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Sustainability
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Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Sustainable Development Goals
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Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Sustainable Development Goals

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 August 2023) | Viewed by 6819

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Dimitrios Chatzoudes

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Accounting and Finance, International Hellenic University (IHU), Kavala, Greece
Interests: strategic management; corporate social responsibility

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has significantly evolved over the last fifteen years, both in academia and practice. It no longer has its roots in donations and charities, but is incorporated into business strategy. Short-term marketing benefits and associated revenue streams are a thing of the past; modern organizations are focusing on the generation of shared value, which has a lasting, long-term, impact on employee, social and environmental prosperity. Strategic CSR incorporates social goals with organizational planning and business operations, in a way that takes under consideration the common benefit of various stakeholders. Only in such a way, maximum economic and social value can both be achieved. In that context, past concepts that used to create barriers between organizational and societal goals have long collapsed; it has been empirically proved that organizations can achieve their strategic goals through enhancing the value that is shared in their extended network of operations. This paradigm change has been in line with the public understanding about the role of businesses in the modern world. In an environment of global challenges, citizens expect business actors to be proactive agents that lead the fight for social and environmental change. Furthermore, more and more studies underline the increased attention of the public towards goals of sustainability and the growing belief that companies should play a vital role in fulfilling these goals.

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted by the United Nations in 2015. They constitute a universal call to action, expressing the aspiration to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure peace and prosperity for people around the world. They cover a wide range of interconnected areas, while it is expected that action in one area will affect outcomes in others. Overall, SDGs indicate that development must balance social, economic and environmental sustainability. They provide a roadmap to future action. Their achievement is a collective task; both governments and private organizations need to actively participate. It is considered that CSR and SDGs, when combined, can provide a powerful model for sustainable growth. As such, SDGs are providing an actionable framework for corporations to build on. By developing solutions for achieving the SDGs, organizations have the opportunity to discover new growth opportunities.

This Special Issue looks forward to receiving: (a) empirical papers that offer real managerial implications to organizations, (b) systematic literature reviews that summarize the field, offer critical views, identify gaps and suggest opportunities for future research, and (c) conceptual papers that offer unique approaches, built theoretical frameworks and contribute towards better understanding the issues at hand.

Overall, this Special Issue wishes to publish papers that move along its main two concepts: (a) (Strategic) Corporate Social Responsibility and (b) Sustainable Development Goals. Papers need to offer practical guidelines for companies that wish to develop CSR practices, while contributing to sustainability and pursuing some of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The main topics of interest for this Special Issue include, but are not limited to:

  • Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility (SCSR);
  • Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and sustainable development;
  • Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs);
  • (Creating/Generating) shared value;
  • Environmental, social, and governance (ESG);
  • Achieving competitive advantage through sustainability;
  • CSR evolution/CSR history.

Dr. Dimitrios Chatzoudes
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • (strategic) corporate social responsibility (CSR)
  • sustainable development goals (SDGs)
  • sustainability
  • shared value

