Triple bottom line and environmental sustainability: evolution of global ESG research—a bibliometric analysis

IF 6 3区环境科学与生态学 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Environmental Sciences Europe Pub Date : 2025-08-02 DOI:10.1186/s12302-025-01184-9

Pallavi Mishra, Vijay Kumar Pandey

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Abstract

The evolution of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) research represents a critical development in corporate sustainability practices, particularly in relation to the Triple Bottom Line perspective and specific United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This study examines this evolution through a comprehensive bibliometric analysis, focusing specifically on SDGs 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), and 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), which are central to understanding the intersection of environmental sustainability and corporate performance. Through systematic analysis of the Scopus database from 2015 to March 2025, we examined 14,435 peer-reviewed articles using VOSviewer and Biblioshiny software packages. Following Callon’s density-centrality methodology, our analysis reveals four distinct thematic categories: motor themes (circular economy and sustainability assessment), basic themes (SDGs and corporate governance), Niche Themes (economic growth and emissions), and emerging themes (ESG integration). While developed economies (USA, UK, and EU) demonstrate the highest publication volumes, significant growth is observed in emerging regions, particularly in Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Africa, with distinct regional research priorities emerging post-2020. Publication patterns show exponential growth, peaking in 2023–2024, with notable acceleration in circular economy initiatives, alternative energy solutions, and green economy developments. Our findings highlight the growing integration of environmental performance metrics with financial outcomes and identify critical research gaps in ESG standardization, emerging market implementation, and technological innovation. The study projects continued growth in digital transformation, post-COVID resilience strategies, and sustainable business model innovation while acknowledging limitations in database coverage and language restrictions. These insights provide a comprehensive roadmap for future research directions in ESG implementation and sustainable business practices.

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三重底线与环境可持续性：全球ESG研究的演变——文献计量学分析

环境、社会和治理（ESG）研究的演变代表了企业可持续发展实践的重要发展，特别是在三重底线视角和具体的联合国可持续发展目标（sdg）方面。本研究通过全面的文献计量分析考察了这一演变，特别关注可持续发展目标7（负担得起的清洁能源）、8（体面工作和经济增长）和12（负责任的消费和生产），这些目标对于理解环境可持续性和企业绩效的交叉关系至关重要。通过对2015年至2025年3月Scopus数据库的系统分析，利用VOSviewer和Biblioshiny软件包对14435篇同行评阅文章进行了分析。根据卡伦的密度中位性方法，我们的分析揭示了四个不同的主题类别：动力主题（循环经济和可持续性评估）、基本主题（可持续发展目标和公司治理）、利基主题（经济增长和排放）和新兴主题（ESG整合）。虽然发达经济体（美国、英国和欧盟）的出版物量最高，但新兴地区（特别是东南亚、拉丁美洲和非洲）的出版物量显著增长，2020年后出现了不同的区域研究重点。出版模式呈指数增长，在2023-2024年达到峰值，循环经济倡议、替代能源解决方案和绿色经济发展显著加速。我们的研究结果强调了环境绩效指标与财务结果的日益整合，并确定了ESG标准化、新兴市场实施和技术创新方面的关键研究差距。该研究预测了数字化转型、后covid弹性战略和可持续商业模式创新的持续增长，同时承认数据库覆盖范围和语言限制方面的局限性。这些见解为ESG实施和可持续商业实践的未来研究方向提供了全面的路线图。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Environmental Sciences Europe Environmental Science-Pollution

CiteScore

11.20

自引率

1.70%

发文量

110

审稿时长

13 weeks

期刊介绍： ESEU is an international journal, focusing primarily on Europe, with a broad scope covering all aspects of environmental sciences, including the main topic regulation. ESEU will discuss the entanglement between environmental sciences and regulation because, in recent years, there have been misunderstandings and even disagreement between stakeholders in these two areas. ESEU will help to improve the comprehension of issues between environmental sciences and regulation. ESEU will be an outlet from the German-speaking (DACH) countries to Europe and an inlet from Europe to the DACH countries regarding environmental sciences and regulation. Moreover, ESEU will facilitate the exchange of ideas and interaction between Europe and the DACH countries regarding environmental regulatory issues. Although Europe is at the center of ESEU, the journal will not exclude the rest of the world, because regulatory issues pertaining to environmental sciences can be fully seen only from a global perspective.