11138: From Reports to Results: Turning Sustainability Reporting Obligations into Strategy Opportunities

Companies worldwide are facing significant transformative shifts in sustainability reporting obligations: While the ISSB is in the process of developing global sustainability disclosure standards, regional regulation – such as the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), which affects up to 50,000 companies ? is simultaneously rolled out. This not only shifts the attention of reporting organizations, investors, and other stakeholders towards sustainability-related issues, but has also inspired an animated conversation within the research community. However, despite widespread recognition of the importance and transformative power of sustainability reporting, its full potential is yet to be unlocked. If companies view sustainability reporting as an additional burden rather than an opportunity to develop strategic opportunities, there is a risk of ceremonial compliance and a (continued) detachment of sustainability-related efforts from business strategy and core activities. This hinders the advancement of sustainable development, which is critical in addressing the pressing needs of our societies and planet Earth. Thus, this PDW explores how companies can unlock sustainability reporting’s full potential by establishing a meaningful link between sustainability reporting and corporate strategy. For participants, this PDW provides the opportunity to gain insights from a panel of experienced researchers and practitioners into how mere compliance may be transformed into strategic opportunities. Moreover, participants will be able to actively contribute to the ongoing discussion in a world café format. By doing so, this PDW will synthesize existing knowledge, distill novel perspectives, and inspire researchers to continue to investigate the (missing) link between sustainability reporting and corporate strategy.