Volume 27, Issue 4 p. 1617-1629
RESEARCH ARTICLE

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

Thomas A. Tsalis

Thomas A. Tsalis

Business and Environmental Technology Economics Lab, Department of Environmental Engineering, Democritus University of Thrace, Xanthi, Greece

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Kyveli E. Malamateniou

Kyveli E. Malamateniou

Business and Environmental Technology Economics Lab, Department of Environmental Engineering, Democritus University of Thrace, Xanthi, Greece

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Dimitrios Koulouriotis

Dimitrios Koulouriotis

Department of Production and Management Engineering, Democritus University of Thrace, Xanthi, Greece

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Ioannis E. Nikolaou

Corresponding Author

Ioannis E. Nikolaou

Business and Environmental Technology Economics Lab, Department of Environmental Engineering, Democritus University of Thrace, Xanthi, Greece

Correspondence

Ioannis E. Nikolaou, Business and Environmental Technology Economics Lab, Department of Environmental Engineering, Democritus University of Thrace, Vas. Sofias 12 St., 67100 Xanthi, Greece.

Email: inikol@env.duth.gr

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First published: 14 February 2020
Citations: 259

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.

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