This book continues the discussion on the challenges that organizations face in order to implement sustainability, ethics, and effective corporate governance, all of which are important elements of “standing out” from other companies. Examining the background of the New European Consensus on development with the new guiding motto ‘Our World, Our Dignity, Our Future,’ the authors explore how this new legislation on sustainability issues around the world is forcing companies to deal directly with sustainability issues. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2030 Agenda), adopted by the United Nations in September 2015, is the international community’s response to global challenges and trends in connection with sustainable development. With the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at its core, the 2030 Agenda is a transformative political framework designed to eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development globally. It balances the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development, including the key issues of governance and peaceful and inclusive societies, and recognizes the essential interlinkages between its goals and targets, i.e., that they must be implemented as a whole and not selectively. The respective chapters in this volume raise a number of questions regarding corporate social responsibility, ethics, and corporate governance in the face of new technology, and new approaches to climate change and sustainability reporting.

This book continues the discussion on the challenges that organizations face in order to implement sustainability, ethics, and effective corporate governance, all of which are important elements of “standing out” from other companies. Examining the background of the New European Consensus on development with the new guiding motto ‘Our World, Our Dignity, Our Future,’ the authors explore how this new legislation on sustainability issues around the world is forcing companies to deal directly with sustainability issues. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2030 Agenda), adopted by the United Nations in September 2015, is the international community’s response to global challenges and trends in connection with sustainable development. With the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at its core, the 2030 Agenda is a transformative political framework designed to eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development globally. It balances the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development, including the key issues of governance and peaceful and inclusive societies, and recognizes the essential interlinkages between its goals and targets, i.e., that they must be implemented as a whole and not selectively. The respective chapters in this volume raise a number of questions regarding corporate social responsibility, ethics, and corporate governance in the face of new technology, and new approaches to climate change and sustainability reporting.

This book provides a platform for discussing the challenges that organizations face in order to implement sustainability, ethics, and effective corporate governance, all of which are important elements of “standing out” from other companies. Examining the background of the New European Consensus on development with the new guiding motto ‘Our World, Our Dignity, Our Future’, the authors explore how this new legislation on sustainability issues around the world is forcing companies to deal directly with sustainability issues. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2030 Agenda), adopted by the United Nations in September 2015, is the international community’s response to global challenges and trends in connection with sustainable development. With the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at its core, the 2030 Agenda is a transformative political framework designed to eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development globally. It balances the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development, including the key issues of governance and peaceful and inclusive societies, and recognizes the essential interlinkages between its goals and targets, i.e., that they must be implemented as a whole and not selectively. The respective chapters in this volume raise a number of questions regarding companies’ ability to implement sustainability, ethics, and effective corporate governance. Simultaneously, they explore how organizations must adapt to sustainability-related developments.

This book continues the discussion in the first two volumes on the challenges that organizations face in order to implement sustainability, ethics, and effective corporate governance, all of which are important elements of “standing out” from other companies. Examining the background of the New European Consensus on development with the new guiding motto ‘Our World, Our Dignity, Our Future,’ the authors explore how this new legislation on sustainability issues around the world is forcing companies to deal directly with sustainability issues. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2030 Agenda), adopted by the United Nations in September 2015, is the international community’s response to global challenges and trends in connection with sustainable development. With the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at its core, the 2030 Agenda is a transformative political framework designed to eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development globally. It balances the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development, including the key issues of governance and peaceful and inclusive societies, and recognizes the essential interlinkages between its goals and targets, i.e., that they must be implemented as a whole and not selectively. The respective chapters in this volume raise a number of questions regarding corporate social responsibility, ethics, and corporate governance in the face of new technology, and new approaches to climate change and sustainability reporting.

