Disclosure on the Sustainable Development Goals – Evidence from Europe

Figures & data

Table 1. List of the sustainable development goals (UN Resolution A/RES/70/1).

Goal 1	End poverty in all its forms everywhere
Goal 2	End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
Goal 3	Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
Goal 4	Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
Goal 5	Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
Goal 6	Ensure the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
Goal 7	Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
Goal 8	Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
Goal 9	Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
Goal 10	Reduce inequality within and among countries
Goal 11	Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
Goal 12	Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
Goal 13	Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts*
Goal 14	Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
Goal 15	Protect, restore and promote the sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
Goal 16	Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
Goal 17	Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development

* Acknowledging that the United Nations Framework on Climate Change is the primary international, intergovernmental forum for negotiating the global response to climate change.

Table 2. Sample description.

Panel A: Sample selection	Total
Initial population of firm-year observations for 600 firms and 4 reporting years	2,400
Less: observations for which annual reports cannot be obtained or processed in textual analysis	−253
Total sample of annual reports	2,147
Less: observations with missing values for control variables	−116
Less: observations without balanced sample structure	−299
Final sample of annual reports	1,732
Of which: reports with information on SDGs	652

Panel B: Sample composition by country
Country	Firm-years	Percent
Austria	24	1.39
Belgium	48	4.16
Denmark	96	3.70
Finland	32	1.85
France	272	15.70
Germany	96	5.54
Ireland	36	2.08
Italy	68	3.93
Luxembourg	20	1.15
Netherlands	100	5.77
Norway	36	2.08
Spain	68	3.93
Sweden	152	8.78
Switzerland	168	9.70
United Kingdom	548	31.64
Total Sample	1,732	100.00

Table 3. Measurement scheme SDG reporting quality.

	Disclosure Indicator	Measurement
	Definition and prioritization
DEF1	Does the statement from the senior decision-maker reference the SDGs?	0 (no) / 1 (yes)
DEF2	Does the report provide general information on the SDGs?	0 (no) / 1 (yes)
DEF3	Does the report provide information on the process of SDG prioritization?	0 (no) / 1 (yes)
DEF4	Does the report provide information on the outcome of SDG prioritization (i.e. the SDGs they relate to)?	0 (no) / 1 (yes)
DEF5	Does the SDG prioritization relate to negative impacts in addition to positive ones?	0 (no) / 1 (yes)
	Measurement and analysis
MEA1	Does the report provide information on qualitative targets related to the SDGs?	0 (no) / 1 (yes)
MEA2	Does the report provide information on quantitative targets related to the SDGs?	0 (no) / 1 (yes)
MEA3	Does the report provide information on specific (past or ongoing) actions related to achieving the SDGs?	0 (no) / 1 (yes)
MEA4	Does the report provide qualitative information on the outcome of these actions?	0 (no) / 1 (yes)
MEA5	Does the report provide quantitative information on the outcome of these actions?	0 (no) / 1 (yes)
MEA6	Does the report provide information on future actions related to achieving the SDGs?	0 (no) / 1 (yes)

Table 4. Descriptive statistics on SDG reporting.

Panel A: SDG reporting by year
	SDG_BINARY			SDG_QUAL			SDG_TEXT
	Mean	SD	change	Mean	SD	change	Mean	SD	change	N
2015	0.150	0.358		0.268	1.197		1.786	0.947		433
2016	0.309	0.463	106%	1.152	2.779	330%	1.908	0.979	7%	433
2017	0.467	0.499	51%	2.060	3.402	79%	1.991	1.041	4%	433
2018	0.580	0.494	24%	2.808	3.526	36%	2.123	1.160	7%	433
Total	0.376	0.485		1.572	3.031		1.952	1.041		1,732

Panel B: SDG reporting quality by item
		Mean	SD	N
Definition and prioritization
DEF1	Does the statement from the senior decision-maker reference the SDGs?	0.199	0.400	652
DEF2	Does the report provide general information on the SDGs?	0.486	0.500	652
DEF3	Does the report provide information on the process of SDG prioritization?	0.291	0.455	652
DEF4	Does the report provide information on the outcome of SDG prioritization (i.e. the SDGs they relate to)?	0.607	0.489	652
DEF5	Does the SDG prioritization relate to negative impacts in addition to positive ones?	0.316	0.465	652
Measurement and analysis
MEA1	Does the report provide information on qualitative targets related to the SDGs?	0.449	0.498	652
MEA2	Does the report provide information on quantitative targets related to the SDGs?	0.305	0.461	652
MEA3	Does the report provide information on specific (past or ongoing) actions related to achieving the SDGs?	0.474	0.500	652
MEA4	Does the report provide qualitative information on the outcome of these actions?	0.390	0.488	652
MEA5	Does the report provide quantitative information on the outcome of these actions?	0.365	0.482	652
MEA6	Does the report provide information on future actions related to achieving the SDGs?	0.288	0.453	652

Figure 1. Reporting Quality by Reporting Item and Year. This figure presents the yearly percentage of reports disclosing the reporting quality indicators in the categories ‘Definition and Prioritization’ (DEF) and ‘Measurement and Analysis’ (MEA) as defined in Table 3. Percentages are based on the yearly total number of reports referring to the SDGs (SDG_BINARY = 1).

