Exploring ESG challenges and opportunities : navigating towards a better future

Abstract

The sustainable development of economies is now an important point of action for many organisations. One of the key documents that has, in a sense, become a benchmark for implementing a sustainable approach to business practice is the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, 2022). The orientation towards a sustainable approach in business has also found its dimension in subsequent documents and relevant regulations like the Paris Agreement (2015), the European Green Deal (n.d.), the CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting, n.d.), the Taxonomy (Regulation - 2020/852 - EN - EUR-Lex, n.d.), and the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TFCFD) (Task Force, 2020). The 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals offer a comprehensive framework for businesses to build their sustainable development policies. This framework is not just about meeting our current needs, but also about respecting the environment, the rights of others, and the needs of future generations. It underscores the importance of our actions today in shaping the world of tomorrow. On the one hand, it is an extremely important and seemingly understandable issue, but on the other, it raises a lot of discussion and controversy. This area is still the field of ongoing scientific discourse. [extract].