This study examines the implementation of the EU's new sustainability directive, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), within Swedish organizations. The CSRD aims to enhance transparency in sustainability reporting by requiring organizations to disclose their environmental and social impacts. The study employs a qualitative methodology with semi-structured interviews with key personnel from various large companies, as well as consultants, to gain insights into how organizations adapt to the requirements set by the CSRD. The empirical material has been analyzed using a theoretical framework based on institutional theory. The findings show that organizations primarily focus on complying with the CSRD by improving their reporting processes and adapting their digital infrastructure to manage data collection and analysis. CSRD is seen as a driving force for integrating sustainability within organizations. Key challenges include decentralized data sources, difficulties in measuring Scope three emissions, and the increased administrative burden. The study concludes that the companies are in the early stages of CSRD implementation and must continue to develop their reporting routines to fully meet the directive's requirements. Future research should investigate the long-term effects of CSRD compliance on organizations' sustainability practices and performance. / Denna studie undersöker implementeringen av EU:s nya hållbarhetsdirektiv, Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), inom svenska organisationer. CSRD syftar till att öka transparensen i hållbarhetsrapporteringen genom att kräva att organisationer redovisar sin miljömässiga och sociala påverkan på samhället. Studien använder en kvalitativ metod med semistrukturerade intervjuer med nyckelpersoner från olika stora företag samt konsulter för att få insikter kring organisationers anpassning till kraven som CSRD ställer på organisationerna. Det empiriska materialet har analyserats med hjälp av det teoretiska ramverket som består av teorier från den institutionella teorin. Resultaten visar att organisationer främst fokuserar på att följa CSRD genom att förbättra sina rapporteringsprocesser och anpassa sin digitala infrastruktur för att hantera datainsamling och att CSRD är en pådrivande faktor för att integrera hållbarhet inom organisationerna. Centrala utmaningar inkluderar decentraliserade datakällor, svårigheter att mäta Scope tre utsläpp och den ökade administrativa bördan. Studien drar slutsatsen att organisationer befinner sig i ett tidigt skede av CSRD-implementeringen och måste fortsätta att utveckla sina rapporteringsrutiner för att fullt ut uppfylla direktivets krav. Framtida forskning bör undersöka de långsiktiga effekterna av CSRD-efterlevnad på organisationernas hållbarhetspraxis och prestationer.

Titel: Motivationer till frivilligt hållbarhetsarbete för SME   Nivå: Examensarbete på̊ grundnivå (kandidatexamen) i ämnet företagsekonomi   Författare: Emelie Bast och William Henningsson Handledare: Asif M Huq  Datum: 2024 – maj  Syfte: Tidigare forskning visar en ökad trend med CSR aktiviteter bland SME trots att lagkraven inte påverkar dem ännu. Den här studien syftar till att undersöka varför små och medelstora företag (SME) engagerar sig i CSR aktiviteter även om de enligt lag inte är skyldiga att rapportera det. Där fokuset ligger på att öka kunskapen hur SME påverkas av CSRD, utifall CSR aktiviteter är ekonomiskt lönsamt för SME och utifall CSR ger långsiktiga konkurrensfördelar.   Metod: Studien utgår ifrån socialkonstruktivismen med ett hermeneutiskt synsätt med en abduktiv forskningsansats. Studien tillämpar en kvalitativ forskningsstrategi, där studiens empiriska data samlats in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer. Där respondenterna bestod främst av ägare bland små och medelstora företag inom Gävle/Sandviken. Studien har analyserat den teoretiska referensramen som baserats på tidigare forskning och det empiriska datamaterialet analyserades utifrån studiens teman. Genom den abduktiva forskningsansatsen har författarna pendlat mellan teori och empiri för att besvara studiens syfte.  