Building a resilient future: collaborative sustainability regulation

The challenge of sustainability lies in achieving a balance between satisfying present needs and protecting resources for future generations with an emphasis on its three pillars—environmental, social and governance. This study explored sustainable development encompassing environmental, social and governance aspects along with sustainability reporting through various sustainability frameworks. A systematic review of literature for the period 2010–23 on major worldwide sustainability frameworks was conducted, by offering insights into enhancing reporting mechanisms for a sustainable future. Secondary data related to sustainability reports were obtained from the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board and International Integrated Reporting Council, which helped in examining sector and year variations across countries. The results reflected that mandatory sustainability disclosures help to meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and global sustainability frameworks help to set standards, disseminate information and promote transparency. Collaboration of investment, company action and sustainability organizations can lead to a sustainable global economy. The adoption of sustainability reporting can help organizations by fostering a proper understanding of sustainability practices, improving transparency and identifying potential business opportunities in sectors with lower sustainability. The paper provided insights into sustainability reporting published across various countries in both advanced as well as emerging and developing economies. The analysis showed which sectors and time periods have had the most sustainability reports and which areas needed to be targeted for action to advance sustainable development. Graphical Abstract


Introduction
Sustainable development has emerged as the central goal and using sustainability indicators is the only way to standardize methods towards achieving it [1].Most businesses place a high priority on sustainability and, to achieve sustainable development, they must consider the community's values, worries and aspirations for the future [2].Investors are now more interested in the ethical issues of the company they were in the past when they were solely concerned with earnings [3].Recent worldwide challenges including poverty, global warming and legal compliance have also compelled corporations to consider the social and environmental effects.This has forced many nations to establish laws requiring businesses to act and report on their efforts towards sustainable development [4].Numerous frameworks have been established globally to evaluate the effects of environmental deterioration and look for sustainable ecological solutions [5].The Taskforce on Climate-Related Financial Disclosure issued its report that contained recommendations to assist businesses in disclosing financial information about climate change and evaluating any potential financial impacts of adopting measures to combat issues such as lowering carbon emissions, effective ways to use energy and water, and utilizing sustainable land use [6].The 26th United Nations (UN) Conference of the Parties (COP26) on Climate Change was held at the Scottish Event Campus where different parties came together to advance the objectives of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.Some notable actions for promoting sustainability include the '"Net Zero" pledge' and 'Fossil Fuel Divestment Movement', which promised to divest of assets worth >$39.2 trillion [7].Table 1 depicts the future challenges in meeting environmental goals.
In light of growing global concerns about sustainability, numerous sustainability reporting frameworks have been formed globally to mandate sustainability reporting by organizations.Due to a multitude of sustainability frameworks globally as well as country-specific frameworks, investors and businesses may become perplexed, which would create a gap in achieving the sustainable goals.To address these issues, there is a need to explore the implications of standardized sustainability reporting frameworks such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC).
Despite the existence of previous literature on sustainability reporting, there is a significant research gap on quantification and classification of sustainability reports released by various countries.Previous research has not determined the number of sustainability reports published by different nations, nor have they examined reports by sector or year.Thus, this paper seeks to address this gap by analysing sector-and year-level classifications of sustainability reports from different countries and provides important insights into the extent of sustainability reporting across various sectors.
This study aims to examine how corporate sustainability reporting can achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).The research questions are: (i) What is the role of sustainability frameworks in shaping sustainability reporting?(ii) How do sustainability reports of companies affect the decision-making of stakeholders such as investors, consumers, employees, etc.? The results of this research provide an overview of several sustainability frameworks to businesses, investors, governments and other stakeholders, seeking to incorporate sustainability reporting into their core strategy and operations, ultimately helping to achieve global sustainability goals.The objective of this paper is focused on the concept of sustainability, including aspects of environmental, social and governance.The objectives are summarized below: • To examine the concept of sustainable development including the three pillars-environmental, social and governance (ESG).• To understand the role of sustainability reporting through global sustainability frameworks.

