Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to to study the current “soup of letters”, that is different standard setters and frameworks on sustainability reporting.

Design/methodology/approach – This paper conducts a traditional literature review based on the studies investigating the development of sustainability reporting towards common standards.

Findings – Overall, we conclude that current insights of the comment letters on why global sustainability standards are required should be delivered; significant information and analyses on the contribution of setting up the coordinated action and demand-driven consultation for high quality and global sustainability standards should be provided, and academic collaboration relevance to meet the growing demand for sustainability reporting harmonization should be enhanced.

Research limitations/implications – Drawing upon literature from different fields enables a deeper understanding of the development of sustainability reportingtowards common standards. Nevertheless, the content analysis of the comment letters are excluded and deserve further attention.

Originality/value – This paper discusses the need to have the sustainability reporting by presenting its histroical development towards common standards and deliver current insights on why global sustainability standards are required for high quality sustainability standards to meet the growing demand for global harmonization.

IFRS,, Sustainability reporting, Common Standards.

Aksom, H., & Tymchenko, I. (2020). How institutional theories explain and fail to explain organizations. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 33(7), 1223–1252. https://doi.org/10.1108/jocm-05-2019-0130

Al-Shaer, H., & Zaman, M. (2019). CEO Compensation and Sustainability Reporting Assurance: Evidence from the UK. Journal of Business Ethics, 158(1), 233-252.

American Chemical Society. (2012, October). The Legacy of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring. ACS. Retrieved from https://www.acs.org/content/dam/acsorg/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/rachel-carson-silent-spring/rachel-carsons-silent-spring-historical-resource.pdf

Australian Accounting Standards Board. (2016). Why global accounting standards? Retrieved January 16, 2022, from https://www.ifrs.org/use-around-the-world/why-global-accounting-standards/

Baur, D. (2022, May 27). What you need to know about the ISSB Exposure Drafts. Retrieved June 14, 2022, from https://www.pwc.ch/en/insights/accounting/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-issb-exposure-drafts.html

Bell, J., & Lundblad, H. (2011). A Comparison of ExxonMobil's Sustainability Reporting to Outcomes. The Journal of Applied Business and Economics, 12, 17-29.

Bilgin, M. H., Danis, H., & Demir, E. (2021). Eurasian Economic Perspectives: Proceedings of the 26th and 27th Eurasia Business and Economics Society