Resultat och slutsats: Studien tyder på att SMEs ökade kunskap samt kring CSR och CSRD samt implementering av CSR aktiviteter kan ge potentiella fördelar i verksamheten och samhället. CSR arbete bland SME kan ge en positiv påverkan på interna samt externa faktorer inom ekonomiska, sociala och miljömässiga aspekter.   Examensarbetets bidrag: Studien ger ett teoretiskt bidrag i en ökad kunskap om SMEs motiv samt engagemang till CSR arbete om de inte berörs av lagkrav. Studien ger även ökad information och insikter i SMEs åsikter om CSRD. Studien ger även ett praktiskt bidrag till SME där ökad kunskap samt information kring CSR och CSRD ger en positiv påverkan på verksamheten. Där företag bör implementera CSR arbete där de kan utifrån deras förutsättningar, då det kan ge positiva verkningar i framtiden.  Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Vidare forskning borde fokusera på hur SMEs relation och motiv till CSR kan skilja sig mellan olika branscher samt vilka aspekter som gör att det eventuellt skiljer sig mellan branscher. Vidare forskning bör även replikera denna studie inom några år då CSRD inte riktigt har påverkat SMEs ännu men kommer förmodligen att göra det i framtiden.  Nyckelord: Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME), Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), hållbarhetsarbete och motivationer. / Title: Motivations for voluntary sustainability work for SMEs  Level: Bachelor's degree thesis in business administration  Author: Emelie Bast och William Henningsson  Supervisor: Asif M Huq  Date: 2024 - may  Aim: Previous research shows an increasing trend of CSR activities among SMEs even though legal requirements do not yet affect them. This study aims to investigate why small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) engage in CSR activities even though they are not required by law to report it. The focus is on increasing knowledge of how SMEs are affected by CSRD, whether CSR activities are economically profitable for SMEs, and whether CSR provides long-term competitive advantages. Method: The study is based on social constructivism with a hermeneutic approach and an abductive research strategy. A qualitative research strategy is applied, where the empirical data of the study was collected through semi-structured interviews. The respondents mainly consisted of owners of small and medium-sized enterprises in Gävle/Sandviken. The theoretical framework of the study, based on previous research, and the empirical data were analyzed according to the study's themes. Through the abductive research approach, the authors have oscillated between theory and empirical data to address the study's purpose. Results and conclusions: The study indicates that increased knowledge and implementation of CSR activities among SMEs can provide potential benefits for the business and society. CSR work among SMEs can have a positive impact on internal and external factors within economic, social, and environmental aspects.  Contribution of the thesis: The study provides a theoretical contribution by increasing knowledge of SMEs' motivations and engagement in CSR work despite not being subject to legal requirements. It also provides increased information and insights into SMEs' opinions on CSRD. The study offers a practical contribution to SMEs, where increased knowledge and information about CSR and CSRD can positively impact the business. Companies should implement CSR activities based on their conditions, as it can have positive effects in the future.  Suggestions for future research: Future research should focus on how SMEs' relationships and motivations for CSR may differ between different industries and what aspects may cause these differences. Further research should also replicate this study in a few years, as CSRD has not yet significantly impacted SMEs but is likely to do so in the future.  Key words: Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME), Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), sustainability work and motivations.

