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Introduction

With this Special Issue we intend to explore the evolving landscape of sustainability reporting following the introduction of the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards and the ESRS. As global frameworks evolve, understanding their interoperability, especially with GRI standards, is crucial for both academics and practitioners. It would also be worthwhile to understand the potential impacts of these standards and their co-existence on sustainable development and organisational value creation

We encourage prospective contributors to submit their draft papers or abstracts to the EIASM’s Interdisciplinary Conference on Intangibles, Sustainability, and Value Creation: Reporting, Management, and Governance (https://www.xcdsystem.com/eiasm/program/dh0onf5/index.cfm). It will be possible to present and discuss papers eligible for submission to the Special Issues in dedicated special tracks organised at the Conference.

List of topic Areas

• Interoperability Challenges: Exploring the opportunities and technical and practical difficulties in aligning ISSB, ESRS, and GRI standards, particularly in achieving consistency across reporting frameworks and advancing sustainable development.
• Interoperability and harmonization: Examine the conceptual tenets that charaterise the process of interoperability versus the one of harmonization (of accounting standards)
• Best Practices: Case studies on successful implementation strategies for companies adapting to new reporting requirements.
• Reporting on Value Creation: Examining how the ISSB and ESRS frameworks facilitate or challenge the reporting of long-term value creation, encompassing financial, environmental, social and intangible dimensions.
• Impact on Sustainable Development: Investigating how the integration of ISSB and ESRS standards drives sustainable development goals and the extent to which they influence corporate behaviour towards sustainability.
• Regulatory and Compliance Implications: Analysing the effects of these standards on global regulatory frameworks and corporate governance, including the integration of sustainable practices into core business strategies.
• Sector-Specific Reporting: Understanding the unique challenges and solutions for different industries, such as finance, manufacturing, and energy, in aligning with the new standards.
• Impact on SMEs: Understanding the challenges faced by small and medium enterprises in adopting these comprehensive standards.
• Technological Integration: Exploring the role of digital tools (e.g., taxonomies, AI, IoT and blockchain etc.) in enhancing sustainability reporting.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Investigating how the new standards and their coexistence with existing standards such as GRI standards influence stakeholder communication and transparency.
• Future Trends: Predicting the evolution of sustainability and value creation reporting and the potential convergence.
• Supply Chain Transparency and Traceability: Investigate how the ISSB, ESRS, and GRI standards drive the need for enhanced transparency and traceability within supply chains.
• Sustainability Risk Management: Explore the impact of these standards and their inter-operation on the management of sustainability-related risks, such as climate change and human rights issues, across supply chains.
• Institutional changes: Investigate how national accounting bodies and other initiatives (e.g., EFRAG and the IFRS Foundation) have changed to introduce and embrace also the sustainability dimensions along the economic axiom.
• Language-related implementation: Explore how language and translations remain a fundamental aspect in securing a consistent understanding and application of reporting requirements.
• Connectivity: Explore how organisations and accounting standards setters advance connectivity between sustainability and financial information and the challenges they face.

Guest Editors

Laura Girella,
University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy,
[email protected]

Richard Barker,
International Sustainability Standards Board and University of Oxford, UK,
[email protected]

Stefano Zambon,
University of Ferrara, Italy,
[email protected]

Submissions Information

Submissions are made using ScholarOne Manuscripts. Registration and access are available by clicking the button below.

Submit your paper here!

Author guidelines must be strictly followed.

Authors should select (from the drop-down menu) the special issue title at the appropriate step in the submission process, i.e. in response to “Please select the issue you are submitting to”.

Submitted articles must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication anywhere else, while under review for this journal.

Key Deadlines

Opening date for manuscripts submissions: 1 April 2025
Closing date for manuscripts submission: 31 December 2025