Methodology
A systematic literature review based on various global sustainability frameworks by several authors during the period 2010-23 was used to evaluate the sustainable practices to be followed by companies and investors to promote sustainable development and achieve the SDGs.Fig. 1 represents the number of articles utilized for the study.A comprehensive search approach was used, with major electronic databases such as Scopus and Web of Science included.The search terms included 'Sustainability Reporting', 'Sustainable Development', 'Socially Responsible Investing (SRI)', 'ESG' and related keywords.Articles focused on the impact of various sustainability frameworks such as the GRI, SASB and IIRC.Secondary data from the SASB and IIRC provide an overview of sustainability reporting globally, incorporating reports from various countries.

Review of literature
The 17 SDGs of the UN have served as a focal point for global efforts to attain sustainable development (SD) [9].To change the business environment, it is essential to follow new performance measurements that are focused on transformational objectives such as promoting universal welfare and emphasizing larger human and ecological values [10].ESG have emerged as crucial challenges in the effort to solve the difficulties raised by the UN SDGs [11].An investment strategy known as SRI adheres to ESG factors while making investment decisions [12].Fig. 2 highlights the benefits of investing in sustainable assets that will pave the way for achieving the SDGs of the economy.Socially conscious investors choose to highlight the good parts of a company's socially responsible behaviour above its flaws [13].In pursuit of climate change mitigation, the energy sector must develop strategies to evolve into a low-carbon energy supply system to ensure that energy supplies remain certain [14].The financial performance of a company may benefit from socially responsible conduct of sustainable business practices [15].

ESG integration in decision-making for a sustainable future
Environmental (E) activities refer to a company's attempts to have a good effect on the environment by addressing issues such as climate change, waste disposal and declining biodiversity.Social (S) activities refer to treating close stakeholders with whom the company works in a fair way, such as by human capital management, safety and health at work, human rights and access to healthcare.Governance (G) considers a company's ethics and integrity, including values such as openness and fairness, information disclosure and shareholder rights [16].Fig. 3 highlights how various sustainable business practices followed by companies can lead to good ESG scores, which will help in the continued existence of a firm.Making an investment decision is a crucial step that entails picking a stock from many alternatives offered on various stock exchanges [17].Investment decisions were previously led by a triangle that included risk, liquidity and return but, now, a large number of investors add one more criterion, which is Well-being of the economy Investors Fig. 2: Towards a sustainable future sustainability, alongside liquidity, risk and return [18].Investors are becoming more aware of the financial importance of ESG concerns, such as how businesses address environmental challenges and whether they have rules in place for workplace safety [19].
During the past two decades, the importance of ESG investing has greatly expanded and transitioned from being a niche choice for a few institutional investors to a mainstream option for many [20].

Reimagining sustainable development through standardized sustainable reporting
Sustainability reporting emerged in the 1970s in the Western nations as a supplement to financial reporting.In the 1980s, emphasis shifted to addressing environmental issues such as waste disposal and emissions.By the end of the 1990s, reporting theory and practice had progressively started to take both the social and the environmental aspects into account at once in a combined report [21].The material information of sustainability reports varies significantly between businesses from varied institutional backgrounds despite efforts to standardize them, indicating disparities in worldwide academic interest as well [22].
The three established and widely employed standards for sustainable reporting on a global scale are the GRI, IIRC and SASB.A transparent release of information that reflects the performance of a company and the environmental impact of its operations is the premise of good environmental reporting [23].The SASB and IIRC combined to form the Value Reporting Foundation (VRF) in June 2021 and, in November 2021, the Climate Disclosure Standards Board and VRF declared their intent to merge with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) foundation by 2022.The International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) was established, as announced by the IFRS Foundation, in November 2021.The International Accounting Standards Board and the ISSB are the two bodies that presently fall under the control of the IFRS Foundation [24].The VRF seeks to provide a wider collection of resources, including the integrated reporting (IR) framework, the SASB Standards and the integrated thinking principles that are meant to assist organizations and investors in developing a common awareness of enterprise value.The creation of the VRF and the ISSB may advance the idea of IR on a worldwide scale [25].

