25, April 2026

From Disclosure to Value Creation: ESG Integration, Financial Materiality, and Sustainable Corporate Performance- A Review

VOLUME-10; ISSUE-4; APR-2026

Author(s): 1. Tayade Sandeep, 2. Deshmukh Sanjay

Authors Affiliations:

1PhD student, Environmental Science Department, Charitrakar Padmabhushan Dr. Dhananjay Keer

Ratnagiri Sub-Campus University of Mumbai, P-61, MIDC, Mirjole, Ratnagiri – 415639

2Sr. Professor of Life Sciences, University of Mumbai, Mumbai. Adjunct Professor, ICT, Matunga, Mumbai.

Email – 1sandeeptayade@gmail.com   2docsvd@yahoo.com

DOIs:10.2017/IJRCS/202604013     |     Paper ID: IJRCS202604013


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Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) considerations have moved from optional corporate activities to core elements of business strategy, investment decisions and regulatory compliance. This review provides an extensive synthesis of academic and institutional literature examining how ESG frameworks have developed, how financially significant ESG issues impact firm-level financial performance and how ESG integration promotes broader sustainable development outcomes. Using PRISMA 2020 guidelines, the review analyses 120 peer-reviewed journal articles and 30 authoritative institutional and regulatory reports published between 2009 and 2025. The study shows the evolution and convergence of major ESG frameworks, including the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), Integrated Reporting (IR), and the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS).

The findings show that ESG integration, when strategically embedded in governance structures and aligned with financially significant issues, is linked to lower capital costs, improved operational efficiency, better innovation outcomes and increased resilience to environmental, social and governance risks. However, the review also highlights ongoing challenges, including fragmented standards, limited data comparability, assurance gaps and capacity constraints, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises. The emerging convergence of sustainability and financial reporting along with advances in digital reporting and assurance technologies, is recognized as a key enabler of ESG’s shift from mere disclosure compliance to providing useful information for investors and regulators. Overall, the review presents ESG integration as a governance framework that can align long-term corporate value creation with societal and sustainable development goals.

ESG integration, financial materiality, corporate governance, sustainability reporting

Tayade Sandeep,  Deshmukh Sanjay (2026); From Disclosure to Value Creation: ESG Integration, Financial Materiality, and Sustainable Corporate Performance- A Review, International Journal of Research Culture Society,    ISSN(O): 2456-6683,  Volume – 10,   Issue –  4,  Available on – https://ijrcs.org/

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