Prologue

Abstract

In recent years, we have witnessed the emergence of a number of concepts and ideas that relate to a new way of understanding the business world.After the historical focus of top management on the concepts of profit, satisfying shareholder interest and a short-term rather than a long-term approach, the new paradigm sees sustainability as the central focus in the strategic formulation of companies. It is no longer about making money or creating value, but about how this is done in a sustainable way, taking a long-term view and considering the interests of the different stakeholders that interact with the company.In this sense, the concept of shared value, developed by Professor Porter, seems to us to be very relevant, which, in summary, concludes by stating that economic value can be created creating social value at the same time.There are many terms, concepts and approaches which, although they may give rise to a certain amount of terminological confusion (acronyms such as CSR, ESG, SRI, for example), are frequently used in the press and in the business world. In terms of concepts, the circular economy, and its growing importance, and the global and cross-cutting nature of the ideas and issues addressed, are also faithfully reflected in the changes that are taking place in the way business is understood.On the other hand, there is a clear and growing interest, not only in the academic world, but also from companies, investors and the various providers of analysis, rankings and opinions, on sustainability that make this issue a hot topic.In Exponential Education we understand, first of all, that when we talk about sustainability, this should be considered from a triple perspective: the economic, environmental and social.The first perspective is usually taken for granted, given that, when talking about companies, their management, investors and asset managers, among others, understand that, without economic and financial sustainability, companies would not be viable.That is why, in our view, the focus when talking about sustainability is on environmental and social sustainability. There are perspectives, increasingly taken up by more and more institutions, and especially by large investment funds and asset managers, that add the governance pillar, proposing an innovative way of analysing and selecting investments based on the ESG concept. Moreover, it seems clear to many experts that the ESG approach enables, as research has shown, superior financial performance, higher revenue growth, improved margins, greater operational efficiency and lower cost of capital. Besides, more and more investment funds and asset managers, as well as individual investors, are demanding greater investment in assets with an ESG approach.From another perspective, the pressure from regulators, both national and transnational, and their concern about non-financial information, has led to a large number of far-reaching legislative changes, for example in the European Union.The European Union, for example, has published the taxonomy related to environmental aspects. The taxonomy related to social aspects and governance is still pending, although the latter aspect is fairly well regulated in the corporate governance regulations of the different countries.We also highlight all the EU initiatives in the field of sustainable finance and their influence, both from the perspective of bond issues, known as green bonds, aimed at financing environmentally friendly projects, as well as companies' own investment projects, with a clear change in the destination of their investments.Another aspect that we underline, from a business management perspective, is the growing importance of the different stakeholders that relate to the company, their identification and prioritisation, the commitments made to them and the fulfilment of these commitments, which will have a significant influence on corporate reputation and the consequent reputational risk.For all these reasons, Exponential Education has developed a research vocation in the field of sustainability and ESG philosophy, which is reflected in the monographic issue that we present with ASEPELT and sponsor with the unconditional support of IASE.It is a publication with a wide thematic variety, eminently transversal and with a great geographical and cultural diversity. The approach is from a scientific perspective subject to blind peer review, as an indexed journal.The monograph covers, among others, issues related to the environment, decarbonisation and environmental sustainability, the circular economy and the transition to it, green bonds, impact investing, renewable energy and the ecological footprint, gender diversity and women's empowerment, the role of venture capital in clean sectors, or the ESG model and financial performance.The monograph, with a clear international vocation, will be distributed on five continents with the support of ASEPELT and IASE.Exponential Education would like to thank all those who have contributed with their articles and opinions to this monograph, and we pledge to continue along the path of quality academic research.