Figure 2. Prioritization Outcome (DEF4) by SDG. Panel A: Prioritization Outcome. Panel B: Prioritization Outcome by Year. This figure presents the percentage of reports prioritizing each individual SDG. Panel A presents percentage values of these references for the total sample period. Percentages are based on the total number of reports disclosing the outcome of SDG prioritization (DEF4 = 1). Panel B presents the total number of references of the respective SDG for each reporting year. A list of the SDGs is provided in Table 1.

Figure 3. Reporting Quality by SDG based on Prioritization Outcome (DEF4). This figure presents the percentage of reports disclosing information on the individual SDGs for the disclosure indicators MEA1 (qualitative targets), MEA2 (quantitative targets), MEA3 (specific actions) and MEA6 (future actions). Disclosure indicators are defined in Table 3. Percentages are based on the total number of reports disclosing the outcome of SDG prioritization (DEF4 = 1) and prioritizing the respective SDG. A list of the SDGs is provided in Table 1.

Table 5. Descriptive statistics of the regression variables.

Variable	Mean	Median	SD	Min	Max	N
Dependent Variables
SDG_BINARY	0.376	0.000	0.485	0.000	1.000	1732
SDG_QUAL	1.572	0.000	3.031	0.000	11.000	1732
SDG_TEXT	1.952	1.737	1.041	0.150	7.809	1732
Independent Variables
SRI	0.253	0.000	0.435	0.000	1.000	1732
ANALYSTS	2.729	2.823	0.513	0.000	3.588	1732
MEDIA	1.018	0.000	3.401	0.000	46.000	1732
EMPLOYEES	5.578	6.000	1.433	0.000	8.000	1732
CUSTOMERS	0.180	0.000	0.384	0.000	1.000	1732
ESI	0.157	0.000	0.364	0.000	1.000	1732
Control Variables
CSR_PERF	66.457	68.423	14.897	3.806	95.585	1732
FIRMSIZE	16.453	16.108	1.742	11.132	21.538	1732
PROFITABILITY	0.198	0.157	0.348	−1.735	3.500	1732
LEVERAGE	0.238	0.226	0.156	0.000	0.706	1732

Table 6. Pearson correlation statistics.

	(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)	(6)	(7)	(8)	(9)	(10)	(11)	(12)	(13)
(1)	1.000
(2)	0.668***	1.000
	(0.000)
(3)	0.358***	0.354***	1.000
	(0.000)	(0.000)
(4)	0.188***	0.139***	0.271***	1.000
	(0.000)	(0.000)	(0.000)
(5)	0.088***	0.033	0.246***	0.252***	1.000
	(0.000)	(0.164)	(0.000)	(0.000)
(6)	0.088***	0.013	0.079**	0.121***	0.198***	1.000
	(0.000)	(0.592)	(0.001)	(0.000)	(0.000)
(7)	0.132***	0.057*	0.242***	0.232***	0.403***	0.214***	1.000
	(0.000)	(0.017)	(0.000)	(0.000)	(0.000)	(0.000)
(8)	0.048*	0.044	−0.045	0.007	0.033	0.003	0.059*	1.000
	(0.045)	(0.068)	(0.059)	(0.783)	(0.168)	(0.909)	(0.013)
(9)	0.110***	0.100***	0.175***	−0.003	0.108***	0.007	−0.001	−0.202***	1.000
	(0.000)	(0.000)	(0.000)	(0.886)	(0.000)	(0.756)	(0.956)	(0.000)
(10)	0.262***	0.180***	0.324***	0.387***	0.489***	0.239***	0.545***	0.018	0.138***	1.000
	(0.000)	(0.000)	(0.000)	(0.000)	(0.000)	(0.000)	(0.000)	(0.457)	(0.000)
(11)	0.199***	0.087***	0.221***	0.280***	0.334***	0.429***	0.359***	−0.113***	0.016	0.408***	1.000
	(0.000)	(0.000)	(0.000)	(0.000)	(0.000)	(0.000)	(0.000)	(0.000)	(0.516)	(0.000)
(12)	−0.020	0.008	−0.061*	−0.016	0.032	−0.052*	0.017	0.082***	−0.063**	−0.032	−0.169***	1.000
	(0.408)	(0.730)	(0.011)	(0.498)	(0.177)	(0.032)	(0.482)	(0.001)	(0.009)	(0.185)	(0.000)
(13)	0.067**	0.035	0.044	0.013	−0.001	0.013	−0.032	0.039	0.112***	0.017	−0.064**	−0.005	1.000
	(0.005)	(0.143)	(0.066)	(0.600)	(0.964)	(0.602)	(0.190)	(0.107)	(0.000)	(0.489)	(0.008)	(0.843)

This table presents bivariate Pearson correlation coefficients and p-values (in parentheses) for a two-tailed test of statistical significance. *, **, and *** represent significance levels of 0.10 [or 10%], 0.05 [or 5%], and 0.01 [or 1%], respectively. (1) SDG_BINARY, (2) SDG_QUAL, (3) SDG_TEXT, (4) SRI, (5) ANALYSTS, (6) MEDIA, (7) EMPLOYEES, (8) CUSTOMERS, (9) ESI, (10) CSR_PERF, (11) FIRMSIZE, (12) PROFITABILITY, (13) LEVERAGE.

