The Strategic Evolution of ESG Reporting: From Voluntary Disclosure to Mandatory Accountability

Over the past twenty-five years, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reporting has undergone a profound and multifaceted transformation, moving from a predominantly voluntary and often symbolic practice used to enhance corporate image without stringent requirements to a regulatory and strategic accountability tool that mandates transparency and measurable responsibility. This book analyzes in detail the evolution of ESG reporting from 1997 to 2025, with particular attention to the European context, where regulations have rapidly evolved to align with global sustainability goals, and recent standards such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), and the SEC Climate Rules in the United States. The analysis focuses on data collected from over 130,000 observations of Italian financial statements and sustainability reports (2020-2024), which highlight not only the transition towards increasingly quantitative and comparable disclosures, but also the impact of variables such as company size, ESG ratings, and stock exchange listing status, which influence the depth and quality of the information disclosed.