Congressional Research Service
- Introduction to Financial Services: Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) IssuesUpdated January 5, 2023.
- Environmental, Social and Governance Funds: SEC-Proposed Disclosure ReformUpdated October 12, 2022.
Other Tools
- Statista This link opens in a new windowKeyword search "CSR" to find charts and graphs on measurements such as 'Effect of CSR on purchase decisions in Japan,' etc.
- Conference Board This link opens in a new windowKeyword search "CSR", "ESG", or other related terms to find articles and reports.
Best Bets for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Reports
"Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a self-regulating business model that helps a company be socially accountable to itself, its stakeholders, and the public. By practicing corporate social responsibility, also called corporate citizenship, companies can be conscious of the kind of impact they are having on all aspects of society, including economic, social, and environmental." - Investopedia
Consistency of ESG disclosures is a big concern. Public companies often discuss ESG-related issues in the Management Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) section of their annual financial reports. Any ESG issues discussed in the MD&A section are generally not subject to an independent audit. More often, companies produce standalone ESG or sustainability reports.
The naming conventions for Sustainability Reports are quite varied. In fact, one Harvard Law School article (2021) found 18 distinct ways in which companies titled their reports. “Sustainability” (43%) was the most commonly used term in report titles, while “CSR” (24%) and “ESG” (23%) were further behind. Also noteworthy: The average length of a 2021 Sustainability Report was 70 pages.
CSR Report Name Options: Business & Sustainability Report - Citizenship and Sustainability Report - Corporate Citizenship Report - Corporate Responsibility Report - Corporate Social Responsibility Report - Environmental, Social and Governance (or ESG) Report - Global Citizenship Annual Report - Global Citizenship & Sustainability Report - Global Environmental & Social Impact Report - Global Impact Report - Global Responsibility Report - Impact Report - Integrated Sustainability Report and Annual Report - Responsible Business Report - Social Impact and Sustainability Report - Stakeholder Sustainability Report - Sustainability Report - Sustainable Impact Report.
- 3BL CSR WireBreaking CSR reports aggregated by industry.
- Corporate RegisterGlobal online directory of CR reports. Includes over 2000,000 reports across 28,000 companies.
- Bentley University: Hoffman Center for Business Ethics CSR Reports LibraryHoffman Center for Business Ethics archive of company CSR reports.
- Sustainability - ReportsInternational portal for sustainability reporting since 1999. Includes relevant and current sustainability news.
Sustainability Reporting
- Carbon Disclosure ProjectGold standard of environmental reporting with the richest and most comprehensive dataset on corporate and city action. In 2023, 23,000+ companies - representing a staggering US$67 trillion in market capitalization - disclosed their environmental performance data to CDP.
- B Corporation DirectoryDirectory of businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability.
- Net Zero TrackerOverview of the 2,000 largest publicly-traded companies in the world by revenue, including any net zero targets and key components to pledges.