Table 7. Findings from the regression analysis.

	(1)		(2)		(3)
VARIABLES	SDG_BINARY		SDG_QUAL		SDG_TEXT
SRI	0.095	***	0.533	**	0.330	***
	(2.768)		(2.133)		(3.549)
ANALYSTS	−0.016		−0.107		0.228	***
	(−0.529)		(−0.553)		(3.171)
MEDIA	−0.000		−0.024		0.003
	(−0.041)		(−1.189)		(0.353)
EMPLOYEES	−0.010		−0.162	*	0.031
	(−0.851)		(−1.947)		(1.089)
CUSTOMERS	0.103	***	0.573	**	−0.087
	(2.661)		(2.187)		(−0.917)
ESI	0.151	***	0.910	***	0.427	***
	(3.676)		(2.939)		(3.182)
CSR_PERF	0.005	***	0.031	***	0.009	***
	(4.505)		(3.632)		(2.980)
FIRMSIZE	0.032	***	0.028		−0.004
	(3.391)		(0.461)		(−0.174)
PROFITABILITY	0.017		0.242		−0.071
	(0.499)		(1.175)		(−1.021)
LEVERAGE	0.102		−0.152		0.033
	(1.251)		(−0.281)		(0.145)
Constant	−0.826	***	−1.477		−0.308
	(−4.804)		(−1.397)		(−0.605)
CLUSTER	FIRM		FIRM		FIRM
COUNTRY- YEAR FE	INCLUDED		INCLUDED		INCLUDED
Observations	1,732		1,732		1,732
R-squared	0.330		0.264		0.306
F	24.52		7.312		9.225

This table reports ordinary least squares coefficient estimates and t-statistics (in parentheses) based on Huber-White robust standard errors clustered at the firm level. *, **, and *** represent significance levels of 0.10 [or 10%], 0.05 [or 5%], and 0.01 [or 1%], respectively.

Table 8. Findings from regression analysis additionally controlling for firm-level variables.

	(1)		(2)		(3)
VARIABLES	SDG_BINARY		SDG_QUAL		SDG_TEXT
SRI	0.111	***	0.563	*	0.336	***
	(2.891)		(1.897)		(3.044)
ANALYSTS	−0.052		−0.213		0.251	***
	(−1.405)		(−0.838)		(3.036)
MEDIA	−0.003		−0.029		0.005
	(−0.801)		(−1.243)		(0.516)
EMPLOYEES	0.003		−0.140		0.060
	(0.218)		(−1.148)		(1.623)
CUSTOMERS	0.088	*	0.330		−0.063
	(1.795)		(0.969)		(−0.489)
ESI	0.163	***	0.977	**	0.469	***
	(3.409)		(2.524)		(2.781)
ASSURANCE	0.070	*	0.280		0.130
	(1.784)		(0.995)		(1.234)
PCT_WOMEN_BOARD	−0.002		−0.005		−0.002
	(−1.075)		(−0.443)		(−0.344)
BOARD_ AGE	−0.001		−0.009		0.003
	(−0.281)		(−0.278)		(0.210)
CLUSTER	FIRM		FIRM		FIRM
COUNTRY-YEAR FE	INCLUDED		INCLUDED		INCLUDED
Observations	1,213		1,213		1,213
R-squared	0.338		0.275		0.330
F	33.03		8.121		10.00

This table reports ordinary least squares coefficient estimates and t-statistics (in parentheses) based on Huber-White robust standard errors clustered at the firm level. *, **, and *** represent significance levels of 0.10 [or 10%], 0.05 [or 5%], and 0.01 [or 1%], respectively.

Table 9. Findings from regression analysis additionally controlling for institutional factors.

