CdLM Business Administration

The course discusses sustainability challenges in the stream of accounting, accountability, and integrated reporting. 

Sustainability is no longer a reporting or compliance issue, but a critical business imperative, therefore companies have to integrate sustainability into their decision-making processes and apply synergies between financial performance and their impact on society, the economy, and the environment.

The course aims to examine the role of accounting for corporate sustainability practices in terms of reporting and measuring outcomes. Both theoretical underpinning and practical challenges associated with non-financial reporting will be analyzed.

After completing the course, students will be able to:

• describe different reporting frameworks and standards, including GRI, <IR> Framework,
  SASB, TCFD, EFRAG.
• analyze sustainability reports and integrated reports of listed companies with a critical perspective;
• apply coherent options for the preparation of sustainability reports;
• integrate sustainability information into traditional financial and valuation analyses.

The major topics covered in the course include:

• Concepts and history of sustainability accounting and reporting
• The landscape of international standards frameworks (GRI, IR, SASB, TCFD, EFRAG)
• Stakeholder management and stakeholder engagement
• Sustainability materiality analysis
• Sustainability management tools and practices
• Sustainability reporting process
• ESG ratings and scores

The class format combines lectures, interactive discussions, cases studies and project presentations.

The learning assessment will evaluate your ability to critically analyze sustainability challenges in accounting and reporting processes and propose coherent solutions for the preparation of sustainability reports and integrated reports.

Your grade for the course will be determined as follows:
• Group presentation related to an assignment (weight 60%) 
• Individual oral exam (weight 40%)

Dedicated office hours and dialogue with professors and tutors.