2nd level Specializing Master's Programme in Climate Change: Adaptation and mitigation solutions (2021 - 2022)

2^nd level Specializing Master's Programme in

Climate Change: Adaptation and mitigation solutions (2021 - 2022)

CORPORATE SOCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY

July 4th – July 8th

Lecturer in charge of the module

Prof. Ericka Costa (Department of Economics and Management, University of Trento) ericka.costa@unitn.it

Lecturer(s) contributing to the module

Prof. Giovanna Michelon (Department of Accounting and Finance, University of Bristol) giovanna.michelon@bristol.ac.uk

Deadline for the single course enrolment: June, 27^th

Module Learning Objectives and Skill Acquisition

This module consists in three parts.

The first part deals with basic concepts in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Accountability and brings together different concepts and theories from a business perspective, starting from the assumption that the responsibility of a company goes beyond the profit maximization for its shareholders.

The second part focuses on the reporting processes and it allows students to familiarize with the main analytical instruments (such as different reporting standards) to develop sustainability reports in light of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The third part provides a governance perspective on CSR and CSR reporting, focusing on investors’ needs for, and use of, CSR information, as well as providing an overview of recent regulatory actions on CSR reporting for financial markets.

Detailed Teaching Agenda

Part I: CSR and Accountability

*Lecture topic*	*Lecturer*	*Hours*
The CSR debate: from the Friedman to the Freeman' perspective	Costa	3
Stakeholder theory and stakeholder engagement	Costa	2
The accountability paradigm and accountabilities perspectives	Costa	2

Part II: Social and Environmental Accounting and Reporting

*Lecture topic*	*Lecturer*	*Hours*
The Social and Environmental Accountability and Reporting perspective	Costa	2
Standard of corporate social reporting (GRI – the Global Reporting Initiative; IIRC framework on Integrated Reporting)	Costa	3
The Social Impact and Social impact measurement “mantra”	Costa	2

Part III: CSR: governance, risks and financial markets

*Lecture topic*	*Lecturer*	*Hours*
CSR and the role of governance in stakeholder engagement	Michelon	2
CSR disclosure quality, ESG risk and financial markets	Michelon	2
The EU sustainable finance initiative and climate related financial disclosures	Michelon	2

Teaching material

Teaching material consist in:

Ppt presentation of the course (provided by the lecturers)
Ad-hoc readings (provided by the lecturers)
Pre-reading case- studies (defined by the lectures and provided by the School)

All the teaching material is available to students in a dedicated platform managed by the Politecnico di Torino.

Involved stakeholders

Company seminar from Andriani S.p.A. Natural Innovators – guest speaker Filippo Capurso (confirmed)

Assessment and grading

The purpose of the final assignment is to provide a critical analysis and evaluation of a sustainability report, similarly to the cases what we have discussed in class together. Students are required to select one European listed company (which has not been discussed in class as a case or as an example), with a sustainability report written in English and prepare a short report (max 2500 words excluding references, figures and tables) which critically discusses: