The sustainable development goals (SDGs), along with other internationally recognized frameworks, inspires better policies. At the European level, several institutions are also promoting better mechanisms to face present and future crises including social inequalities, food and energy supplies, and preservation of the environment. Traditional accounting systems in both public and private entities fail to capture these concerns into actual figures and concrete narratives. To face this challenge, several families of indicators have flourished. EFRAG (European Financial Reporting Advisory Group) is also preparing their own European sustainability reporting standards (ESRS), which will guide future European Directives on the matter. So, the years following 2024 will be a key period for the evolution of sustainability reporting, and hence, it is reasonable to consider that publicly owned enterprises are key scenarios. Hence, the aim of this work is to explore emerging reporting practices of region-owned enterprises from Canary Islands archipelago (Spain) and the Italian Abruzzi region.
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The Sustainable Development Goals along with other internationally recognized frameworks inspire many public policies and plans. Also at the European level, several institutions are trying to promote better mechanisms to face present and future crisis including social inequalities, food and energy supplies, social justice, and preservation of the environment for future generations. Despite of this public recognition, it is not easy to find initiatives where objectives like reduction of poverty, respect for the environment or gender equality could be efficiently achieved. It is difficult to move from general political goals into public policies at the regional level, and hence, to ensure that these policies are effective and efficient. One of the reasons for that is the lack of proper measurement systems. Traditional accounting systems in both public and private entities are not able to capture these concerns into actual figures that could be properly analyzed. To address this challenge, a wide range of sustainability indicators has emerged, reflecting the multidimensional nature of sustainability. These indicators go beyond traditional financial accounting measurements and encompass various aspects of environmental, social, and corporate governance dimensions. In the environmental dimension, indicators such as carbon emissions in equivalent tons of carbon dioxide, water consumption, energy efficiency, and waste management practices provide insights into an organization's ecological footprint and its efforts to mitigate climate change and promote resource conservation. In the social dimension, indicators like the share of women in governing bodies, employee turnover rates, diversity and inclusion metrics, health and safety records, and community engagement activities shed light on an organization's commitment to social equity, human rights, and stakeholder welfare. Within the corporate governance dimension, indicators such as transparency and disclosure practices, board independence, executive remuneration policies, anti-corruption measures, and adherence to ethical standards evaluate an organization's commitment to sound governance principles and ethical business conduct. Moreover, other indicators may include financial contributions to local communities, investments in research and development for sustainable innovation, engagement with local suppliers to promote regional development, and the use of renewable energy sources. By utilizing a diverse set of indicators across these dimensions, organizations can provide a comprehensive picture of their sustainability performance and demonstrate their commitment to achieving the SDGs and other sustainability goals. This new variety of sustainability indicators is often weak in terms of their design, and they are not directly comparable, as long as current accounting systems are not able to properly measure these items (Jones, 2010). At least, they tend to be classified under the ESG metrics, standing for Environmental, Social and Governance dimensions, as mentioned before. Globally, numerous well-recognized sustainability frameworks have been developed by various organizations, demonstrating the growing importance of sustainability in corporate practices. Many of these frameworks share common conceptual foundations and even define similar indicators to assess sustainability performance. Some prominent examples include the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), which provides guidelines for sustainability reporting and disclosure; the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a set of 17 global goals to address social, environmental, and economic challenges; the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), which focuses on measuring and disclosing environmental impact, including carbon emissions; the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), which offers recommendations for disclosing climate-related risks and opportunities in financial reporting; and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), which provides industry-specific standards for reporting on financially material sustainability issues. These frameworks, along with others like the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) and the ISO 26000 standard on social responsibility, play a crucial role in guiding organizations towards more comprehensive and standardized sustainability reporting practices. Among that myriad of sustainability initiatives around the globe, it is possible to identify two main projects with international recognition and great impact: the International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) Foundation, located in London, has created the International Sustainability Standard Board (ISSB) that will propose the IFRS Sustainability Standards; on the other hand, within the European Union, the EFRAG (European Financial Reporting Advisory Group) is also preparing their own EFRAG European sustainability reporting standards (ESRS), which will guide future European directives on the matter. The focus for now is on big corporations but the plans also include its application to small firms and to the public sector, under certain conditions and thresholds. So, the year 2023 and subsequent years will be a key period for the evolution of sustainability reporting at the global level, in which these two dominating frameworks will be massively tested against the reality of reporting and analysis. This will be a great opportunity to verify how sustainability indicators can be used for better monitoring of all kinds of corporations including public entities and plans.