In the public and political spheres, sustainability and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) have become an even more essential topic of conversation, as expressed through consumer behavior but also through more demands from policy makers. Changing consumption patterns and increasing sustainability requirements are in turn forcing businesses to adapt, something the vast majority of companies have also adopted in one way or another to demonstrate to their customers that they are sustainable. It is now more important than ever to integrate sustainability into their business and act according to a Circular Business Model (CBM). The UN Global Goals, Goal 9: Sustainable Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure (Agenda 2030, Goal 9), the Ecodesign Directive, the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS Directive) and CSRD, are some requirements that act as tools to promote the circular economy and become particularly relevant for the lighting manufacturing industry which is the focus of the study. Meeting all sustainability requirements may be a greater challenge for Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that do not have the same resources as larger companies, the study therefore examines how small and medium-sized enterprises are affected by the sustainability requirements, as they constitute 99.9% of all companies in Sweden. Through qualitative methods, the study examines how rules, laws and values in society linked to sustainability affect SMEs. The study aims to identify through qualitative interviews and surveys what obstacles and challenges SMEs experience with today's sustainability requirements. Through an analysis supported by legitimacy theory and stakeholder theory, the study focuses on business development linked to sustainability. It also provides tools for policy makers to, for example, provide financial resources or offer tax breaks to give SMEs more opportunities and fewer obstacles to be ecologically sustainable. The report also highlights opportunities that may be important for SMEs to be aware of during their transition to a CBM. / I de allmänna och politiska rummen har hållbarhet och Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) blivit ett än mer väsentligt samtalsämne. vilket uttrycks genom konsumenternas beteende men även genom fler krav från beslutsfattare. Förändrade konsumtionsmönster och allt fler hållbarhetskrav leder i sin tur till att företagen blir tvungna att anpassa sig, något de allra flesta företag också har anammat på ett eller annat sätt för att visa för sina kunder att de är hållbara. Det är nu viktigare än någonsin att integrera hållbarhet i sin verksamhet och agera efter en Circular Business Model (CBM). FNs globala mål, Mål 9: Hållbar industri, innovationer och infrastruktur (Agenda 2030, mål 9), Ekodesigndirektivet, Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS-direktivet) och Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, CSRD-rapportering, är några krav som agerar verktyg för att främja cirkulär ekonomi och blir särskilt relevanta för belysnings tillverkningsbranschen som är studiens fokus. Att möta alla hållbarhetskrav kan tänkas vara en större utmaning för Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) som inte har samma resurser som större företag, studien undersöker därför att hur små och medelstora företag påverkas av hållbarhetskraven, då de utgör 99.9% av alla företag i Sverige. Genom kvalitativa metoder undersöks hur regler, lagar och värderingar i samhället kopplat till hållbarhet påverkar SMEs. Studien syftar till att genom kvalitativa intervjuer och enkäter identifiera vilka hinder och utmaningar SMEs upplever med dagens hållbarhetskrav. Genom en analys med stöd av legitimitetsteorin och intressentteorin fokuserar studien på affärsutveckling kopplat till hållbarhet. Den ger också verktyg till makthavare för att exempelvis kunna tillföra ekonomiska medel eller erbjuda skattelättnader för att ge SMEs fler möjligheter och färre hinder att vara ekologiskt hållbara. Rapporten belyser även möjligheter som kan vara viktiga för SMEs kännedom under deras övergång till en CBM.

Bakgrund och problem: Hållbarhetsredovisning är central för företag i dagens samhälle, med ökat fokus på ansvarstagande och ökad efterfrågan på transparens. EU-direktivet Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive ställer högre krav på företag att rapportera och granskas av revisorer. Ökad efterfrågan på hållbarhetsrevision öppnar nya marknader för revisionsbyråer, särskilt för Big 4-byråerna. Men övergången till att granska hållbarhetsrapporter är inte enkel. Det finns idag inga klara riktlinjer för hur det ska göras, vilket skapar osäkerhet och dilemman för revisorer. EU:s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive ökar kraven på oberoende granskning, vilket förväntas leda till betydande förändringar inom revisionsbranschen. Dock saknas forskning på byrånivå, vilket är av intresse för att förstå hur dessa organisationer hanterar omställningen. Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats är att skapa en djupare förståelse gällande hur revisionsbyråerna som ingår i Big 4 hanterar den förändring som medföljer de ökade kraven på hållbarhetsrevision.  