The Routledge Handbook of Accounting for the Sustainable Development Goals

The introduction of Agenda 2030 and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has traced a path for private and public entities interested in pursuing sustainable development. This handbook identifies the recent challenges in accounting research and the SDGs by exploring the evolutionary pathways and future direction of sustainability reporting. It explores the role of businesses as contributors to Agenda 2030 by assuming a multidisciplinary approach and provides a measure of organisations' contributions to the SDGs through the understanding of business strategies and policies on Agenda 2030 integration. The book represents a substantial and multi-faceted contribution to the debate on SDGs accounting by assembling international scholars and practitioners to effectively explore the practice and theory revolving around the current state of the art and highlight future research pathways. By providing a comprehensive evaluation of accounting for the Sustainable Development Goals, this volume will appeal to a wide variety of readers, from students, scholars, researchers, practitioners and policymakers interested in increasing their awareness of Agenda 2030 and offers a significant contribution to the evolution of accounting practices. Cover Half Title Series Title Copyright Contents List of figures List of tables List of contributors 1 Accounting for the Sustainable Development Goals: an introduction 2 Transition in sustainability standard setting for global sustainable development: the role of the IFRS Foundation and other salient groups 3 Accounting regulation for the SDGs. Perspectives and limits in current accounting practices 4 The accounting profession and the SDGs 5 Embedding stakeholder engagement into SDG reporting processes 6 The definition of material SDGs: conditio sine qua non for effective corporate performance measurement and reporting 7 The Sustainable Development Goals: applications of accounting frameworks and corporate reporting outlook 8 Non-financial reporting between information and transformation: taking a corporate sustainability due diligence approach to advancing sustainable and responsible business conduct 9 Impression management and the SDGs 10 Business strategy and the SDGs: enacting utopian thinking 11 Legitimisation strategies for reporting contributions to the SDGs 12 Integrating the Sustainable Development Goals in business models 13 Integrating the SDGs in corporate governance 14 Risk and the SDGs 15 How can emerging technologies enable organisations to measure and report on the UN SDGs? Critical analysis, a conceptual framework and avenues for future research 16 Blockchain integration with the SDGs: from reporting process to business strategies 17 The SDGs and the new media 18 Assurance and the SDGs 19 The Global Reporting Initiative 20 Bridging the gap between financial and sustainability reporting. What are the implications for sustainable development? 21 Mastering SDG reporting: a roadmap for effective implementation 22 The contribution of the Framework to achieving and disclosing the Sustainable Development Goals 23 Do TCFD-aligned firms really care for climate change, or solely for their investors? 24 The TNFD: reimagining corporate contributions to a ‘nature-positive’ future 25 Corporate sustainability performance: six ideas about ESG ratings, SDG scores, and impact metrics 26 Current developments in standard setting and the SDGs. Will international standards help organizations to achieve sustainability and ensure effective reporting? 27 SDG reporting in social and environmental accounting research 28 SDG reporting in controversial sectors: from symbolic to substantive sustainable development 29 SDG reporting in healthcare 30 From compliance to commitment: understanding the evolution of SDG reporting in the financial sector 31 Sustainable Development Goal reporting by state-owned enterprises as a new frontier of public accountability? 32 Unraveling the nexus of hybrid organizations and Sustainable Development Goal disclosure in the modern economic landscape 33 How do companies show their contributions to the SDGs? The B-Corps’ experience 34 Towards a sustainable future: competencies, regulations, and paradigm shifts in education 35 The SDGs, firms’ boundaries, and the role of accounting: mindful ecosystems as the new value-generating entity 36 Conceptualizing the political-theory performativity of social and environmental accounting in the example of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures 37 Earnings management and greenwashing: two sides of the same coin 38 Is eliminating poverty sustainable? A chocolatey critique on accounting for the Sustainable Development Goals Appendices Index