	(1)		(2)		(3)		(4)		(5)		(6)		(7)		(8)		(9)		(10)		(11)		(12)
	SDG_BINARY		SDG_QUAL		SDG_TEXT		SDG_BINARY		SDG_QUAL		SDG_TEXT		SDG_BINARY		SDG_QUAL		SDG_TEXT		SDG_BINARY		SDG_QUAL		SDG_TEXT
	INST = ‘Rule of Law’						INST = ‘Voice and Accountability’						INST = ‘Government Effectiveness’						INST = ‘Regulatory Quality’
SRI	0.105	***	0.601	**	0.390	***	0.108	***	0.608	**	0.382	***	0.103	***	0.592	**	0.391	***	0.106	***	0.603	**	0.387	***
	(2.835)		(2.239)		(3.739)		(2.929)		(2.268)		(3.697)		(2.802)		(2.212)		(3.731)		(2.845)		(2.258)		(3.837)
ANALYSTS	−0.030		−0.174		0.192	**	−0.029		−0.169		0.188	**	−0.029		−0.166		0.193	**	−0.032		−0.180		0.192	**
	(−0.924)		(−0.853)		(2.511)		(−0.864)		(−0.829)		(2.468)		(−0.880)		(−0.808)		(2.504)		(−0.964)		(−0.885)		(2.562)
MEDIA	−0.006	*	−0.056	**	−0.011		−0.006	*	−0.057	***	−0.011		−0.006	*	−0.060	***	−0.013		−0.005		−0.048	**	−0.005
	(−1.650)		(−2.542)		(−1.339)		(−1.743)		(−2.596)		(−1.287)		(−1.734)		(−2.692)		(−1.469)		(−1.322)		(−2.176)		(−0.561)
EMPLOYEES	−0.031	***	−0.255	***	0.030		−0.027	**	−0.244	***	0.020		−0.030	***	−0.246	***	0.033		−0.033	***	−0.272	***	0.020
	(−2.649)		(−3.230)		(1.056)		(−2.277)		(−3.085)		(0.702)		(−2.607)		(−3.121)		(1.178)		(−2.866)		(−3.455)		(0.721)
CUSTOMERS	0.101	**	0.546	**	−0.053		0.104	**	0.553	**	−0.062		0.103	**	0.549	**	−0.057		0.103	**	0.555	**	−0.048
	(2.470)		(2.006)		(−0.502)		(2.579)		(2.033)		(−0.591)		(2.521)		(2.014)		(−0.544)		(2.502)		(2.056)		(−0.464)
ESI	0.134	***	0.782	**	0.392	***	0.130	***	0.775	**	0.402	***	0.136	***	0.800	**	0.395	***	0.130	***	0.763	**	0.385	***
	(2.952)		(2.357)		(2.682)		(2.885)		(2.330)		(2.754)		(3.002)		(2.409)		(2.675)		(2.865)		(2.308)		(2.710)
INST	0.102	**	0.203		−0.273	**	0.265	***	0.627		−0.678	***	0.133	***	0.545	*	−0.180		0.015		−0.328		−0.600	***
	(2.393)		(0.734)		(−2.211)		(2.826)		(0.967)		(−2.699)		(2.885)		(1.828)		(−1.477)		(0.324)		(−1.040)		(−4.462)
CLUSTER	FIRM		FIRM		FIRM		FIRM		FIRM		FIRM		FIRM		FIRM		FIRM		FIRM		FIRM		FIRM
COUNTRY-YEAR FE	INCLUDED		INCLUDED		INCLUDED		INCLUDED		INCLUDED		INCLUDED		INCLUDED		INCLUDED		INCLUDED		INCLUDED		INCLUDED		INCLUDED
Observations	1,704		1,704		1,704		1,704		1,704		1,704		1,704		1,704		1,704		1,704		1,704		1,704
R-squared	0.222		0.160		0.193		0.225		0.161		0.196		0.224		0.163		0.188		0.216		0.161		0.221
F	37.75		21.02		11.76		38.17		21.03		11.89		37.60		21.17		11.70		36.80		20.78		12.59

This table reports ordinary least squares coefficient estimates and t-statistics (in parentheses) based on Huber-White robust standard errors clustered at the firm level. *, **, and *** represent significance levels of 0.10 [or 10%], 0.05 [or 5%], and 0.01 [or 1%], respectively.

Appendix IV. Variable Descriptions

Variable	Measurement	Source
Dependent Variables
SDG_BINARY	0: firm does not refer to the SDGs 1: firm refers to the SDGs in its annual report	Textual Analysis
SDG_QUAL	Quality of SDG reporting in a firm’s annual report; measurement of SDG reporting according to Table 3	Content Analysis
SDG_TEXT	Cosine similarity between a report’s vocabulary and the vocabulary for each SDG, multiplied by 100 for better legibility. For details of the procedure, see Hummel and Rötzel (2019) and Mittelbach-Hörmanseder et al. (2020). The vocabulary is constructed based on the retrieval of 10-word windows surrounding the search terms for each SDG. Appendix III provides the list of search terms for each SDG. The mean values of the cosine similarities for each SDG are then aggregated into SDG_TEXT.	Textual Analysis
Stakeholder Variables
SRI	Dummy variable; equals 1 if the firm is a constituent of the DJSI in the respective year and 0 otherwise	RobecoSAM
ANALYSTS	Natural logarithm of the average number of analysts following the firm for a given year	Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S
MEDIA	Number of controversies published in the media linked to the company with regards to environmental, social and governance issues	Thomson Reuters ASSET4
EMPLOYEES	Number of policies in place that benefit the firm’s workforce: Health & safety, skills training, career development, diversity & opportunity, flexible working hours, day care services, internal promotions	Thomson Reuters ASSET4
CUSTOMERS	Dummy variable; equals 1 if the firm belongs to a consumer-facing industry (GICS sectors 20 & 30) and 0 otherwise	Bloomberg Professional Services
ESI	Dummy variable; equals 1 if the firm belongs to an environmentally sensitive industry (GICS sectors 10, 15 & 55) and 0 otherwise	Bloomberg Professional Services
Control Variables
CSR_PERF	Thomson Reuters ESG Score is an overall company score based on the self-reported information in the environmental, social and corporate governance pillars	Thomson Reuters ASSET4
FIRMSIZE	Natural logarithm of the firm’s total assets	Thomson Reuters Worldscope
PROFITABILITY	Financial performance of the firm measured as net income before taxes scaled by total equity	Thomson Reuters Worldscope
LEVERAGE	Total debt divided by total assets	Thomson Reuters Worldscope

