Corporate sustainability reporting has become increasingly common in recent years, with companies voluntarily disclosing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) information. However, new research suggests that these reports may be becoming less useful over time, as they include less specific quantitative information and more vague language.
The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Chicago Law School, analyzed more than 15,000 disclosure documents from over 2,100 companies in the Russell 3000 index. The researchers used artificial intelligence to examine the reports, which spanned more than 11,000 company-year observations from 1998 to 2026.
Sustainability reports growing longer but less specific
The study found that the issuance of sustainability reports and adoption of voluntary frameworks surged after 2015. However, as reporting spread, the reports became less specific and less quantitative, despite growing in length and including more data tables and figures.
Companies that have been reporting for a longer period of time tend to produce more concrete reports with more specific, quantitative information. However, this gap mostly reflects which companies started reporting early, rather than what they’ve learned from experience.
The researchers found that companies that adopt a framework tend to keep it, but sometimes add more frameworks instead of substituting one for the other. Over 80% of reports aligned with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) in 2026 also aligned with the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), and most adopters follow several frameworks at once.
Frameworks not necessarily leading to more granular information
The study found that even when following detailed frameworks, the information didn’t necessarily become more granular, especially among companies that recently began issuing sustainability reports.
GRI adoption seems to be associated with more tables but lower quantitative density, while SASB adoption is associated with less fluff but also less quantitative density. TCFD reporting appears to be associated with less fluff and more negative news disclosures. However, the researchers cautioned that these are associations, not causal effects.
The business case for sustainability
While corporate sustainability reporting may be becoming less useful, there is still a strong business case for companies to embrace sustainability. Researchers who ran projects in both Jordan and the U.S. found that entrepreneurs responded best when sustainability was framed as an opportunity rather than an obligation and was connected to what they already cared about.
The researchers found that sustainability training works better when entrepreneurs are building something they care about rather than being taught abstract concepts. In Jordan, the researchers saw dramatic differences between two cohorts of entrepreneurs, with the second cohort seeing more success when they were encouraged to pursue problems and products they cared about.
In the U.S., the researchers embedded circularity into an existing accelerator program that worked with manufacturing firms. They found that participants who hadn’t previously considered circular approaches began adopting them when they were presented as part of building a stronger business.
This is what the researchers call competitive sustainability where sustainability is not seen as a separate environmental agenda but as part of building a stronger business.
The proposed sustainability disclosure standards by the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (Acra) in Singapore mark an important step in embedding climate reporting into the country’s corporate reporting regime. However, while the question of what companies must report has largely been settled, the challenge now is improving the quality of those disclosures.
Acra is seeking public feedback on its draft set of sustainability disclosure requirements tailored to Singapore’s context. The goal is to make these disclosures useful for investors and other stakeholders, rather than just checking a box.