IIRC framework of unifying financial and non-financial reporting
The IIRC was founded in 2010 to enhance the standard of sustainability disclosure.It provides instructions to businesses on how to effectively disclose both financial and non-financial information [6].Fig. 4 illustrates a pie chart depicting the reports of different countries.Businesses would no longer be required to provide information about their operations in a separate financial and non-financial report, as one integrated report would be generated [26].The IIRC asserts that the implementation of IR will improve current reporting regimes.The IIRC is the tangible result of discussion and the gradual expansion of non-financial reporting frameworks and guidelines that have been seeking recognition on a par with widely accepted financial reporting standards over the past few years [27].

Redefining sustainability through the SASB
The SASB expands the accounting infrastructure to include significant sustainability factors in order to establish a clear The SASB has produced disclosure standards so far for 77 different industries [28].The SASB's efforts to transform the social implication of materiality-to create a model that integrates ESG and financial considerations-have the potential to mobilize investors' influence and bring sustainability into the mainstream of corporate behaviour [29].According to the SASB, it is critical for the investment process to incorporate ESG research for systematic examination in order to ensure business sustainability [30].
Implementing SASB-based financial materiality alters assessments of ESG performance and factors connected with financial materiality are strongly correlated with stock returns [31].ESG risks are included in these financial materiality criteria and investors must consider them when making investment decisions [32].The SASB intends to enlighten investors and hence they concentrate on the subset of sustainability issues that are financially significant.Accounting rules are sector-specific, as the financial materiality of various sustainability issues relies on the industry in which a firm works [33].
The world's economy is divided into two main categories under the World Economic Outlook: advanced economies, and emerging and developing economies.There are 41 countries under advanced economies and 155 countries under emerging and developing economies [34].The SASB Standards are used by many businesses worldwide in every industry to guide investors about sustainability.The SASB Standards are now under the control of the ISSB of the IFRS Foundation, as of August 2022 [35].While making investment decisions, investors can review different reports of various companies across many sectors, which will help them to make good choices about which company to invest in.Table 2 outlines a year-wise overview and Table 3 outlines a sector-wise overview of reports from countries and regions in advanced economies on sustainability.Table 4 provides an overview of sustainability reports from countries and regions in emerging and developing economies in a year-wise way, while Table 5 provides an overview by different sectors.
The tables show the sustainability-related reports from 2051 worldwide companies.In the beginning, the emphasis was more on maximizing profits than on sustainability, which led to fewer reports being issued.Positive changes have, however, been made, as businesses now acknowledge the value of sustainability alongside profitability and its role in guaranteeing long-term survival.The implementation of various sustainability disclosures in 2021 and 2022 resulted in a notable increase in report publication rates.Sustainability initiatives comes at a cost and, as a result, companies in advanced economies tend to publish more reports than those in emerging and developing nations.The biggest number of reports were available in the extractives and mineral processing and infrastructure sectors, which were closely followed by financials and technology and communications.The renewable resources and alternative energy sector had the fewest available reports followed by the services sector.No matter what industry a firm is in, it is essential for them all to adopt sustainable practices.This ensures transparency, which in turn encourages investors to make wise and profitable investment decisions for the betterment of the planet.
The advancement of the SDGs was evaluated in the 2019 Global Sustainable Development Report [36] and the signs did not look favourable.According to the findings, it seems unthinkable that the world will accomplish the goals by 2030 if situations continue as they are.Humanity will experience longer periods of crisis and uncertainty if there is no immediate improvement and changes.These periods will result in poverty, inequality, starvation, sickness, conflict and disaster.The idea of 'Leave no one behind' is seriously endangered on a worldwide scale [37].Numerous studies on sustainability reporting concentrate on a
In both advanced and emerging nations alike, sustainability is gaining popularity and professionalism [39].There are various types of reports related to sustainability published by different companies in different countries.The format of sustainability reports varies from each sustainability reporting framework.Tables 2-5 provide an overview of the sustainability-related reports published yearly as well as sector-wise, which gives a clear picture as to where sustainability stands currently in each country and whether it paves the way for transforming our world for achieving the 17 SDGs.Each country, each company and each sector may have different sustainability practices that need to be addressed, which will help to pave the way towards the achievement of the SDGs.

