Virtues of impact financing: Do financial institutions benefit from considering the environmental impact on financing decisions?

The impact investing literature largely focuses on private equity investing and overlooks the investments made through debt financing that actually dominate the market. To address this research gap, this paper investigates whether impact financing is associated with financial benefits. By using COVID-19 as an exogenous shock to China's stock market, this paper applies fixed effects panel data analysis with a difference-in-differences research design to provide robust empirical outcomes. The results reveal those financial institutions that better integrated environmental impacts into their financing process experienced positive stock return changes in response to the shock. This study answers the question of how well an impact scales. The findings suggest that impact financing is an effective model, as the impacts incorporated in the debt can be scaled up compared to impact investing funds with low volumes. Impact financing has enormous potential for financial institutions to engage in the green transition since they can derive pecuniary utility while delivering environmental impacts. The revelation of financial benefits also contributes to overcoming the lack of knowledge about impact financing and helps to remove the barriers that advance industry growth.

Rethinking the effect of ESG practices on profitability through cross-dimensional substitutability.

Over the last thirty years, sustainable business practices and ESG ratings have become increasingly popular in the business context and academic debate. Nonetheless, due to differences in methodological and theoretical approaches, more consensus has yet to be reached in the economic literature on the relationship between ESG practices and financial performance at the firm level. This work addresses the question empirically, focusing on a sample of firms listed in the Euro Stoxx 300 index. Three novel indicators are proposed to measure the firm's sustainable practices and capture the business's Environmental, Social, and Governance (E, S, G) dimensions. These indicators combine qualitative ratings on adherence to ESG standards with quantitative observations on ESG data disclosure to account for strategic behaviors on the part of firms. A dynamic panel model is implemented, considering the three dimensions of ESG practices separately and introducing interaction terms to identify cross-dimensional substitutability/complementarity relations. The results indicate that environmentally friendly business practices are associated with increased profits, while trade-offs across ESG dimensions are revealed.

Sustainability reporting in the construction industry - Status quo and directions of future research.

The construction industry's activities have significant effects on nature, society, and economic development. These effects and the accompanied societal expectations have encouraged companies to deal with and report on their contributions to sustainable development (SD). While the state of the literature on sustainability reporting (SR) has already been mapped for other sectors, this has not yet happened for the construction industry. Through a systematic literature review, we identified 67 articles that examine companies' motivations for SR, the design and content of the reports, as well as the use of the information in corporate sustainability management. Literature predominantly suggests that sustainability disclosure is driven mainly by instrumental or social/political motives, and that reports vary greatly in terms of content and quality. The variations can be attributed to different factors. However, utilizing reporting to its full potential requires linking it with corporate strategy and adapting management practices accordingly. Although the review provides comprehensive insights, it also indicates further research needs.

Creating a greener future: the crucial role of green innovation and supply chain management in corporate sustainability.

One of the most pressing concerns today is how to improve green innovation and supply chain management for company sustainability. It has been discovered that inefficient supply chain management is a major barrier limiting eco-friendly innovation. The supply chain management process is crucial to a company's long-term viability, yet previous research barely scratched the surface of its significance. This article uses a resource-based view to investigate how integrating green innovation and organizational agility into the supply chain management process contributes to the long-term success of businesses. This study used a cross-sectional approach. Structured equation modeling was used to examine data collected through convenience sampling from 475 employees of Chinese multinational manufacturing enterprises. Green innovation helps smooth over the bumps on the road between supply chain management and sustainable business results. Green innovation and business sustainable performance also benefit from organizational agility, which was not shown to moderate this relationship. The study teaches that in today's knowledge-based economy, firms that invest in novel technologies and adopt greener strategies are better able to address sensitive issues like supply chain management and organizational agility and achieve long-term success. This research aims to provide light on the complex interconnections between supply chain management, green innovation, and the sustainable performance of businesses. The theoretical framework for the present research was validated by the occurrence of a positive association between these variables.

A comparative analysis of nutrition-related assessment criteria and associated nutrition performance scores of food companies across three prominent corporate sustainability assessment tools.