Appendix I. Exemplary Excerpts from Firms’ Annual Reports for SDG_QUAL

SDG_QUAL	Excerpt	Source
	Definition and prioritization
DEF1	‘For this reason, we are strengthening our dialogue with the different stakeholders and we have reinforced our commitments with them all with the signing of the United Nations Global Compact, whose 17 Sustainable Development Goals are the most discernible manifestation of this commitment.’	Viscofan SA Annual Integrated Report 2016, p. 12–13
	‘We introduced a charter setting out our R&S commitments, as well as our initiatives supporting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals that are applicable to our businesses.’	Airbus SE Annual Report 2017, p. 12–13
	‘Our support for the Global Compact and efforts to combat climate change are a reflection of our commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), an intergenerational mission to preserve our planet.’	Ferrovial SA Integrated Annual Report 2018, p. 7
DEF2	‘In September 2015, the United Nations defined the follow-up programme to the Millennium Development Goals from the year 2000: the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) define concrete targets and indicators for 17 different themes which the states are required to implement by 2030.’	Geberit Group Annual Report 2015, p. 158
	‘ […] the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a universal call to action launched by the United Nations to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030. The Group is engaged to accomplish the 17 SDGs through its core business […].’	Schneider Electric Annual Report 2016, p. 60
	‘In 2015, all the UN member states agreed on 17 global goals to be achieved by 2030, including ending poverty and hunger, creating decent work and economic growth, achieving equality and combating climate change.’	H&M Group Annual Report 2017, p. 41
DEF3	Illustration on pages 64–65	Volvo Group Annual and Sustainability Report 2016, p. 64–65
	‘In-depth interviews of investors and owners, analysts, customers/consumers, suppliers, NGOs and the community were carried out […]. Each stakeholder prioritized a number of material sustainability topics identified by SCA based on the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals, the UN Global Compact, SCA’s Code of Conduct and global trends.’	SCA Annual and Sustainability Report 2017, p. 125
	‘Our material issues articulate what matters most to our business and our stakeholders along the value chain. This year, we carried out a new assessment of our material issues to understand their relative importance to our stakeholders, and identify new and emerging issues.’	Mondi Group Integrated report and financial statements 2018, p. 48
DEF4	‘Our ambition is to contribute to all SDGs in our activities, but to focus on those most relevant for our business where we can contribute the most. For the Volvo Group, this means focusing on […].’	Volvo Group Annual and Sustainability Report 2016, p. 64–66
	‘The UN has defined 17 Sustainable Development Goals. SCA contributes towards a positive development for a number of these goals but has identified goals 12, 13 and 15, of the development goals where the company can make the largest difference.’	SCA Annual and Sustainability Report 2017, p. 33
	‘Our main reporting focus continues to be on the six priority SDGs where we believe we have the greatest impact and therefore the greatest opportunity to make a real and lasting difference:’	Mondi Group Integrated report and financial statements 2018, p. 48
DEF5	Good Health and Well-being ‘Our mission is to improve and extend people’s lives. We pursue a combination of approaches to improve access to our medicines for underserved populations. We also work to improve disease diagnosis and management through disease awareness, training and education programs.’	Novartis Annual Report 2016, p. 62
	‘Improving our environmental performance We act on climate change by further reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions along our value chain. We continue to reduce withdrawals of water per tonne of product and help increase access to safe water and sanitation.’	Roche Annual Report 2017, p. 29
	‘Nothing matters more than the safety of our people. […]. Our Life Saving Rules are a key tool for preventing serious accidents and everyone in the Company is required to comply with them. We still have more work to do to prevent fatalities and serious accidents in our operations. We identify high safety risk areas across our business and implement actions to tackle them, with a special focus on road safety in 2018.’	Heineken N.V. Annual Report 2018, p.120
	Measurement and analysis
MEA1	‘SDG 3 – Good Health and Wellbeing Our focus: safe and healthy work environment, risk management to prevent accidents and occupational diseases, healthier lifestyles initiatives, community health.’	Fresnillo plc Annual Report 2016, p. 79
