Reflections on Sustainability Reporting Regulation From a Northern European Perspective

Abstract

The essay reflects on the recent legislative changes on corporate sustainability. I focus on the European Union Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD, EU 2022/2464) and associated sustainability reporting regulation, and how they have been enacted in Northern Europe, Finland in particular. I point out to some of the observations such as costs of delay, lack of sustainability expertise, need for reallocation of resources in and out of companies, contents of disclosure and the political struggle over sustainability reporting. Finally, I claim that the perceived ambiguity of sustainability disclosures should not be used as an excuse to avoid or delay their development. Continuous institutional support is needed to make sustainability accounting a robust and trusted part of organisational and societal decision-making.