OBJECTIVE: Corporate sustainability assessment tools are increasingly used to evaluate company performance on environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria. Given the growing burden of diet-related disease and nutrition-related business risks, it is important to understand the scope of nutrition-related ESG data currently available. This study aimed to compare the nutrition-related assessment criteria and associated food company performance across three prominent assessment tools. DESIGN: Key attributes and assessment criteria of two civil society-led and one commercially available corporate sustainability assessment tools were extracted and compared for the year 2021. Company performance scores for twenty-five major food and beverage manufacturers using these three tools were analysed by nutrition domain: 'Product Portfolio', 'Labelling', 'Marketing', 'Accessibility and Affordability', 'Governance and Reporting', 'Stakeholder Engagement' and 'Employee Health'. To enable comparison between tools, company performance scores were assigned to categories of low (score = 0-25 % score or D), moderately low (25-50 % or C), moderately high (50-75 % or B) and high (75-100 % or A). SETTING: Global. PARTICIPANTS: N/A. RESULTS: The tools covered similar nutrition domains; however, there was heterogeneity in the assessment criteria used to evaluate each domain. When applied to assess the performance of twenty-five major food and beverage manufacturers, a median nutrition-related performance score of moderately low or low was observed across all tools. The highest scoring domain was 'Governance and Reporting', and the lowest scoring domains were 'Product Portfolio' and 'Accessibility and Affordability'. CONCLUSIONS: Greater standardisation of the nutrition-related criteria against which food companies are assessed is needed as part of efforts to drive improvements in food company practices.

Bottom-up global biodiversity metrics needed for businesses to assess and manage their impact.

Ensuring that companies can assess and manage their impacts on biodiversity will be crucial to solving the current biodiversity crisis, and regulatory and public pressure to disclose these impacts is increasing. Top-down intactness metrics (e.g., Mean Species Abundance) can be valuable for generating high-level or first-tier assessments of impact risk but do not provide sufficient precision or guidance for companies, regulators, or third-party assessors. New metrics based on bottom-up assessments of biodiversity (e.g., the Species Threat Abatement and Restoration metric) can accommodate spatial variation of biodiversity and provide more specific guidance for actions to avoid, reduce, remediate, and compensate for impacts and to identify positive opportunities.

Cuantificación vertical de la biodiversidad mundial necesarias para que las empresas evalúen y gestionen su impacto Resumen Para resolver la actual crisis de biodiversidad, es importante asegurar que las empresas puedan evaluar y gestionar su impacto sobre la biodiversidad. Además, cada vez es mayor la presión pública y legislativa para divulgar este impacto. La cuantificación vertical de la integridad (p. ej.: Abundancia Media de Especies) puede ser valiosa para producir evaluaciones de alto nivel o primera categoría del riesgo de impacto, pero no proporcionan suficiente precisión o guía para las empresas, los reguladores o los asesores de terceros. Las nuevas medidas basadas en evaluaciones verticales (p. ej.: la medida de Abatimiento y Restauración de Amenazas de Especies) pueden acomodar la variación espacial de la biodiversidad y proporcionar una guía más específica para las acciones necesarias para evitar, reducir, remediar y compensar los impactos e identificar las oportunidades positivas.

Recent advancements and challenges in emerging applications of biochar-based catalysts.

The sustainable utilization of biochar produced from biomass waste could substantially promote the development of carbon neutrality and a circular economy. Due to their cost-effectiveness, multiple functionalities, tailorable porous structure, and thermal stability, biochar-based catalysts play a vital role in sustainable biorefineries and environmental protection, contributing to a positive, planet-level impact. This review provides an overview of emerging synthesis routes for multifunctional biochar-based catalysts. It discusses recent advances in biorefinery and pollutant degradation in air, soil, and water, providing deeper and more comprehensive information of the catalysts, such as physicochemical properties and surface chemistry. The catalytic performance and deactivation mechanisms under different catalytic systems were critically reviewed, providing new insights into developing efficient and practical biochar-based catalysts for large-scale use in various applications. Machine learning (ML)-based predictions and inverse design have addressed the innovation of biochar-based catalysts with high-performance applications, as ML efficiently predicts the properties and performance of biochar, interprets the underlying mechanisms and complicated relationships, and guides biochar synthesis. Finally, environmental benefit and economic feasibility assessments are proposed for science-based guidelines for industries and policymakers. With concerted effort, upgrading biomass waste into high-performance catalysts for biorefinery and environmental protection could reduce environmental pollution, increase energy safety, and achieve sustainable biomass management, all of which are beneficial for attaining several of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG).

The sharing through corporate sustainability for improving corporate performance in state-owned firms.

This research aims to investigate the appropriate ownership structure via mediating role of corporate sustainability on corporate performance in state-owned companies of Pakistan by examining the role of organizational governance, agency problems, and current issue of CEO ownership. Most effective theories within the context of the developing country of Pakistan are taken into account and study explores the following issue. First, ownership structure is more effective and could provide major findings in corporate, innovative, and environmental performance. Second, corporate, innovative, and environmental performance is receiving high attention due to the critical business environment in Pakistan. There are many factors that stimulate the significance of the corporate, innovative, and environmental performance. In this phase, the role of CEO and responsibilities towards the company and its performance is analyzed. This study has conducted the theoretical survey in both foreign and home countries. Further, this step is hallmark in providing some countermeasures recommendation for the betterment of state-owned companies of Pakistan. Third is whether the CEOs and shareholders could enhance the corporate, innovative, and environmental performance. Empirical evidence data is collected via structured questionnaire from SO companies operating in the emerging market of Pakistan. In addition, empirical research in this study includes descriptive statistics tests, co-relation test, and analyses generated hypotheses through Analysis of a Moment Structure (AMOS) using structural equation modeling. Our research findings recommend CEOs and top managers to utilize their financial resources in an efficient way to achieve the advantage.

A systematic literature review on corporate sustainability: contributions, barriers, innovations and future possibilities.

This paper aims to understand the current research scenario through published studies on corporate sustainability, emphasizing the environmental approach. Methodologically, this research develops a systematic literature review based on papers published in the Web of Science database in the last ten years. As a result, there was an upward evolution of research on the searched topic, with one hundred fifteen publications in the last three years compared to one hundred six documents published in the previous seven years. It is also observed that studies published at the beginning of the time frame between 2011 and 2020 were more concerned with the adoption of corporate sustainability, while the most recent research focuses on new approaches and methodologies for its implementation. And, with regard to its implementation, one of the main barriers is the incorrect perception of senior managers that the results from corporate sustainability must be more linked to the economic than to the environmental and social spheres. As relevant aspects, this study observed that new technologies, currently led by the 5th generation mobile network (5G) and Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0), can contribute to the insertion of corporate sustainability in the industrial context. It also noted that, despite being recent, COVID-19 was considered by several researchers as an event to be considered in terms of corporate sustainability.

Motivations for a sustainable ethos: evidence from the globally present Brazilian multinational Natura &Co.

Driven by improvements in the understanding and the growing importance of sustainability engagement among individuals and companies, this study aims to analyze the sustainable development of a renowned Consumer Goods Company. Natura &Co is a Brazilian multinational that forms among the five largest global beauty corporations, owning four major brands-Avon, The Body Shop, Aesop, and Natura. This study used a case study methodology and had the objective of analyzing the strategies adopted by the company through time while engaging in the global sustainability agenda. It also covers a gap in the literature in analyzing Latin American multinationals. The company is assessed through a case summarized into a sustainability motivations framework of four quadrants, namely social insurance, market success, legitimacy, and process improvement. As one of the main findings, the case confirms literature indications of the evolution of sustainability motivations and strategies from simple compliance with the law and social rules into innovation and differentiation, which allowed the company to compete globally.

Impact of economic, environmental, and corporate social responsibility reporting on financial performance of UAE banks.

This study investigates the degree of sustainability disclosure of listed banks in the UAE financial markets and analyzes the effect of sustainability disclosure on banking performance. Sustainability disclosure is examined by considering three dimensions-economic, environmental, and corporate social responsibility-and using content analysis. Dynamic panel regression was used to study the impact of sustainability disclosure on banking performance by differentiating between conventional and Islamic banks. The empirical results show that banks' levels of sustainability disclosure are low. Moreover, dynamic panel data reveal that sustainability disclosure has a positive and significant impact on bank performance. The results of this study assist the Central Bank of the UAE in developing a corporate sustainability disclosure framework to improve bank transparency, reduce information asymmetry, and improve compliance with sustainability standards.

Business for ocean sustainability: Early responses of ocean governance in the private sector.

A large sample of 1664 companies-69 directly working in the ocean economy-distributed across 19 industrial sectors was investigated to explore awareness and activation regarding direct and indirect pressures on the ocean, their responses to these pressures, and the disclosure tools used. We examined their accountability and disclosure practices on sustainable development goals (SDGs) using the drivers, pressures, state, welfare, and response accounting framework. Based on their 2019 sustainability reports, just 7% of the companies assessed disclosed on SDG14. However, 51% of these companies can be considered as aware, albeit to varying degrees, of the pressures their industries place on the oceans, 44% deploy mitigating activities, and 26% are aware and actively lead business responses to ocean challenges. Although we have seen just early responses in addressing ocean challenges, companies' awareness and activation must converge to achieve ocean sustainability and move businesses into a truly blue economy.

Does environmental responsible effect human resources management practice on firm effectiveness and green technology innovation?

The research uses human resources management ability and practice, opportunity and motivation (AMO) concept and CSR, environmental responsibility and corporate social. How (ER-HRM) environmental responsible human resources management practices affect energy intensive manufacturing. Organizational effectiveness and green technology innovation and firms have several objectives, including competitiveness, long-term survival, and high profit. To test the hypotheses in this research model, a self-completed questionnaire was collected from 220 managers of energy-intensive manufacturing for analysis. The ability ER-HRM practice has the highest influence on green technology innovation and organizational effectiveness. It is worth noting firm effectiveness relationship between ER-HRM practice and green technology innovation. The finding indicates a strong straight positive impact of the motivation, environmental ability, and opportunity ER-HRM practice on green technology innovation and organizational effectiveness. Research also proves that green technology innovation plays a partial mediation link (ER-HRM) with organizational effectiveness. Our research supports the further development of ER-HRM for understanding the drivers of green technology innovation and organizational effectiveness. This research is expected to identify the influence of ER-HRM in energy-intensive manufacturing to achieve innovation and performance through reducing emissions. We recommend to the manager to give due attention.

A walk of corporate sustainability towards sustainable development: a bibliometric analysis of literature from 2005 to 2021.

Recent years have seen a burgeoning interest in the involvement of corporate sustainability (CS) in sustainable development (SD), yet both concepts are fewer and newer in the academic field. This study aims to present a thorough bibliometric analysis that provides fresh new insights on the subject. Using VOSviewer software, this study analyzed and visualized 1214 documents for the period 2005-2021 in the Web of Science (WoS) database. The findings of the study indicate that the co-theme CS and SD are lasting but thriving research subjects. The findings also revealed that authors from the USA published the highest number of articles followed by the UK, Spain, Italy, and Germany. The co-authorship network showed strong links between these countries. Three main clusters are identified based on research titles frequently co-cited and have significant co-citation connections. In general, this study provides valuable insight into the current status and future trends for research on SDGs. The outcome of the study could be useful to policymakers, regulators, sustainability practitioners, and researchers in understanding the key research areas, influential authors, institutions, and countries actively involved in the field. Considering the involvement of corporate sustainability in sustainable development is a useful and informative endeavor for all community actors. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first comprehensive study that presents the holistic picture of CS and SD-related research to identify the knowledge map between the two subjects.

Occupational Safety & Health Management and Corporate Sustainability: The Mediating Role of Affective Commitment.