	‘Strategic priority 3 – to reduce environmental footprint by a resource-efficient and carbon-neutral building.’	Gecina Reference Document 2017, p. 211
	‘Lagardère’s strategy to promote diversity and gender balance has translated these principles into three main focal points: - gender balance in the Group; - breaking down stereotypes based on race or social class; - integrating employees with disabilities.’	Lagardère Reference Document 2018, p. 121
MEA2	‘In November 2015, Solvay has set a new long-term objective regarding greenhouse gas emissions: to reduce its carbon intensity by 40% by 2025.’	Solvay Annual Report 2015, p. 114
	‘Local jobs created with the help of Michelin Development 2020 TARGET: 2,000 JOBS A YEAR’	Michelin Reference Document 2016, p. 100
	‘We will promote health, wellness and productivity. Objectives: Equality among all occupational categories by 2025, <2% short-term sick leave, <3% long-term sick leave. By 2025, 20% of Castellum’s employees are to have international backgrounds to more closely reflect the composition of society.’	Castellum Annual Report 2018, p. 71
MEA3	‘Saab focuses in particular on the goal to support domestic technological research, development and innovation in developing countries. Saab contributes to the goal through industrial and innovation partnerships and technology transfers.’	Saab Annual and Sustainability Report 2016, p. 51
	Table with actions for each SDG.	Bankia Annual Report 2017, p. 38–39
	‘The census of the biodiversity of species living at the Paris-Orly and Paris-Charles de Gaulle airports was conducted with the Hop! Biodiversity association and scientific support from the French National Natural History Museum. Work on the Development, landscape and biodiversity study continued at Paris-Le Bourget and Paris-Orly airports, following that conducted at Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport, with the aim of integrating platform development and preservation of biodiversity.’	Groupe ADP Registration Document 2018, p. 162
MEA4	‘In 2016, we led the creation of the Human Cities Coalition. A public-private partnership of Dutch organizations from government, NGOs and business, it’s focused on contributing to Goal 11 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals: Sustainable cities and communities.’	AkzoNobel Annual Report 2016, p. 13
	Table with outcomes	Swiss Life Annual Report 2017, p. 86–87
	‘The objective of the waste management policy is to separate waste flows and collect these as efficiently as possible and to reduce the carbon emissions and transport costs by means of automatic “full” warnings for waste compacting containers […]. Thanks to the automatic “full” warnings, waste transport is planned more efficiently, enabling us to reduce the number of times waste is collected.’	Wereldhave Integrated Annual Report 2018, p. 68
MEA5	Table with outcomes	Hochtief Group Report 2016, p. 158–161
	— Sustainable buildings built: 749. — Iridium manages public transport project contracts (mainly underground railway systems) with a total investment of €11,629 million including the Lima underground railway system and the Ottawa light rail.	ACS Group Integrated Annual Report 2017, p. 70
	‘To expand access to hearing care, we offer the industry’s most comprehensive product portfolio and support education of local specialists, particularly in high-growth, developing markets. In China, for instance, Sonova has built an entirely new training center – the Global Hearing Institute in Suzhou. Around 1,600 students have been enrolled and trained at the Hearing Institute since 2017 and around 4,000 per year are trained online by audiologists and product specialists.’	Sonova Annual Report 2018/2019, p. 209
MEA6	‘During 2017 we will be working to establish average aircraft cabin waste baselines and intend to begin reporting Group performance on this from next year onwards.’	International Airlines Group Annual report and accounts 2016, p. 48–49
	Education: Stahl Campus was established to promote good practices throughout the supply chain (see later for a more detailed description). Stahl also actively promotes the safe handling of chemicals and conducts seminars on this topic in emerging regions. In 2018, Stahl Campus will be expanded to Kanpur, India, to support the water pollution efforts being made there.	Wendel Group Registration Document 2017, p. 196
	‘In the years to 2030, modernize infrastructure and adapt industries to make them sustainable through more efficient use of resources and greater use of clean and environmentally sound industrial technologies and processes, with each country acting in proportion to its means.’	Groupe Renault Registration Document 2018, p. 131

