This study investigates how the listed companies in Sri Lanka gain financial benefits from Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reporting. As businesses increasingly adopt ESG reporting to disclose their commitment to sustainability, corporate social responsibility (CSR), and ethical governance, understanding its impact is crucial. However, in developing nations like Sri Lanka, the empirical relationship between ESG reporting and financial performance remains poorly understood. By examining how ESG reporting affects financial performance metrics such as Return on Equity (ROE) and Return on Assets (ROA), this study aims to fill this knowledge gap.Using a quantitative approach, this study analyses the ESG reporting and financial data of a sample of two hundred thirteen listed companies in Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) Sri Lanka. The secondary data used for the study, was collected from published annual reports of the listed companies and Refinitiv Eikon database for the period from 2021 to 2023. The quantitative analysis includes regression and correlation techniques to assess the relationship between ESG reporting and financial performance. The results show a weak positive relationship between financial performance and ESG reporting, indicating that although ESG reporting practices may improve financial outcomes of the listed companies in Sri Lanka, this relationship is not particularly strong in the Sri Lankan context. By presenting real-world information from the perspective of emerging markets, this study adds to the body of literature on ESG reporting in academia. It emphasizes the value of strong ESG reporting systems and provides investors, politicians, and accounting professionals with useful insights. The study emphasizes the necessity of further investigations into ESG practices with a view to properly identify the consequences of ESG reporting practices for sustainability and value creation in Sri Lanka and beyond.

Background: Light has been shed on the textile industry as one of the leading industries when it comes to economic growth, global warming and sustainable development. The increasing demand for sustainable activities from stakeholders has led to the importance of measuring the sustainable development of companies. ESG reporting is a common tool used to indicate a company’s sustainability performance. Prior research has tended to focus on cross-sectional industries, and therefore a gap was identified for industry specific research.   Purpose: The purpose of this research is to explain the relationship between sustainability performance and financial performance in the textile industry in the European and North American markets to see if companies that invest in sustainability activities benefit financially.   Method: This research has followed a positivistic paradigm, with deductive reasoning and a quantitative approach. A probability sampling approach was performed by conducting secondary data from Thomson Reuters DataStream of companies in the textile industry in Europe and North America. This resulted in a final sample of ESG scores and ROIC of 44 companies. The data was later analysed in the SPSS software program by following the estimation method Ordinary Least Squares (OLS).    Findings: The literature review developed two hypotheses to address the research purpose and questions. The two hypotheses were analysed through two regression analyses that were satisfied through the OLS estimation method. The result showed that there was a significant relationship between the aggregated ESG score and ROIC which supported the first hypothesis. The second hypothesis of the multiple regression model showed that each component of ESG is correlated to ROIC, however, the environmental factor was not statistically significantly related.    Conclusion: The thesis showed that there is a positive relationship between ESG performance and ROIC in this study. This implies that companies that invest in sustainable development increase their financial performance. The aggregated ESG score as well as the social factor and the governance factor had the highest impact on ROIC, which is supported by the stakeholder theory as there has been an increasing demand on social and governance activities in the textile industry. This further supports that sustainability performance impact on financial performance is industry specific.

In this research study, triangulation is employed utilizing quantitative and qualitative methods, including content analysis, a perception survey, and expert interviews to find key themes and patterns in management and digital strategies for ESG reporting. The primary focus centered on sequential research, applying the emerging themes from the content analysis to the survey and interview creation. The research questions address organizational challenges with ESG reporting (1), the influence of digital strategies on reporting reliability (2), and management practices that impact stakeholders’ perception of quality, credibility, and transparency in ESG reporting (3). The findings reveal that organizations need to prepare and restructure to meet intensifying ESG reporting requirements. Digital strategies and solutions emerged as fundamental variables that influence the success and quality of ESG reporting practices. To achieve this, data streamlining, normalization, assurance, and verification processes are crucial for enhancing data traceability and credibility across the value chain. Additionally, the empirical findings found that management and communication practices influence stakeholder perception significantly. Therefore, organizations must improve their disclosure practices in transparency and openness to ultimately impact stakeholder perception of organizational communication. The research findings suggest organizations adopt a holistic approach to integrating ESG practices into business models and operational activities. The findings emphasize the urgent need for any organization to comply with ESG reporting practices and continuously improve ESG performance. In conclusion, this study advocates for proactive management practices to maintain a competitive advantage through improving environmental and social business practices.

