Research states and avenues in sustainability reporting: a building block approach

This chapter describes how the state and trends of sustainability reporting standards can be assessed and evaluated based on a building block approach. Different reporting standards and frameworks have been discussed and analyzed by academia and practitioners. These standards and frameworks are aimed at assisting companies in their reporting processes; however, there are some noteworthy differences between them, regarding target audience, disclosure content and materiality definition, among others. Such differences have implications on how sustainability reports are published by companies and read and understood by report users. Therefore, this chapter describes the building blocks, scope, disclosure content, materiality, assurance and disclosure channel, with reference to the state-of-the art in research, and provides a ‘reading lens’ of two prominent frameworks - the European Sustainability Disclosure Standards (ESRS) and the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards (IFRS SDS). Additionally, the chapter discusses challenges and avenues for future research for each building block.