Appendix II. List of Search Terms to Capture the Prevalence of SDG Topics.

SDG		Search Terms
SDG1	No poverty	[‘poverty’], [‘low’, ‘income’], [‘poor’, ‘customer’], [‘poor’, ‘people’], [‘poor’, ‘person’]
SDG2	Zero hunger	[‘hunger’], [‘hungry’], [‘famine’], [‘malnutrition’], [‘undernourish’], [‘undernourishment’], [‘food’, ‘security’], [‘affordable’, ‘food’], [‘food’, ‘safety’], [‘food’, ‘price’]
SDG3	Good healthcare and well-being	[‘healthcare’], [‘health’], [‘mortality’, ‘rate’]
SDG4	Quality education	[‘education’], [‘literacy’, ‘skill’], [‘skill’, ‘workforce’]
SDG5	Gender equality	[‘gender’, ‘equality’], [‘gender’, ‘discrimination’], [‘gender’, ‘parity’], [‘women’], [‘woman’], [‘gender’, ‘pay’], [‘equal’, ‘pay’], [‘equal’, ‘remuneration’], [‘workplace’, ‘harassment’], [‘female’, ‘leader’], [‘female’, ‘manager’], [‘equal’, ‘opportunity’]
SDG6	Clean water and sanitation	[‘clean’, ‘water’], [‘water’, ‘scarcity’], [‘sanitation’], [‘affordable’, ‘drink’, ‘water’], [‘affordable’, ‘drinking’, ‘water’], [‘basic’, ‘drink’, ‘water’], [‘basic’, ‘drinking’, ‘water’], [‘water’, ‘efficiency’], [‘water’, ‘access’], [‘water’, ‘relate’, ‘ecosystem’], [‘water’, ‘relate’, ‘biodiversity’], [‘water’, ‘ecosystem’], [‘water’, ‘biodiversity’], [‘fresh’, ‘water’], [‘water’, ‘pollution’], [‘water’, ‘withdrawal’]
SDG7	Affordable and clean energy	[‘clean’, ‘energy’], [‘solar’, ‘power’], [‘wind’, ‘power’], [‘thermal’, ‘power’], [‘renewable’, ‘energy’], [‘electricity’, ‘access’], [‘electricity’, ‘availability’], [‘electricity’, ‘reliability’], [‘energy’, ‘efficiency’]
SDG8	Decent work and economic growth	[‘unemployment’], [‘unemployed’], [‘forced’, ‘labor’], [‘forced’, ‘labour’], [‘compulsory labour’], [‘compulsory labour’], [‘child’, ‘labor’], [‘child’, ‘labour’], [‘slavery’], [‘decent’, ‘work’], [‘job’, ‘creation’], [‘labor’, ‘standard’], [‘employment’], [‘economic’, ‘inclusion’], [‘skilled’, ‘workforce’]
SDG9	Industry, innovation, and infrastructure	[‘innovation’], [‘technological’, ‘progress’], [‘research’], [‘entrepreneurship’], [‘infrastructure’], [‘development’], [‘technological’, ‘legacy’], [‘environmental’, ‘investment’], [‘sustainable’, ‘investment’], [‘socially’, ‘responsible’, ‘investment’]
SDG10	Reduced inequalities	[‘income’, ‘inequality’], [‘racial’, ‘discrimination’], [‘inclusion’], [‘religious’, ‘discrimination’], [‘sexual’, ‘discrimination’], [‘global’, ‘wealth’], [‘economic’, ‘inequality’], [‘diversity’], [‘equal’, ‘opportunity’], [‘economic’, ‘inclusion’], [‘equal’, ‘remuneration’]
SDG11	Sustainable cities and communities	[‘sustainable’, ‘city’], [‘sustainable’, ‘community’], [‘slum’], [‘healthy’, ‘city’], [‘healthy’, ‘community’], [‘affordable’, ‘housing’], [‘sustainable’, ‘building’]
SDG12	Responsible consumption and production	[‘recycle’], [‘sustainable’, ‘consumption’], [‘sustainable’, ‘consume’], [‘responsible’, ‘consumption’], [‘responsible’, ‘consume’], [‘resource’, ‘efficiency’], [‘resource’, ‘efficient’], [‘food’, ‘waste’], [‘sustainable sourcing’], [‘resource’, ‘efficiency’], [‘material’, ‘recycling’], [‘product’, ‘label’], [‘product’, ‘labelling’]
SDG13	Climate action	[‘climate’, ‘change’], [‘greenhouse’, ‘gas’], [‘co2’], [‘carbon’, ‘emission’], [‘global’, ‘warm’], [‘global’, ‘warming’], [‘low’, ‘carbon’], [‘sustainable’, ‘energy’], [‘renewable’, ‘energy’], [‘ghg’], [‘energy’, ‘efficiency’]
SDG14	Life below water	[‘marine’, ‘biodiversity’], [‘coastal’, ‘biodiversity’], [‘fish’, ‘stock’], [‘ocean’], [‘acidification’], [‘marine’, ‘pollution’], [‘marine’, ‘ecosystem’], [‘coastal’, ‘ecosystem’], [‘coastal’, ‘habitat’], [‘spill’], [‘water’, ‘discharge’]
SDG15	Life on land	[‘deforestation’], [‘natural’, ‘habitat’], [‘species’], [‘biodiversity’], [‘biological’, ‘diversity’], [‘ecosystem’], [‘aichi’,'target’], [‘genetic’, ‘diversity’], [‘forest’, ‘degradation’], [‘land’, ‘remediation’], [‘fiber’, ‘sourcing’], [‘natural’, ‘habit’]
SDG16	Peace, justice and strong institutions	[‘peace’], [‘justice’], [‘violence’], [‘crime’], [‘human’, ‘right’], [‘security’], [‘torture’], [‘corruption’], [‘bribery’], [‘law’], [‘corruption’], [‘bribery’]
SDG17	Partnerships for the goals	[‘development’, ‘assistance’], [‘north’, ‘south’, ‘cooperation’], [‘south’, ‘south’, ‘cooperation’], [‘global’, ‘partnership’]

This table provides the search terms used to construct the ten-word windows that are used to construct a vocabulary for each SDG topic.

Appendix III. Overview of the Top Ten Words in the Respective SDG-Vocabularies.