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

33 pages, 1527 KiB  
Article
A Framework for Sustainability Reporting of Renewable Energy Companies in Greece
by Athanasios Mandilas, Dimitrios Kourtidis, Giannoula Florou and Stavros Valsamidis
Sustainability 2023, 15(19), 14360; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151914360 - 28 Sep 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 997
Abstract
The purpose of the current study is to collect and evaluate data on whether and to what extent the renewable energy companies within Greece disclose non-financial information in line with global and international standards. Renewable energy has grown rapidly over the last 20 [...] Read more.
The purpose of the current study is to collect and evaluate data on whether and to what extent the renewable energy companies within Greece disclose non-financial information in line with global and international standards. Renewable energy has grown rapidly over the last 20 years as a key aspect of the transition to a less energy-intensive and more sustainable energy system. However, constant competition between companies, finances, taxes, politics and other factors have in many cases created environmentally harmful situations. Even though technology is advancing and supporting these companies, even though international laws for the environment and the safety measures for operations have become stricter, it was, nevertheless, impossible to avoid these situations. The concerns of the public, but also of the renewable energy companies to control, monitor and measure the impacts from their operations to the environment and the life of society around the sites of their operations, lead many companies to publish sustainability reports. This report is published by a company or organization concerning the economic, environmental and social impacts caused by its everyday activities and demonstrates the link between its strategy and its commitment to a sustainable global economy. A framework with specific economic, environmental and social indicators to support reporting for renewable energy companies is corporate social responsibility (CSR) together with the Global Reporting Initiatives (GRI). GRI is an independent international organization that has pioneered sustainability reporting. It is very important to determine the extent to which these enterprises really contribute to sustainable development. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Sustainable Development Goals)
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23 pages, 1512 KiB  
Article
Sustainability Material Topics and Materiality Analysis in the Chemical Industry
by Triantafyllos Papafloratos, Ioannis Markidis, Iordanis Kotzaivazoglou and Garyfallos Fragidis
Sustainability 2023, 15(18), 14014; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151814014 - 21 Sep 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2171
Abstract
Chemicals are an essential ingredient for many industries. The chemical industry has a direct environmental and social impact and massive potential to contribute towards a more sustainable world. Environmental and social awareness and pressure from society are increasing, customers expect from companies to [...] Read more.
Chemicals are an essential ingredient for many industries. The chemical industry has a direct environmental and social impact and massive potential to contribute towards a more sustainable world. Environmental and social awareness and pressure from society are increasing, customers expect from companies to show increased corporate social responsibility (CSR), and there are increasing legal requirements for companies to disclose information on their social, economic, and environmental performance through CSR reporting. This paper explores the most material sustainability topics in the chemical industry. We reviewed 25 sustainability reports of some of the biggest companies in the chemical industry—in terms of annual sales. We studied the reports, created a database, and then analyzed the findings. We identified the topics that were most commonly reported as being material by the chemical industry. This enabled us to identify trends, differences, or similarities within the data. The industry’s main environmental impacts are pollution and energy consumption, which is directly related to carbon emissions. Other material issues include health and safety, and water and waste management. Overall, it became apparent that the chemical industry recognizes the importance that the materiality assessment plays, but the content and detail of the sustainability reports can be improved. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Sustainable Development Goals)
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14 pages, 314 KiB  
Article
Environmental CSR and the Purchase Declarations of Generation Z Consumers
by Joanna Sawicka and Elżbieta Marcinkowska
Sustainability 2023, 15(17), 12759; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151712759 - 23 Aug 2023
Viewed by 1278
Abstract
Activities in the area of corporate social responsibility are more and more widely and willingly undertaken not only by large companies but also those in the SME sector. A very important part of these activities is environmental protection. Therefore, the question of how [...] Read more.
Activities in the area of corporate social responsibility are more and more widely and willingly undertaken not only by large companies but also those in the SME sector. A very important part of these activities is environmental protection. Therefore, the question of how these activities are evaluated by their beneficiaries should be asked. One important group of recipients of CSR initiatives are consumers. We considered the opinions of young people from Generation Z to be particularly important because this generation is just entering the consumer market and thus will influence its formation for many years to come. We conducted a survey on a sample of 344 respondents from Generation Z to check whether the environmental CSR initiatives are perceived and appreciated by Generation Z consumers. The survey was expanded to include the influence of the gender factor and the type of education of the people surveyed (technical, business and humanities education). The results of this study indicate that young people (from Generation Z) declare the need to care about the environment and pay attention as consumers to pro-environmental activities implemented as part of CSR. Evaluations of these activities differ between genders. Also, the education profile matters in the perception of environmental CSR initiatives. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Sustainable Development Goals)
20 pages, 906 KiB  
Article
Sustainable Thematic Investing: Identifying Opportunities Based on an Analysis of Stewardship Reports
by Kara Nel, Nadia Mans-Kemp and Pierre D. Erasmus
Sustainability 2023, 15(10), 8411; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15108411 - 22 May 2023
Viewed by 1774
Abstract
Globally, a growing number of stakeholders recognise that sustainability determines success on multiple levels. Therefore, asset managers in developing and emerging countries increasingly focus on sustainable investment opportunities. While institutional investors largely centred on governance considerations pre-2020, the Coronavirus pandemic highlighted substantial social [...] Read more.
Globally, a growing number of stakeholders recognise that sustainability determines success on multiple levels. Therefore, asset managers in developing and emerging countries increasingly focus on sustainable investment opportunities. While institutional investors largely centred on governance considerations pre-2020, the Coronavirus pandemic highlighted substantial social and environmental concerns at companies worldwide. As South Africa is the most unequal country globally according to the World Bank, decisions made by local institutional investors can have significant implications for individuals and environments where capital is invested. The objectives of this study were hence to analyse the sustainability themes on which South African asset managers focused in their stewardship reports and to explore the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that they addressed through their investment mandates. A content analysis was performed on stewardship reports that were published in 2020 and 2021 to consider the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic. The findings indicate that prioritised sustainability themes include climate action, infrastructure development and social considerations. The considered asset managers accordingly focused on addressing climate action (SDG 13), decent work and economic growth (SDG 8), and affordable and clean energy (SDG 7). Promising investment opportunities in companies that address key social issues, including the health and well-being of society (SDG 3) and broadening access to quality education (SDG 4) were also highlighted. The leaders of local investee companies are thus encouraged to ensure concise, transparent reporting on these material matters to enhance communication and engagement with institutional investors and other key stakeholders. This study offers a novel perspective on sustainable thematic investing in a highly unequal society. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Sustainable Development Goals)
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