In a dramatic departure from its voluntary origins, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is rapidly shifting to hold multinational companies accountable for more than traditional shareholder performance. This CSR movement is embracing new environmental, social and governance (ESG) frameworks that both promote global sustainability goals and enhance accountability for negative impacts businesses can have on ‘planet and people’. This collection of essays by leading businesspeople, international civil servants, legal practitioners, academics, and other experts offers a forward-looking and pragmatic perspective that illuminates the major themes in this movement towards increasingly sustainable, transparent and accountable business practices. The collection shows how CSR has evolved to account for societal pressures, environmental, climate change and human rights impacts, international policy imperatives and the practical challenges of regulating commercial activity that transcends borders. The chapters offer an in-depth examination of current issues including: international frameworks and multistakeholder initiatives catalysing foundational change; the shifting emphasis on corporate imperatives to avoid harm to third parties; trends in CSR, focused on assuring the planet's future sustainability and social stability; regulatory initiatives around the globe, including Europe, North America, Asia and Africa; and extended accountability for activities of corporate group members and supply chains. The pressure and business case for companies to incorporate CSR into corporate governance is intensifying with each quarter, shareholder meeting, and regulatory agenda. The integration of CSR and new ESG frameworks into multinational corporate strategy and operations is key to sustainable business models that can generate long-term value for the organization and all stakeholders. Their acceptance as cornerstones of 21st century business practice appears inevitable. Taking full account of the imperative for companies and their lawyers to grapple with the practical and legal challenges in this area, this volume is an invaluable and pragmatic addition to the practitioners’ toolbox at this important juncture in an ever-more dynamic field.

These proceedings represent the work of contributors to the 7th International Conference on Gender Research (ICGR 2024), hosted by The Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Spain on 25-26 April 2024. The Conference Chair was Professor Carmen-Pilar Martí Ballester, from the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Spain. ICGR is a well-established event on the academic research calendar and now in its 7th year the key aim of this diverse conference is to provide an opportunity for participants from different backgrounds and cultures to share ideas and meet the people who hold them. The scope of papers ensured an interesting two days. The subjects covered in these proceedings illustrate the wide range of topics that fall into this important and ever-growing area of research.

This book continues the discussion from the first four volumes on the challenges that organizations face in order to implement sustainability, ethics, and effective corporate governance, all of which are important elements of “standing out” from other companies. Examining the background of the New European Consensus on development with the new guiding motto ‘Our World, Our Dignity, Our Future,’ the authors explore how this new legislation on sustainability issues around the world is forcing companies to deal directly with sustainability issues. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2030 Agenda), adopted by the United Nations in September 2015, is the international community’s response to global challenges and trends in connection with sustainable development. With the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at its core, the 2030 Agenda is a transformative political framework designed to eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development globally. It balances the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development, including the key issues of governance and peaceful and inclusive societies, and recognizes the essential interlinkages between its goals and targets, i.e., that they must be implemented as a whole and not selectively. The respective chapters in this volume raise a number of questions regarding corporate social responsibility, ethics, and corporate governance in the face of new technology and new approaches to climate change and sustainability reporting.

This collection covers extensive ground in contemporary green entrepreneurship, from fundamental theories such as business investments and venturing capital to emerging and new concepts that reflect critical challenges, including technological development slowdowns, economic resilience, digitalization, green business footprints.

The book examines the evolution and current state of corporate social responsibility (CSR), using a five-stage maturity model: defensive, charitable, promotional, strategic and transformative CSR. The first four stages are dubbed CSR 1.0 and characterise most current CSR practice, while the fifth stage is named CSR 2.0 (also transformative or systemic CSR) and describes emergent and future CSR practices. Reasons are given why CSR 1.0 approaches have failed to have any significant impact on the most serious global social, environmental and ethical challenges. The emergent CSR 2.0 will then be explored in detail by elaborating on five principles underlying the new approach, including: creativity, scalability, responsiveness, glocality and circularity. A four-part DNA Model is also introduced, covering value creation, good governance, societal contribution and ecological integrity, which provides the basis for defining and measuring CSR 2.0. Finally, a 70-question CSR 2.0 self-assessment diagnostic tool developed by the author is presented, with sample data to show how the tool can be used for future research and practitioner application.