SDG		Top Ten Words
SDG1	No poverty	‘poverty’ (2,793), ‘income’ (881), ‘low’ (794), ‘energy’ (791), ‘fuel’ (426), ‘development’ (395), ‘people’ (365), ‘fight’ (344), ‘goal’ (284), ‘social’ (279)
SDG2	Zero hunger	‘food’ (5,611), ‘safety’ (4,565), ‘hunger’ (1,668), ‘quality’ (1,034), ‘malnutrition’ (936), ‘standard’ (656), ‘security’ (629), ‘health’ (612), ‘product’ (607), ‘global’ (555)
SDG3	Good healthcare and well-being	‘health’ (194,446), ‘safety’ (84,935), ‘healthcare’ (60,216), ‘business’ (19,201), ‘employee’ (19,025), ‘environment’ (17,023), ‘insurance’ (16662), ‘risk’ (16,286), ‘occupational’ (13,191), ‘life’ (12,995)
SDG4	Quality education	‘education’ (38,270), ‘training’ (4,775), ‘business’ (,3342), ‘health’ (2,787), ‘financial’ (2,299), ‘school’ (2,268), ‘member’ (2,136), ‘board’ (2,091), ‘university’ (2,058), ‘programme’ (2,003)
SDG5	Gender equality	‘woman’ (88,168), ‘men’ (27,154), ‘gender’ (16,631), ‘board’ (15,540), ‘equal’ (14,881), ‘employee’ (13,232), ‘management’ (11,906), ‘opportunity’ (11,903), ‘total’ (10,299), ‘diversity’ (9,555)
SDG6	Clean water and sanitation	‘water’ (9,631), ‘sanitation’ (2,151), ‘clean’ (1,575), ‘withdrawal’ (1,513), ‘fresh’ (1,319), ‘total’ (884), ‘efficiency’ (868), ‘pollution’ (780), ‘scarcity’ (778), ‘energy’ (709)
SDG7	Affordable and clean energy	‘energy’ (63,864), ‘renewable’ (28,874), ‘efficiency’ (25,529), ‘power’ (15,786), ‘wind’ (8,708), ‘use’ (4,170), ‘plant’ (4,101), ‘electricity’ (3,990), ‘solar’ (3,951), ‘thermal’ (3,831)
SDG8	Decent work and economic growth	‘employment’ (137,441), ‘benefit’ (45,963), ‘post’ (34,376), ‘contract’ (19,581), ‘employee’ (18,216), ‘plan’ (16,408), ‘pension’ (12,127), ‘company’ (12,053), ‘term’ (11,966), ‘termination’ (10,285)
SDG9	Industry, innovation, and infrastructure	‘innovation’ (143,649), ‘research’ (138,481), ‘development’ (80,530), ‘product’ (20,619), ‘cost’ (18,472), ‘technology’ (18327), ‘business’ (17,427), ‘new’ (16,427), ‘customer’ (13,549), ‘expense’ (13,381)
SDG10	Reduced inequalities	‘diversity’ (116,896), ‘inclusion’ (43,334), ‘board’ (27,322), ‘gender’ (15,883), ‘equal’ (15,231), ‘opportunity’ (14,862), ‘policy’ (14,853), ‘employee’ (12,219), ‘management’ (8,932), ‘company’ (8,370)
SDG11	Sustainable cities and communities	‘sustainable’ (1,490), ‘building’ (1,109), ‘housing’ (681), ‘community’ (655), ‘affordable’ (637), ‘infrastructure’ (163), ‘energy’ (130), ‘sdg’ (118), ‘council’ (108), ‘goal’ (103)
SDG12	Responsible consumption and production	‘waste’ (6,962), ‘resource’ (6,884), ‘efficiency’ (5,823), ‘food’ (5,210), ‘recycle’ (2,954), ‘sustainable’ (2,450), ‘material’ (1,918), ‘product’ (1,876), ‘consumption’ (1,771), ‘energy’ (1,410)
SDG13	Climate action	‘energy’ (78,775), ‘emission’ (71,993), ‘gas’ (43,788), ‘climate’ (41,654), ‘change’ (41,018), ‘greenhouse’ (40,850), ‘ghg’ (35,632), ‘renewable’ (30,834), ‘efficiency’ (28,600), ‘carbon’ (25,672)
SDG14	Life below water	‘spill’ (5,783), ‘oil’ (2,659), ‘water’ (1,852), ‘discharge’ (1,303), ‘total’ (874), ‘number’ (632), ‘significant’ (621), ‘waste’ (602), ‘response’ (574), ‘environmental’ (485)
SDG15	Life on land	‘biodiversity’ (21,328), ‘ecosystem’ (10,619), ‘impact’ (3,418), ‘area’ (2,506), ‘water’ (2,203), ‘management’ (1,953), ‘deforestation’ (1,923), ‘protection’ (1,905), ‘service’ (1,828), ‘environmental’ (1,826)
SDG16	Peace, justice and strong institutions	‘security’ (590,103), ‘law’ (294,972), ‘corruption’ (115,244), ‘right’ (95,407), ‘company’ (91,788), ‘financial’ (82,504), ‘debt’ (81,525), ‘anti’ (71,092), ‘share’ (66,133), ‘human’ (64,044)
SDG17	Partnerships for the goals	‘global’ (433), ‘partnership’ (429), ‘development’ (104), ‘sustainable’ (61), ‘assistance’ (36), ‘strengthen’ (34), ‘mean’ (33), ‘wwf’ (33), ‘help’ (30), ‘change’ (29)

This table presents the top ten words for each SDG-specific vocabulary. The frequency at which the word occurs in the respective vocabulary is indicated in parentheses.

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