CORPORATE WINDOW: The age of sustainability reporting

Mounting evidence of irreversible environmental problems and increasing inequality has established the precedent to compel the private sector to show corporate responsibility and think beyond profits. As time progressed, stakeholders voiced the need for corporate responsibility and accountability. Globally, on the one hand, this led to many UN-backed conventions — more recently, the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. On the other, some investors refrained from investing in companies with a poor reputation in managing labour and the environment. The recognition that businesses prioritising environmental and social aspects outperform those solely focused on finances prompted the demand for sustainability disclosures. Overall, this led to a growing culture in environmental, social, and governmental (ESG)/sustainability reporting in the 1990s. However, disclosures lacked credibility and comparability but improved when they started following sustainability reporting formats.