Advanced economies
As per Table 2, the USA leads in sustainability reporting, providing 991 companies' reports, followed by Canada with 168 companies and Taiwan, China with 128 companies.The increase in sustainable reports shows a strong commitment on the part of the countries and regions to address ESG issues.In 2022, 817 companies provided the sustainability reports compared with the year 2021, in which 615 companies reported on sustainability.This upward trend shows that more countries and regions are focusing on sustainability.
As per Table 3, the consumer goods sector leads in sustainability reporting with 267 companies generating reports, followed closely by the infrastructure sector with 246 and the technology and communications sector with 237.The renewable resources and alternative energy sector has the least number of companies reporting on sustainability, which account for only 29 companies releasing sustainability reports.The resource transformation sector and financials sector both demonstrated a notable dedication to sustainability reporting with 232 and 195 companies, respectively, generating reports on their sustainability activities.

Emerging and developing economies
As per Table 4, Brazil leads in sustainability reporting with 87 companies releasing sustainability-related reports, followed by Chile and Mexico with 36 and 33 reports, respectively.Sustainability reporting highlights the initiatives of various countries and regions to inculcate environmental stewardship and social awareness among everyone so that the universe becomes a better place in which to live.The number of companies publishing sustainability reporting has increased from 115 in the year 2021 to 171 in the year 2022, which shows that more companies are willing to exhibit their sustainability initiatives.The growing acceptance of sustainability reporting demonstrates a favourable trend towards meeting sustainable goals.
As per Table 5, the infrastructure sector leads in terms of sustainability reporting with 72 companies producing the largest number of reports, followed by the financial sector with 64 reports and the extractives and mineral processing sector with 51 reports.The sector with the fewest companies publishing sustainability reports is renewable resources and alternative energy, with only nine companies doing so.

GRI framework in embracing sustainability
The emergence of non-governmental organizations such as the GRI, which was founded in 1997, concentrates on environmental and social issues while only addressing general economic indicators [40].The GRI report offers a framework for sustainability reporting that any organization, from tiny firms to bigger Source: [35].
Table 3. Continued conglomerates with various operations across the world, must embrace [41].The GRI framework provides a significant number of topic-specific standards and disclosures that address a wide variety of concerns relating to the economic, environmental and social aspects of company operations [42].Sustainability reporting is significant because of the wide range of commercial advantages that sustainability performance may produce [43].Integrating sustainability into a business strategy can help organizations around the world to meet the diverse stakeholder expectations of ESG issues [44].In order to strengthen businesses strategies, improve their performance and help investors understand the link between sustainability initiatives and corporate financial success, it is really encouraged that businesses keep an eye on their sustainability compliance [6].Table 6 depicts the percentage of various sustainability met-rics as per the Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler (KPMG) survey of sustainability reporting, which shows that sustainability reporting has increased to ensure transparency and accountability.Table 7 portrays the comparative overview of the three sustainability frameworks, which are the GRI, SASB and IIRC, based on several parameters.