Metod: Detta är en kvalitativ studie med en deduktiv forskningsansats. Det empiriska materialet har samlats in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer. Studiens empiri baseras på 8 respondenter med god insikt i byråernas förändringsarbete. Metoden för att analysera det empiriska materialet är av tematisk karaktär.   Slutsats: Studien påvisar att omställningen som Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive medför innebär både stora möjligheter och utmaningar för Big 4-byråerna. Den insamlade empirin påvisar att införandet av Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive skapar en stor marknadspotential, men att framförallt bristen på resurser är ett stort orosmoment. För att möta denna oro förespråkar respondenterna rekrytering och utbildning. Big 4-byråerna, med sina resurser, förväntas bättre klara denna omställning än mindre byråer. Slutligen pekar resultaten på en enhetlig strategi mellan Big 4-byråerna för att möta kraven på hållbarhetsrevision och på deras inflytande över branschnormer genom branschorganisationen FAR. / Background and Problem: Sustainability reporting is central for companies in today's society, with increased focus on accountability and growing demand for transparency. The EU directive Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive imposes higher requirements on companies to report and be audited by auditors. Increased demand for sustainability auditing opens up new markets for auditing firms, especially the Big 4-firms. However, the transition to auditing sustainability reports is not straightforward. There are no clear guidelines on how to do it, which creates uncertainty and dilemmas for auditors. The EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive directive increases the requirements for independent auditing, which is expected to lead to significant changes in the auditing industry. However, research at the firm level is lacking, which is of interest to understand how these organizations handle the transition.  Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to gain a deeper understanding of how the auditing firms within the Big 4 handle the changes accompanying the increased requirements for sustainability auditing.  Method: This is a qualitative study with a deductive research approach. The empirical material has been collected through semi-structured interviews. The study's empirical basis consists of 8 respondents with good insight into the firms' change efforts. The method for analyzing the empirical material is thematic.  Conclusion: The study demonstrates that the transition brought about by the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive entails both great opportunities and challenges for Big 4 firms. The collected empirical data shows that the introduction of Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive creates significant market potential, but the lack of resources is a major concern. To address this concern, respondents advocate for recruitment and training. Big 4 firms, with their resources, are expected to better cope with this transition than smaller firms. Finally, the results point to a unified strategy among Big 4 firms to meet the requirements of sustainability auditing and their influence on industry norms through the industry organization FAR.

CsrA is a global post-transcriptional regulatory protein that has a great impact on many physiological pathways in a cell. It regulates central carbon metabolism, motility and biofilm formation as well as virulence, pathogenesis, quorum sensing and the oxidative stress response. However, CsrA is in turn also regulated by CsrB and CsrC sRNAs, among other factors. In this study, we explore its regulatory effect on three different genes/operons, cstA, glgCAP and flhDC. We performed beta-galactosidase assays on wild type (wt) and RNase P temperature sensitive (ts) cells to determine the dependence on RNaseP for the CsrA, CsrB and CsrC regulatory cascade on these three genes. Our results showed a clear decrease in cstA and glgCAP activity during CsrA activation, suggesting a regulatory cascade in which inhibition of RNase P leads to an inactivation of CsrB and CsrC. This in turn leads to an activation of CsrA and an inhibition of cstA and glgCAP. The effect on flhDC, however, was not as clear and needs further investigation.

In context of the forthcoming Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, this study examines how scope 3 emissions and the reporting thereof affect the cost of debt. Further, it investigates how scope 1 emissions affect the cost of debt and how the two scopes differ in materiality. As a theoretical foundation, this thesis uses previous research on environmental risk management, carbon risk premium, scope 3 emissions and cost of capital. By collecting a sample of 1710 firm-year observations for publicly listed European companies during the period 2019-2022, this quantitative study utilizes fixed effect regression models to find the relationship between scope 3 emission and cost of debt. No evidence of a relationship between scope 3 emissions and cost of debt is found. When looking at scope 1 emissions, the results show that companies with lower scope 1 emissions are rewarded by creditors with a reduced cost of debt. Regarding reporting of scope 3 emissions, we find no evidence suggesting that scope 3 disclosure lowers the cost of debt.

