Skip to main content

LUP Student Papers

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Prevalence of SDG-Washing: An Empirical Analysis on Large Listed European Companies

Jürine, Jörgen LU (2023) EKHS34 20231
Department of Economic History
Abstract
The sustainable development goals (SDGs) were introduced in 2015 to steer worldwide progress towards a sustainable, inclusive and prosperous path. Since then companies have gradually taken up the goals and are today actively reporting contributions to the goals. However, with this, also a novel concept of SDG-washing has emerged – companies claiming to contribute to the SDGs but in reality not doing so meaningfully. To examine the prevalence of SDG-washing, an empirical analysis is conducted on 156 large listed European companies who belong to the STOXX 600 Europe Index. The reports and webpages of the companies are analyzed with a specially developed framework for identifying SDG-washing. The framework represents minimum requirements of... (More)
The sustainable development goals (SDGs) were introduced in 2015 to steer worldwide progress towards a sustainable, inclusive and prosperous path. Since then companies have gradually taken up the goals and are today actively reporting contributions to the goals. However, with this, also a novel concept of SDG-washing has emerged – companies claiming to contribute to the SDGs but in reality not doing so meaningfully. To examine the prevalence of SDG-washing, an empirical analysis is conducted on 156 large listed European companies who belong to the STOXX 600 Europe Index. The reports and webpages of the companies are analyzed with a specially developed framework for identifying SDG-washing. The framework represents minimum requirements of reporting on the SDGs while claiming contributions to the goals. It was found that 139 firms claimed to contribute to the SDGs and of these 35% of companies were found to be SDG-washing. SDG-washing was identified through subconcepts – 27% of companies were found to be rainbow washing, 14% cherry-picking and also 14% reporting only on positive contributions and ignoring negative impacts on the SDGs. The results indicate that SDG-washing is not widely prevalent, but however still a considerable share of large listed European companies were found to be SDG-washing. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Jürine, Jörgen LU
supervisor
organization
course
EKHS34 20231
year
type
H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
subject
keywords
SDG-washing, European listed companies, SDG reporting, sustainable development goals (SDGs), content analysis
language
English
id
9127501
date added to LUP
2023-06-21 09:48:54
date last changed
2023-06-21 09:48:54
@misc{9127501,
  abstract     = {{The sustainable development goals (SDGs) were introduced in 2015 to steer worldwide progress towards a sustainable, inclusive and prosperous path. Since then companies have gradually taken up the goals and are today actively reporting contributions to the goals. However, with this, also a novel concept of SDG-washing has emerged – companies claiming to contribute to the SDGs but in reality not doing so meaningfully. To examine the prevalence of SDG-washing, an empirical analysis is conducted on 156 large listed European companies who belong to the STOXX 600 Europe Index. The reports and webpages of the companies are analyzed with a specially developed framework for identifying SDG-washing. The framework represents minimum requirements of reporting on the SDGs while claiming contributions to the goals. It was found that 139 firms claimed to contribute to the SDGs and of these 35% of companies were found to be SDG-washing. SDG-washing was identified through subconcepts – 27% of companies were found to be rainbow washing, 14% cherry-picking and also 14% reporting only on positive contributions and ignoring negative impacts on the SDGs. The results indicate that SDG-washing is not widely prevalent, but however still a considerable share of large listed European companies were found to be SDG-washing.}},
  author       = {{Jürine, Jörgen}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Prevalence of SDG-Washing: An Empirical Analysis on Large Listed European Companies}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}