L. and Shrives, P.J. (1991), ‘The use of disclosure indices in accounting research: A review article.’, Br. Account. Rev., Vol. 23, pp. 195–210.
Mauro, S.G., Cinquini, L., Simonini, E. and Tenucci, A. (2020), ‘Moving from social and sustainability reporting to integrated reporting: Exploring the potential of Italian public-funded universities’ reports’, Sustainability (Switzerland), Vol. 12 No. 8, p. 3172.
Mayring, P. (2000), ‘Qualitative content analysis.’, Forum on Qualitative Social Research, Vol. 1 No. 2.
Najah, A. and Jarboui, A. (2013), ‘Non-Financial Disclosure and Value Creation through Consumer Satisfaction in France’, Journal of Academic Finance, Vol. 1, pp. 1–14.
Nawaz, W. and Koç, M. (2018), ‘Development of a systematic framework for sustainability management of organizations’, Journal of Cleaner Production, Elsevier Ltd, Vol. 171, pp. 1255–1274.
Pranugrahaning, A., Donovan, J.D., Topple, C. and Masli, E.K. (2021), ‘Corporate sustainability assessments: A systematic literature review and conceptual framework’, Journal of Cleaner Production, Elsevier Ltd, Vol. 295, p. 126385.
Raynard, P. and Forstater, M. (2002), Corporate Social Responsibility. Implications for Small and Medium Enterprises in Developing Countries, United Nations Industrial Development Organization, Vienna, Austria.
Raza, J., Liu, Y. and Usman, M. (2019), ‘Corporate social responsibility commitment of small-to-medium enterprises and organizational competitive differentiation: Stakeholder pressure, market orientation, and socioeconomic context effects’, Journal of Public Affairs, Vol. 19 No. 2, pp. 1–11.
Renneboog, L., Horst, J.T. and Zhang, C. (2008), ‘Socially responsible investments: Institutional aspects, performance, and investor behavior.’, Journal of Banking and Finance, Vol. 32, pp. 1723–1742.
Stubbs, W. and Higgins, C. (2018), ‘Stakeholders’ perspectives on the role of regulatory reform in integrated reporting’, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 147 No. 3, pp. 489–508.
Tarmuji, I., Maelah, R. and Tarmuji, N.H. (2016), ‘The Impact of Environmental, Social and Governance Practices (ESG) on Economic Performance: Evidence from ESG Score’, International Journal of Trade, Economics and Finance, Vol. 7 No. 3, pp. 67–74.
TCFD. (2017), ‘Recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures’, Launch at the Tate Modern, No. December, pp. 1–6.
La Torre, M., Sabelfeld, S., Blomkvist, M., Tarquinio, L. and Dumay, J. (2018), ‘Harmonising non-financial reporting regulation in Europe: Practical forces and projections for future research.’, Meditari Accountancy Research, available at: https://doi.org/10.1108/MEDAR-02-2018-0290.
Vaz, N., Fernandez-Feijoo, B. and Ruiz, S. (2016), ‘Integrated reporting: an international overview’, Business Ethics, Vol. 25 No. 4, pp. 577–591.
Venturelli, A., Caputo, F., Leopizzi, R. and Pizzi, S. (2019), ‘The state of art of corporate social disclosure before the introduction of non-financial reporting directive: a cross country analysis’, Social Responsibility Journal, Vol. 15 No. 4, pp. 409–423.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
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 |
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
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
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-05351-1_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-05350-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-05351-1
eBook Packages: Economics and FinanceEconomics and Finance (R0)