Companies’ Accountability in Sustainability: A Comparative Analysis of SDGs in Five Countries

Pillai, Kamala Vainy; Slutsky, Pavel; Wolf, Katharina; Duthler, Gaelle; Stever, Inka

doi:10.1007/978-981-10-2815-1_5

Cited by 23 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…The 2030 agenda for sustainable development came into force in January 2016, translating into 17 SDGs and 169 targets (UN, ), categorized into three major clusters: cluster one consists of SDGs 1–7 including the extension of the millennium development goals for 2030; cluster two focuses on social inclusiveness (SDGs 8–10); and cluster three (SDGs 11–17) pertains to urban sustainability (Kumar et al, ). Policy‐makers that adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development made a “… call on all businesses to apply their creativity and innovation to solving sustainable development challenges” (UN, , p. 29) as there is a strong consensus that the SDGs can only be achieved with the active involvement of the private sector (Pillai et al, ) working alongside governments, the UN system, and other international institutions, local authorities, civil society members, the scientific and academic community, and society at large.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Advancing the Sustainable Development Goals: Evidence from leading European banks

Avrampou

Skouloudis

Iliopoulos

et al. 2019

Sustainable Development

156

114

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The sustainable development goals (SDGs) reflect grand challenges that the global community needs to address in order to ensure economic welfare, environmental quality, social cohesion and prosperity for future generations. In this respect, the role of the banking sector, among other critical business entities and key stakeholders, is vital. The purpose of our paper is to examine how comprehensively the reported performance of banks aligns with the endorsement of SDGs. We employ the well‐established framework of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) performance indicators for a comparative assessment of the nonfinancial performance disclosed in the annual sustainability reports. Focusing on a small sample of leading European banks, we find an overall low contribution to SDGs. Furthermore, each bank's contribution remains particularly heterogeneous towards most individual SDG goals. Likewise, bank‐specific strategies drive the most extensively addressed SDGs, overlooking any critical importance of certain GRI indicators with multifaceted impact across several SDGs. The study sets forth managerial implications for improving effective reporting of SDG performance. It concludes with emerging opportunities for enhancing disclosure of SDGs contribution and highlights future research perspectives towards industry‐wide shared‐value appraisal under the scope of these pressing grand challenges.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Advancing the Sustainable Development Goals: Evidence from leading European banks

Avrampou

Skouloudis

Iliopoulos

et al. 2019

Sustainable Development

156

114

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The 17 goals set by the 2030 Agenda are interconnected and indivisible and take into account the three dimensions of sustainable development: Economic growth, social inclusion, and environment protection. The achievement of these goals may only be completed through a joint effort of various stakeholders and a strong and effective collaboration between public and private partners [1][2][3] such as companies, administrations, international institutions, local authorities, scientific and academic communities, and society in general. The EU has played a determining role in defining the 2030 Global Agenda, which is consistent with the objectives of Europe.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainable Development and European Banks: A Non-Financial Disclosure Analysis

et al. 2020

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This paper aims at contributing to the debate on the relationships between the European financial sector and sustainable development. Using a non-financial disclosure analysis of 262 European banks, the research sought, first, to investigate the “scope” of the contribution of European banks to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and, second, to explore the factors that seem to differentiate the SDGs approach among banks. The results show that country of origin, legal system, and adoption of an integrated report seem to differentiate banks in terms of contribution to the SDGs. The business model and stock exchange listing, conversely, do not seem to represent discriminatory factor in the contribution of banks toward the SDGs. The study can be useful for managers and decision makers to develop policies to support organizations in contributing to the SDGs.

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“…The Report incorporates 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in an international shared project, setting a total of 169 goals. The goals are being increasingly implemented in global society, governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and companies, and today the UN SDGs represent the global framework underlying the direction and actions to be taken towards 2030 [27,28]. There is an evident link between the 17 UN SDGs and the information that both the EU Directive and the related Italian Legislative Decree require to be published in non-financial reports.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Non-Financial Information Disclosure in Italian Public Interest Companies: A Sustainability Reporting Perspective

et al. 2020

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The paper aims at investigating the impact of UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030 on Italian “public interest entities” both in term of approaches to non-financial disclosure and on business strategies. The analysis focuses on the investigation of the relationships between the 17 SDGs and the set of non-financial information defined in bont the EU Directive 2014/95/EU and the related Italian L.D. n. 254 of 30 December 2016. SDGs has been significantly analysed in the literature, considering the effects on sustainability policies adopted by the States, but little attention has been paid to the policies adopted by companies. The awareness of companies towards the business implication connected to the achievemt of these goals translate into a new conscientious path, in compliance with sustainability standards. In this framework, the paper investigates the entire population of Italian companies subject to the publishing of non-financial information disclosure, with the exclusion of banks and insurance companies. For each company under investigation, two kinds of analysis are presented: (1) firstly, the company’s level of sustainability derived from the company website; (2) the approach in pursuing the 17 SDGs. The overall results are quite comforting in term of companies’ sustainability aptitude. Over the years, Italian public interest entities have implemented active policies linked to the achievement of some specific goals, in compliance with the Italian legislation, although divergences still emerge among the Italian areas, as a result of cultural differences that still exist and affect companies’ approaches to sustainability issues. In this regard, the results of the analysis are interesting for government authorities to regulat the pursuit of sustainability goals.

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Companies’ Accountability in Sustainability: A Comparative Analysis of SDGs in Five Countries

Cited by 23 publications

References 25 publications

Advancing the Sustainable Development Goals: Evidence from leading European banks

Advancing the Sustainable Development Goals: Evidence from leading European banks

Sustainable Development and European Banks: A Non-Financial Disclosure Analysis

Non-Financial Information Disclosure in Italian Public Interest Companies: A Sustainability Reporting Perspective

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