Conclusion
Sustainability frameworks recognize urgent global challenges such as environmental crises, loss of biodiversity and increasing inequality.It is crucial to establish regulations and controls on how to reduce these risks.To tackle the various sustainable challenges and assure a sustainable future, it is essential to implement effective rules and regulations.Sustainability frameworks are  Source: [35].
urging companies to incorporate sustainable business practices to drive systemic changes that will pave the way for a future characterized by net-zero emissions, beneficial effects on nature and greater fairness.If we fail to take small steps in preserving nature now, the world will suffer severely, with the burden ultimately falling on companies and individuals that will end up paying a price for resources and services that were once freely available.For instance, carbon pricing has been implemented to address environmental challenges and shift to a low-carbon economy.Carbon pricing refers to the deployment of measures for lowering greenhouse gas emissions by imposing a monetary value on carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions.The goal of such a system would be to develop a market-based mechanism for businesses to buy and sell carbon credits, which would promote emission reductions and offer a financial incentive for implementing sustainable practices.A carbon tax motivates organizations and people to cut emissions and switch to greener options.Such programmes help in mitigating climate change and advancing sustainable development.
As per stakeholder theory, organizations can make more sustainable decisions that are beneficial to all stakeholders when they consider their needs and concerns.The environment is a legitimate non-human stakeholder and this pushes businesses to take the environment into account when making decisions, which results in more environmentally friendly procedures and regulations.Institutional theory suggests that deployment of sustainable practices can be influenced by sustainable pressures.As businesses and industries strive to achieve sustainability, it is essential to understand the specific factors that impact their sustainability efforts and devise strategies to address the various challenges.Sustainability strategies cannot be the same for all sectors or nations due to several parameters, including stakeholder expectations, geographic variances and industry-specific challenges.The categorization and quantification of sustainability reports across nations and industries offer important insights into the sustainability practices of various entities.The sustainability frameworks offer reporting formats for sustainability practices to be reported by companies.Companies are obliged to report their sustainable practices through these reporting formats, which can be used by various stakeholders for decision-making.Sustainability comes at a cost and hence it can be noticed that more sustainability reports are published in advanced economies compared with in emerging economies.There are sector-wise variations in reporting as there are a few sectors in which sustainability reporting is required at a higher level.
Collaboration between investors, companies and sustainability frameworks has the power to drive positive changes and improve the world for both the present and future generations.By choosing to invest in companies that emphasis sustainable practices, investors convey a strong sign that sustainability is the major Source: [35].

Meaning
To meet the sustainable demand by giving organizations a reliable and trustworthy framework for sustainability reporting [15] Expand reporting to cover sustainability topics and encompass all elements of a company's value creation [28] To merge traditional financial reports with (non-financial) reports on the performance of corporate governance, social responsibility and the environment (ESG) into a single integrated report [46] Components of disclosure GRI Standards consist of three series of standards, which are the GRI Universal Standards, GRI Sector Standards and GRI Topic Standard [47] The components of the SASB Standards are the Standards Application Guide, Disclosure topics, accounting metrics, technical protocols and activity metrics [28] The eight elements included in an integrated report are organizational overview and external environment, governance, business model, risks and opportunities, strategy and resource allocation, performance, outlook, basis of preparation and presentation [48] Effects of reporting Provides a channel for companies to communicate with stakeholders, giving them a comprehensive view of their corporate sustainability management and their role in sustainable development [42] Increases (decreases) in SASB disclosure lead to increases (decreases) in informativeness for investors [33] Increased transparency of economic impacts of corporate ESG activities and improved information quality for investors [46] Applicability to industry The GRI Standards can be used by any size or type of organization, public or private, from any industry or region [47] The SASB covers topics related to a specific industry and is likely to be applied to many companies within an industry.It can be used by private corporations as well as foreign corporations [49] The IR framework is designed primarily for use by for-profit, private-sector businesses of all sizes, although public-sector and non-profit organizations can also adopt it [48] Benefit to users • Stakeholders: Increases the understanding of how management invests money, makes choices and evaluates performance • Policymakers: Provides information that is logical and coherent on every aspect of an organization Organizations: Better understanding of how business actions affect the company, including which actions generate value and which do not [52] Materiality assessment The organization needs to assess the impact of their actions on society and find out the material topics that need to be addressed.The necessary data need to be collected and these material topics need to be addressed based on the GRI Standards [47] A topic is considered material if there is a considerable probability that the reasonable investor would have concluded that the disclosure of the withheld fact had materially changed the total mix of information that was made accessible [50] The material topics include determining pertinent issues considering their potential to influence value creation.A topic must also be significant in terms of its known or projected impact on value creation to be included in an integrated report.This entails assessing the extent of the impact of the issue and in the event that its occurrence is uncertain [48] Source: [15,28,33,42,[46][47][48][49][50][51][52].
offering clear frameworks and guidelines, these disclosures can help in accomplishing the SDGs and reducing the uncertainty that currently exists among businesses and people.As a result, it can be ensured that both the present and future generations have the resources they need to prosper in a sustainable and resilient society by putting in place mandated sustainability disclosures.Individuals must act as a group right now to leave a legacy for the well-being of our planet and all its inhabitants.
The study looked at the worldwide three sustainability frameworks, but has not incorporated several other sustainability frameworks and therefore the interpretations made from the study do not reflect the whole range of sustainability frameworks.Due to lack of reports of some companies, not all of them were included in the analysis, which resulted in a lower number of companies being studied.Further research may incorporate longitudinal studies to evaluate the effects of sustainable development practices and explore roles of various stakeholders, such as governments, corporations, society and consumers, in promoting sustainable development.Researchers can conduct an in-depth analysis of sustainability reports of various companies in particular industries to understand the various sustainable strategies that have to be followed and learn about the broader implications of sustainable development initiatives on global concerns.

