Exploring the Influence of ESG Factors on Environmental Investments for Sustainable Development

Dear Colleagues,

The now globally shared need to direct economic development according to the guidelines set by the 17 SDGs determines, on the part of companies, the need to make all their investments sustainable. In parallel, under the pressure of increasingly stringent regulations by almost all countries, the need to quantitatively and qualitatively extend the content of disclosure in relation to the external context in order to show how business investments are consistent with sustainable development needs emerges. For some decades, therefore, new strands of research have emerged which are channelled in two main directions. The first direction aims to evaluate which are the determinants related to the three pillars of ESG—environment, social, governance—that are most affective and in what way on a company’s choice to make truly sustainable investments. The second direction aims at identifying the most suitable instruments to enrich the reporting of the company’s activities, both in terms of the economic and financial performance achieved, the representation of which is largely bound to formal schemes, how and especially in relation to the ways in which these results have been pursued. The goal is also to avoid the greenwashing phenomena.

With this in mind, this Special Issue aims to combine these two main directions, proposing or collecting methods, practices and experiences related to the assessment or measurement of the sustainable impact of investments made by companies with a view of pursuing the three ESG pillars.

Prof. Dr. Antonio Thomas
Dr. Stefano Marciano
Guest Editors

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