This research investigates the challenges Scandinavian organizations face in adapting their ESG reporting practices to comply with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), introduced in January 2024. The CSRD aims to enhance Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) reporting by implementing double materiality assessment (DMA) and expanding the scope of value chain reporting. Given its novelty and the limited academic literature on this topic, this research provides critical insights into these transformations.  Three research questions guide this study: (1) How do Scandinavian organizations conduct the DMA of their ESG reporting under the CSRD? (2) How do Scandinavian organizations address challenges in ESG reporting along the entire value chain after adopting the CSRD? (3) How is the CSRD reshaping the ESG reporting challenges faced by Scandinavian organizations? The research employs a qualitative, exploratory approach, including expert interviews and textual analysis. Grounded in Stakeholder Theory and Value Chain Theory, the study provides perspectives for understanding stakeholder engagement and value chain dynamics in ESG reporting. The findings reveal that organizations exhibit varying approaches to DMA, influenced by conflicting definitions of materiality, differing stakeholder engagement practices and subjectivity. Despite ESRS guidance, this creates challenges in comparability and implementation. In terms of value chain reporting, organizations face significant challenges in data gathering and transparency. The CSRD reshapes ESG reporting by standardizing requirements and addressing previous inconsistencies of its predecessor, the Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD). However, the CSRD introduces both opportunities and challenges for Scandinavian organizations.  By integrating Stakeholder and Value Chain Theory, this study highlights the importance of comprehensive stakeholder engagement and robust data systems. The findings underscore the need for ongoing adjustments and improvements of the reporting standards as organizations navigate the evolving ESG landscape under the CSRD. Ultimately, the CSRD is contributing to more sustainable and transparent business practices.

The pursuit of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) requires a transformative approach to energy systems, focusing on cleaner, reliable, and affordable energy services. This pursuit of achieving the SDG 7 goal of universal access to affordable and clean energy, can have numerous positive and negative implications on all other SDGs and their targets. This thesis project explores and addresses these interlinkages between SDGs and energy projects, highlighting the synergies and trade-offs of energy projects to contribute to achieving the SDGs. In this project, we propose a methodology and framework to facilitate the integration of the SDGs into the energy project planning and implementation phase. This framework is implemented into a tool called SDGs-PROPEL (Sustainable Development Goals - PROject Performance Evaluationand Learnings) that is tailor-made to help energy practitioners identify potential trade-offs and synergies, and develop strategies to maximize positive impacts and minimize negative ones by prioritizing the SDGs that are relevant to their projects. The proposed methodology also takes into consideration the growing importance of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reporting, ensuring that energy projects align with sustainable practices and societal expectations. Three case studies - one Wind energy projectand two district heating projects, all in France, are utilized to test the SDGs-PROPEL tool. It also incorporates feedback from technology experts working in District Heating and Cooling(DHC) and wind energy in energy companies and academia. The tool was also tested by studentsat the master’s level at KTH Royal Institute of Technology. The proposed methodology in the SDGs-PROPEL tool can be used by any energy practitioner for building a robust testing process for their tools and, in turn, help address some of the challenges of integrating SDGs with energy projects by providing a structured approach to incorporating the SDGs into theplanning and implementation phase of the energy projects. In conclusion, this paper emphasizes the significance of incorporating the SDGs into energy projects as a means to drive sustainable development. By enabling companies to assess the environmental, social, and economic impacts of their energy initiatives, this integration plays a crucial role in addressing critical global issues like climate change, poverty reduction, and energy access. / Strävan efter hållbara utvecklingsmål (SDG) kräver ett transformativt förhållningssätt till energisystem, med fokus på renare, pålitliga och överkomliga energitjänster. Denna strävan efter att uppnå SDG 7-målet om universell tillgång till hållbar energi, kan ha många positiva och negativa konsekvenser för alla andra SDG och deras mål. Detta avhandlingsprojekt utforskar och tar upp dessa kopplingar mellan SDG och energiprojekt, och belyser synergierna och avvägningarna mellan energiprojekt för att bidra till att uppnå SDGs. I det här projektet föreslår vi en metod och ett ramverk för att underlätta integrationen av SDGs i energiprojektets planering och genomförandefas. Detta ramverk är implementerat i ett verktyg som kallas SDGs-PROPEL (Sustainable Development Goals - PROject Performance Evaluation and Learnings) som är skräddarsytt för att hjälpa energiutövare att identifiera potentiella avvägningar och synergier, och utveckla strategier för att maximera positiva effekter och minimera negativa. genom att prioritera de SDG som är relevanta för deras projekt. Den föreslagna metoden tar också hänsyn till den växande betydelsen av miljö-, social- och styrelserapportering (ESG), vilket säkerställer att energiprojekt överensstämmer med hållbar praxis och samhälleliga förväntningar. Tre fallstudier - ett vindenergiprojekt och två fjärrvärmeprojekt, alla i Frankrike, används för att testa SDGs-PROPEL-verktyget. Den innehåller också feedback från teknikexperter som arbetar med DHC och vindenergi i energiföretag och akademi. Verktyget testades även av studenter på masternivå vid Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan. Den föreslagna metoden i SDGs-PROPEL-verktyget kan användas av alla energiutövare för att bygga en robust testprocess för sina verktyg och i sin tur hjälpa till att hantera några av utmaningarna med att integrera SDGs med energiprojekt genom att tillhandahålla ett strukturerat tillvägagångssätt för att införliva SDGs in i planerings- och genomförandefasen av energiprojekten. Sammanfattningsvis betonar detta dokument betydelsen av att införliva SDGs i energiprojekt som ett sätt att driva hållbar utveckling. Genom att göra det möjligt för företag att bedöma de miljömässiga, sociala och ekonomiska effekterna av sina energiinitiativ, spelar denna integration en avgörande roll för att ta itu med kritiska globala frågor som klimatförändringar, fattigdomsminskning och tillgång till energi.