Background: Occupational safety & health management (OSH) has garnered greater attention for its significance in promoting corporate sustainability for organizations in recent decades. The construction industry, in particular, is a major contributor to Malaysia's thirst for corporate sustainability in order to provide long-term support for the country. Thus, the main tenet of this study is to examine the mediating effect of employee affective commitment on the relationship between OSH and corporate sustainability. Methods: A questionnaire was administered to 273 full-time employees of listed construction companies in Malaysia. Smart PLS software version 3 was used to test the proposed model and hypotheses. Both the measurement model and the structural model were evaluated. Results: According to the findings, OSH and its dimensions are positively related to employee affective commitment. Employee affective commitment, on the other hand, has been found to be significantly related to corporate sustainability and its dimensions: economic, social, and environmental sustainability. Apart from this, the prominent results reveal that employee affective commitment partially mediates the relationship between OSH and corporate sustainability and its dimensions: economic, social, and environmental sustainability. Conclusion: This empirical finding adds to the existing literature in explaining how OSH and affective commitment led to corporate sustainability. Several implications are offered to various stakeholders, such as construction companies, policymakers, and relevant regulators.

The paradox of corporate sustainability: analyzing the moral landscape of Canadian grocers.

Food prices have experienced unprecedented increases in recent times. Simultaneously, grocers are facing allegations of capitalizing on inflation to generate unjustifiable profits. Escalating expenses and a lack of transparency have engendered heightened consumer skepticism. This perceived presence of barriers and excessive profitability gives rise to ethical concerns. Our case study delves into the ethical landscape surrounding Canadian grocers, aiming to probe the public's demand for accountability. To comprehend the factors responsible for the transformation in consumer perception of Canadian grocers in 2022, we conducted an analysis utilizing data from consumers, corporate watchdogs, and industry sources. We extended the paradox perspective on corporate sustainability framework to include a historical aspect to use as our analytical lens. This study sheds light on the alterations in circumstances that have led Canadian consumers to question entire industries and accounting practices that were previously considered unproblematic. As a remedy, we recommend the establishment of a mandatory code of conduct for grocers and an enhancement in the transparency of financial reporting. Paradoxically, corporate profits may continue to grow when societal needs are no longer perceived as being neglected or, even worse, exploited.

Apropiación de los elementos de innovación social en organizaciones comunitarias agropecuarias del departamento de Boyacá, Colombia / Appropriation of the elements of social innovation in community agricultural organizations of the department of Boyaca, Colombia

RESUMEN Con el objetivo de establecer criterios mínimos relativos a la innovación social en organizaciones comunitarias agropecuarias, se hizo uso de herramientas propias de la investigación cualitativa que incluyeron búsquedas especializadas y uso de programas para análisis de datos bibliográficos (por ejemplo VOSviewer™) para determinar los elementos relativos a la gestión, gobernanza, capacidades, modelo de negocio sostenibilidad para ocho (8) organizaciones comunitarias de productores agropecuarios de la provincia del Sugamuxi, en el departamento de Boyacá, Colombia. Se pudo establecer que algunas organizaciones de productores agropecuarios que ejercen actividades en el departamento de Boyacá no están apropiando de forma integral los elementos de innovación social (en niveles operativos y gerenciales) y, consecuentemente, existe toda una ruta de mejoramiento por desarrollar con estas para optimizar los índices de eficiencia organizacional; además, se evidencia la complejidad de la temática, dado que la sostenibilidad de las innovaciones sociales dependerá en gran medida de la gestión de las organizaciones, donde se establezcan agendas institucionales compartidas contextualizadas y ajustadas a los territorios. Es necesario optimizar los canales de participación de manera mancomunada entre el Estado, las organizaciones y los mismos productores para poder dinamizar procesos, metas y alcances reales de la innovación social a la luz de los acelerados cambios a los que se enfrenta el productor agropecuario agremiado en Colombia, relativos estos a la dinámica del mercado, el acceso a recursos y otros.

