From voluntary CSR to binding ESG frameworks: a legal perspective on sustainability disclosure standards

Abstract
This article examines the evolving legal landscape of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) regulation and standardization from a global perspective, highlighting the fragmentation, ambiguities, and power dynamics that shape current ESG governance. It contrasts ESG with the historically rooted framework of corporate social responsibility (CSR), tracing the shift from voluntary, ethics-based initiatives to binding legal obligations. A transatlantic comparison reveals divergent disclosure regimes between the USA and the European Union, focusing on the move from voluntary ESG disclosure in the USA to mandatory reporting frameworks in the EU. This paper categorizes sustainability standards, distinguishing between binding and non-binding frameworks, as well as de jure and de facto instruments, to provide a comprehensive typology of ESG regulation and guidance. Furthermore, it investigates definitional inconsistencies and methodological challenges in ESG standards, ratings, and frameworks and provides a comparative snapshot of global ESG standard integration and regulatory approaches. Across all sections, the study emphasizes the need for a coherent legal framework and harmonized standard-setting mechanisms to support organizations in achieving ESG compliance, transparency, and accountability. The article contributes a legally grounded typology of ESG authority that clarifies the juridification of sustainability across regulatory, institutional, and market-driven instruments. It concludes that greater interoperability among emerging standards is essential to reduce compliance burdens and enable consistent, comparable ESG reporting on a global scale.