Abstract
Companies are currently changing their traditional role in society and transforming it into a proactive role in which their operations generate social and environmental positive impacts. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has evolved from simple philanthropy to a more theoretical concept with a new corporate philosophy that takes all the interests of all stakeholders into consideration. The financial market is pushing the development of Socially Responsible Investment (SRI), which has led to the rise of Corporate Sustainability Systems (CSS). These CSSs are tools that rate corporate performance on sustainability. However, they constitute a chaotic universe, with instruments of different nature. This paper identifies and groups the common characteristics of the CSSs into three different typologies: Indexes, Rankings and Ratings. Despite this classification, and although the fundamental pillar of CSR is the “Stakeholder Theory”, CSSs are still not ideal tools to be used by all stakeholders. From the magma of CSSs, this article identifies and describes, through a comparative analysis, those which best comply with the “Stakeholder Theory”. This paper facilitates the work of researchers and stakeholders by exposing the differential characteristics of the most important CSSs.
Highlights
The new millennium brought the 10 Principles of the United Nations (UN) Global Compact
In 2015, framed within the 2030 Agenda, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) were presented. These SDGs are the heirs of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), but their scope is much broader because they take into consideration new areas such as/they present a broader scope and introduce new areas such as climate change, economic inequality, innovation, sustainable consumption and peace and justice [3]
The SDGs are a universal and inclusive call, and they are interrelated in such a way that they can be implemented in all countries, independently of their reality, needs and characteristics [4]
Summary
The new millennium brought the 10 Principles of the United Nations (UN) Global Compact. In 2015, framed within the 2030 Agenda, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) were presented These SDGs are the heirs of the MDGs, but their scope is much broader because they take into consideration new areas such as/they present a broader scope and introduce new areas such as climate change, economic inequality, innovation, sustainable consumption and peace and justice [3]. These goals are the result of the consensus of 193 UN Member States and several stakeholders have been involved in its elaboration. In order to monitor and revise the implementation of these goals, 169 targets and 230 specific and clear indicators have been established
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