Bridging ESG Reporting and the UN Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs): A Systematic Literature Review of Sustainability Accounting in Industrial Enterprises

This study presents a systematic literature review of sustainability accounting in industrial enterprises to examine how Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reporting can be meaningfully linked with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Given the conceptual fragmentation and lack of an integrated operational framework in this domain, the review draws on stakeholder, legitimacy, institutional, and accountability theories to synthesise ۱۱ high impact international studies published between ۲۰۲۲ and ۲۰۲۶. The findings reveal four key insights: (۱) double materiality provides the main theoretical foundation for the ESG–SDG linkage, yet no practical implementation protocol exists for industrial firms; (۲) current practices rely heavily on environmental metrics and ESG risk ratings, but these ratings show no significant correlation with actual SDG impact; (۳) the literature suffers from a strong geographical bias toward developed economies and China, with the ESG financial performance relationship being negative or insignificant in developing economies; (۴) based on the synthesised evidence, a proposed integrated reporting model comprises three principles prioritising double materiality, using SDG specific outcome metrics, and embedding governance together with innovation as enablers. The review identifies a critical research gap in under represented institutional contexts (Iran) and emphasises the urgent need for locally validated empirical research.

Keywords:

ESG reporting , Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) , sustainability accounting , industrial enterprises , double materiality