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

In the last decade, corporate reporting has undergone a radical transfor-mation, 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 corrup- tion, 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 protec- tion 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.