To redirect capital flows towards sustainable investments, the European Union (EU) has implemented the EU Taxonomy, a classification system with definitions for sustainable economic activities. The Taxonomy constitutes a part of the European Green Deal, which is an initiative to transition the EU towards sustainability and competitiveness. The EU Taxonomy is intended to be used by investors when assessing companies to identify sustainable investment opportunities. Investors have great significance in what impacts the EU Taxonomy will have since the regulation relies on investors using it as a tool when assessing whether to invest in a company or not. Additionally, many companies rely on investors for financial support, and it is therefore essential for companies to have information about to what degree investors will integrate the EU Taxonomy in their investment decisions. There is an information gap between companies and investors where companies lack knowledge about how investors will use the Taxonomy to select which companies to invest in.   The aim of the study is to investigate how the EU Taxonomy is affecting investment decisions of Nordic investment firms and institutional investors. Furthermore, the aim is to examine in what ways the EU Taxonomy will shape the future of sustainable investments and how companies utilize the EU Taxonomy to enhance their attractiveness to investors. A qualitative approach has been used in the thesis, and data constituting the results was collected through 12 semi-structured interviews with investors. In conclusion, all interviewed investors have an interest in promoting sustainable investments. The EU Taxonomy has, moreover, been positively received by investors since many of them have been requesting a tool to define sustainable economic activities. 11 of 12 investors in the study, use the EU Taxonomy when evaluating companies to make investment decisions. However, investors are currently evaluating a variety of factors when assessing companies, such as additional ESG performance indicators. Further, investors consider that the Taxonomy cannot exclusively be used when analyzing companies since it is a narrow tool, excluding multiple economic activities and sectors. A high Taxonomy alignment will be a considerable factor for some investors as they believe that companies with high alignment will be more successful. Other investors will continue to invest in companies with low alignment because these companies have potential to become more sustainable over time. All investors are, however, united in that the most important thing is that companies have an ambition to reach a higher alignment. Further, investors have varying approaches when it comes to prioritizing the environmental objectives when assessing companies' sustainability performance. Some investors value how many and which environmental objectives a company contributes to depending on the company´s operations, while others have not yet considered it. The EU Taxonomy´s significance in the future for sustainable investments will depend on different factors, for example the reporting of alignment. Provided that investors integrate the Taxonomy in their decision making, the framework will likely increase the share of investments which take sustainability aspects into account. However, since the EU Taxonomy only covers companies in the EU and exclude sectors, it is questionable how great significance the regulation will have for sustainable investments on a global scale. Lastly, there are several opportunities for companies to become more attractive to investors by working strategically with the EU Taxonomy and communicate ambitions to reach a higher alignment. The results highlight the importance of companies adapting their business model to the Taxonomy and establishing long-term plans for how to reach a higher share of alignment. Companies can, moreover, improve their attractiveness to investors by improving their Taxonomy data collection and presenting the data in an easily accessible way.

Sustainability is a universal topic that has gained in significance during the last decade due to the increased risks for society as well as the environment itself. Therefore, a lot more attention is given to how companies disclose upon their impact on environment, society and governance. This paper aims to pick up on criticism to sustainability reporting regarding the variety of different frameworks surrounding this topic and investigate upon how companies use them to create their reports and if, in their opinion, unification can be reached in the nearby future. The second objective of this thesis is to explore upon and collect knowledge regarding the developing role of the new profession of the ESG/Sustainability controller. To reach the research objectives and collect sufficient data, semi-structured, qualitative interviews have been conducted with six companies and their respective sustainability reporting responsible. Previous research points out that the ‘arena’ of sustainability reporting frameworks has become too dense. This has led to companies firstly struggling to navigate through the enormous amount of regulations and guidelines, secondly adversely affected the implementation of harmonization within sustainability reporting and thirdly using their reports as marketing tools. These theoretical findings have been mostly supported by the results of this thesis. Almost all of the interviewed companies have adopted a common index, called GRI, that builds their sustainability disclosure base. However, the findings of this thesis point out that their efforts, to go beyond this reporting guideline, can be connected to motives that are either of external, operational, transparency or recruitment nature. Even though companies would wish for a common, unified reporting framework, such as the upcoming inclusion of CSRD in the future, and see potential advantages, there are some specific, current challenges that have to be overcome first regarding sustainability reporting. Nevertheless, from the data analyzed it is evident that companies are looking forward to this new, mandatory reporting regulation and prepare themselves adequately and intensively. The results of the qualitative study regarding the development of the new controller profession further suggests that the ESG/Sustainability controller has a broad post-graduate background, however, not only in business administration. One reason is that the tasks of this new profession vary by quite some margin from traditional controlling tasks and their responsibilities also go beyond merely preparing, analyzing financial reports and supporting management, but are dedicated to the sustainability reporting process and other sustainability projects.