ABSTRACT In order to establish minimum criteria related to social innovation in agricultural community organizations, qualitative research tools were used, including specialized searches and the use of programs for the analysis of bibliographic data (for example VOSviewer™), with the purpose of defining the elements related to management, governance, capacities, business model and sustainability for eight (8) community organizations of agricultural producers in the province of Sugamuxi, in the department of Boyacá, Colombia. It was possible to establish that some organizations of agricultural producers that carry out activities in the department of Boyacá are not integrally appropriating the elements of social innovation (at operational and managerial levels) and, consequently, there is a whole route of improvement to be developed with them to optimize the organizational efficiency indexes; in addition, the complexity of the subject is evident, given that the sustainability of social innovations will depend largely on the management of the organizations, where shared institutional agendas contextualized and adjusted to the territories are established. It is necessary to optimize the channels of participation in a joint manner between the State, the organizations, and the producers themselves to be able to dynamize processes, goals and the real scope of social innovation in light of the accelerated changes faced by the agribusiness producer in Colombia, related to market dynamics, access to resources and others.

The Impact Mechanism of Green Credit Policy on the Sustainability Performance of Heavily Polluting Enterprises-Based on the Perspectives of Technological Innovation Level and Credit Resource Allocation.

Green credit policy (GCP), as one of the key financial instruments to achieve 'carbon peaking' and 'carbon neutrality' targets, provides capital support for the green development of enterprises. This paper explores the impact mechanism of GCP on the sustainability performance of heavily polluting enterprises (HPEs) from the perspectives of technological innovation level (TIL) and credit resource allocation (CRA), using panel data for Chinese A-share listed manufacturing companies from 2010 to 2015 to construct a propensity score matching and differences-in-differences (PSM-DID) model. We find that GCP has a causal effect on corporate sustainability performance (CSP). Although GCP significantly improves CSP, there is no long-term effect. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the relationship between GCP and CSP is only significant in non-state-owned enterprises and in eastern and low-market-concentration enterprises. Mechanism tests indicate that GCP stimulates HPEs to invest more in technological innovation and thereby improves CSP through the innovation compensation effect; the credit constraint and information transfer effects caused by GCP reduce the credit resources available to HPEs but have a significant forced effect on CSP. This paper enriches the study of the economic consequences of GCP and provides implications for stakeholders to improve the green financial system and achieve green transformation of HPEs.

Corporate Social Responsibility Activities Through Twitter: From Topic Model Analysis to Indexes Measuring Communication Characteristics.

The communication of corporate social responsibility (CSR) highlights the behavior of the business toward CSR and their framework of sustainable development (SD), thus helping policymakers understand the role businesses play with respect to the 2030 Agenda. Despite its importance, this is still a relatively underexamined and emerging topic. In our paper, we focus on what businesses communicate about CSR through social media and how this relates to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We identified the topics discussed on Twitter, their evolution over time, and the differences across sectors. We applied the structural topic model (STM) algorithm, which allowed us to estimate the model, including document-level metadata (time and sector). This model proved to be a powerful tool for topic detection and the estimation of the effects of time and sector on the discussion proportion of the topics. Indeed, we found that the topics were well identified overall, and the model allowed catching signals from the data. We derived CSR communication indexes directly from the topic model (TM) results and propose the use of dissimilarity and homogeneity indexes to describe the communication mix and highlight differences and identify clusters.

Understanding positive contributions to sustainability. A systematic review.

Current approaches for measuring and assessing contributions of companies and their products to sustainability largely focus on reducing negative impacts. However, becoming "less bad" still means having adverse impacts on the environment. Various authors have therefore called for investigating how positive contributions can be made to further sustainable development. This systematic literature review explores how positive contributions to sustainability have been discussed in the environmental management literature dealing with sustainability performance measurement and assessment. Our review of 328 publications reveals an understanding of positive contributions to sustainability that is a mostly implicit or vague use. Inductive analysis, however, reveals three distinct understandings - an operationalization, a stakeholder and a transformation perspective - each of which is embedded in a different theoretical frame, namely decision, stakeholder and transition theory. These perspectives have so far been discussed separately in the literature. By drawing on theoretical foundations of performance measurement, we propose an integrated understanding of positive contributions to sustainability: A positive sustainability contribution has the goal of bringing about a sustainability transformation, considers the environmental, economic and social context through stakeholder participation, and is operationalized to facilitate decision-making and the implementation of effective sustainability measures. A clear definition is of key importance for both research and practice to both reduce negative and increase positive contributions to sustainable development.