REPORTING AND SUSTAINABILITY ACCOUNTING

The course is one of the basic teaching activities of the Sustainable Finance curriculum of the Master's Degree in Economics, Finance, and Sustainability, which aims to provide financial education in line with international standards that allows integrating sustainability dimensions and seizing the opportunities arising from the increasing attention in the financial field to the impacts of climate change and the achievement of sustainable development goals.

The educational objective of the course is to provide knowledge related to: 1) The role and evolution of sustainability reporting and sustainability accounting; 2) The various interpretations of the concept of corporate sustainability and the related indicators for managing and measuring corporate risks, opportunities, and impacts related to sustainability; 3) International sustainability reporting standards and regulations.

Achieving these objectives enables students to acquire the basics for drafting, analyzing, and understanding a sustainability report in accordance with international standards and regulations, as well as discussing the main challenges of sustainability reporting and corporate accountability in general.

Attending and actively participating in the educational activities proposed by the course, along with individual study, will enable students to:

1. KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
1.1. Learn the historical origin and theories on sustainability reporting.
1.2. Learn the role of sustainability reporting in corporate reporting.
1.3. Learn the objectives, principles, reporting process, and limitations of sustainability reporting.
1.4. Learn the main international standards on sustainability reporting.
1.5. Learn the regulatory evolution of sustainability reporting.

2. ABILITY TO APPLY KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
2.1. Learn how to identify the information needs that sustainability reporting must satisfy, in light of the specific characteristics of the individual company.
2.2. Learn how to apply the best sustainability reporting practices.
2.3. Learn how to identify and apply the relevant regulatory sources and the main standards for sustainability reporting.
2.4. Learn how to identify the main critical issues in the sustainability reporting process.

3. MAKING JUDGEMENT
3.1. Ability to make and discuss simple hypotheses and judgments regarding the effectiveness of the sustainability reporting process.
3.2. Ability to critically evaluate the quality and reliability of a sustainability report.

Fundamental notions of business administration and corporate reporting

The course covers the following topics:

Corporate sustainability and the role of accounting
Evolution of corporate reporting
General principles of sustainability reporting
Sustainability reporting regulation
Reporting on environmental issues
Reporting on social issues
Reporting on governance
Sustainability reporting assurance
Sustainability and management control systems

The program may change.

Mandatory text:
- Mio, Chiara, Panfilo, Silvia, Scarpa, Francesco (Eds. by). Corporate Sustainability: Reporting and Management Accounting, 2025, McGraw-Hill Education, Milano. ISBN: 978883861335.

Other suggested texts:
- Sustainability Accounting and Accountability, by Matias Laine, Helen Tregidga, and Jeffrey Unerman (third edition, 2022).
- Mio, Chiara; Agostini, Marisa; Scarpa, Francesco (2024). Sustainability Reporting: Conception, International Approaches and Double Materiality in Action , Londra, Palgrave Macmillan Cham (ISBN 9783031584480; 9783031584497) (ISSN 2662-5105)

Optional texts: academic articles will be provided.

Learning is assessed through an oral exam and a project work.

The oral exam aims to verify that students have acquired the concepts presented during the lectures.

The project work involves a group assignment focusing on the analysis of sustainability reports from one or more companies, to assess students’ ability to analyze and express a judgment on sustainability reporting. Evaluation is based on a written report and an oral presentation of the results, which will take place in a session at the end of the course. For non-attending students, the group work can be replaced with an individual assignment covering the same content.

The final grade is the weighted average between the grade of the oral exam (70%) and the grade of the project work (30%).

Regarding the grading scale (how grades will be assigned), regardless of attending or non-attending mode:
A. Scores in the range of 18-22 will be assigned when adequate knowledge and applied understanding in reference to the curriculum are demonstrated.
B. Scores in the range of 23-26 will be assigned when good knowledge and applied understanding in reference to the curriculum are demonstrated.
C. Scores in the range of 27-30 will be assigned when good or excellent knowledge and applied understanding in reference to the curriculum are demonstrated.
D. Honors will be granted when there is excellent knowledge and applied understanding in reference to the curriculum, and exceptional judgment skills.

oral

As regards the gradation of the grade (how the grades will be assigned), regardless of the attending or non-attending mode:
A. scores in the 18-22 range will be awarded in the presence of:
- sufficient knowledge and ability to understand applied in relation to the programme;
- sufficient ability to apply knowledge and understanding and judgment;
- sufficient communication skills, especially in relation to the use of specific language relating to the subject;
B. scores in the 23-26 range will be awarded in the presence of:
- good knowledge and ability to understand applied in relation to the programme;
- good ability to apply knowledge and understanding and judgement;
- good communication skills, especially in relation to the use of specific language relating to the subject;
C. scores in the 27-30 range will be awarded in the presence of:
- excellent knowledge and ability to understand applied in relation to the programme;
- excellent ability to apply knowledge and understanding and judgment;
- excellent communication skills, especially in relation to the use of specific language relating to the subject.

The course is divided as follows:
• Face-to-face lessons
• Thematic insights proposed to students who, working in small groups, will have to discuss, analyse and report the results achieved in class
• Corporate guest speakers
• Project work (group or individual)