Det ökade fokuset på hållbarhet i stort har resulterat i att allt fler företag efterfrågar en extern granskning av sina hållbarhetsrapporter. En lagstadgad hållbarhetsrapport har krav på sig att granskas av en extern part, men granskningen sker på en begränsad nivå där revisorn endast lämnar ett yttrande om att rapporten har upprättats enligt årsredovisningslagen. För frivilligt upprättade hållbarhetsrapporter kan företagen välja att anlita en extern part för en översiktlig granskning, som är mer omfattande än den lagstadgade granskningen. I juni 2022 godkände EU ett nytt direktiv gällande hållbarhetsrapportering som kommer att implementeras från och med räkenskapsåret 2024. Direktivet kommer att omfatta fler företag än tidigare lagkrav och syftar till att ge hållbarhetsrapporteringen samma status som den finansiella rapporteringen. Den här studien syftar till att undersöka vilka utmaningar som är förknippade med hållbarhetsgranskningen, och vad granskare tror att det nya direktivet kan bidra med för lösningar på de utmaningar som finns i dagsläget. För att undersöka detta utgår studien från legitimitetsteorin, regleringar och standarder som berör området, och tidigare forskning kring granskarens roll. Empirin samlas in genom kvalitativ metod i form av semistrukturerade intervjuer med respondenter som arbetar med hållbarhetsgranskning. Studiens resultat visar att de utmaningar som är kopplade till hållbarhetsgranskningen idag framförallt grundar sig i att befintliga regelverk och standarder inte är tillräckligt omfattande, och att samtliga respondenter ser CSRD som en lösning på flera av de befintliga utmaningarna.

Yes / This study aims to examine the extent to which corporate governance structures and ownership types are associated with the level of Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosures (CSRD) in a developing country. Design/methodology/approach: Multiple regression techniques are used to estimate the effect of corporate governance structures and ownership types on CSRD using a sample of Libyan oil and gas companies between 2009 and 2013. Findings: First, our results suggest that although the level of CSRD in Libya is low in comparison to its western counterparts, ownership factors have a significant positive influence on CSRD. Second, we find board meetings to have a positive impact on CSRD. However, we fail to find any significant effect of board size and presence of CSR committees on CSRD. Overall, our results support prior theoretical evidence that pressures exerted by the government and external stakeholders have a considerable influence in promoting firm-level CSRD activities, specifically as a legitimising mechanism in fragile states. Research limitations/implications: First, our research is based on the annual reports and it did not examine any other reports or other mass communication mechanism that companies’ management may use to disclose CSR information. Future studies might consider disclosures in other channels, if any, such as the internet, CSR reports etc. Additionally, this research adopts the neo-institutional theory perspective. Future studies might integrate multi-theoretical lense to offer a richer basis for understanding and explaining CSRD determinants. Originality/value: Our research contributes to the literature by first providing additional evidence for existing studies, which suggest that on average better-governed companies are more liable to follow a more socially responsible agenda than poorly governed companies as a legitimising mechanism in fragile states. Also, our study overcomes a major weakness in existing Libyan studies, which have mainly used descriptive data.