Managerial and theoretical implications
Standardized reporting promotes transparency, allowing stakeholders to hold businesses accountable for sustainability and help them make well-informed decisions.Organizations must recognize the ethical importance of sustainability and its contribution to long-term performance, take proactive measures to evaluate impacts and use recognized reporting frameworks such as the GRI, SASB and IIRC for comprehensive information.
The stakeholder theory states that collaboration between investors, businesses and sustainability organizations is essential for ethical and sustainable business practices, and institutional theory states that the adoption of sustainability frameworks and reporting standards strengthens the institutionalization of sustainability in the corporate world.The two models included in this study focus on how sustainable business practices enhance ESG ratings, assure the long-term viability of companies and provide firms and investors with a road map for achieving a sustainable future through investment in sustainable assets.
Organizations worldwide are increasingly embracing the concept of social responsibility and sustainable development.The general sustainable practices that can be followed are as follows: (i) Companies: Companies need to focus on ESG practices that will pave the way towards sustainability.They should also ensure that suppliers follow sustainability practices.The sustainability practices should incorporate a clear sustainable value proposition that defines a wide range of sustainable business practices such as waste and resource management, supply chain management, chemical component management, etc. [53].(ii) Employees: Employees can attain sustainability by taking part in sustainability training programmes that focus on enhancing their action competence for sustainability, which will help to empower them to take sustainable actions in both their personal and professional lives [54].They must advocate for sustainable policies within the workplace and be willing to take up changes in the organizations that are likely to support sustainability.(iii) Policymakers: Sustainability reporting should be made mandatory for companies, which will stir them up to publish sustainability reports.Financial assistance can be given to deserving companies for the adoption of sustainability initiatives.(iv) Investors: Investors should give ethical and sustainable investing top priority and closely consider the financial and social effects of their decisions to attain sustainability.They can accomplish their financial goals and contribute to a more equitable and sustainable environment at the same time by adopting a more socially conscious investing strategy [55].Investors should consider companies that focus on ESG and have good ESG scores, which will in turn encourage companies to inculcate more sustainable practices into their operations.

Fig. 4 :
Fig. 4: Pie chart depicting the reports of various countries

Table 1 :
Environmental challenges To limit global warming to 1.5°C by 2035, annual investment of $2.4 trillion (2.5% of world gross domestic product) is needed for the energy system Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Meeting the Paris Agreement's 2050 climate objectives requires >$3.5 trillion annual investment in energy supply International Energy Agency (IEA) Public investment estimated to contribute only 15% towards decarbonization goals International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)

Table 3 :
Sustainability-related reports of various countries and regions of advanced economies (sector-wise classification)

Table 4 :
Sustainability-related reports of various countries and regions of emerging and developing economies (year-wise classification)

Table 5 :
Sustainability-related reports of various countries and regions of emerging and developing economies (sector-wise classification)

Table 5 .
Continued Adhering to sustainable principles helps to address global issues, empower sustainable development and work towards a more equitable and sustainable society.Despite there being many sustainability reporting frameworks and measures in the world, the level of corporate adoption is still exceedingly low.The adoption of mandatory sustainability disclosures is essential for filling this gap and realizing the dream of a better society.By

Table 7 :
Comparative overview of the sustainability reporting frameworks