Corporate sustainability reporting in European, Swiss law and lessons for Vietnam

Unofficial AI-generated summary based on the public title and abstract. Not an official translation.

🔬研究者:Comparative legal analysis of EU and Swiss sustainability reporting frameworks, useful for understanding regulatory convergence and divergence.

🏢実務担当者:Highlights key regulatory differences between EU and Swiss regimes, relevant for multinational companies operating in these jurisdictions.

🏛政策担当者:Provides a framework for designing sustainability reporting obligations, especially for countries like Vietnam or Japan considering new rules.

Corporate sustainability reporting is increasingly treated as a legal instrument for environmental and climate accountability, particularly where adverse environmental and human-rights impacts arise along supply chains. In the European Union, the sustainability reporting framework has been designed to standardise corporate disclosures and to generate decision-useful environmental data thereby supporting the reallocation of capital, the management of systemic sustainability risks, and regulatory responses to greenwashing within the internal market. Switzerland, while influenced by European legislative developments, has adopted a more cautious approach regarding the scope of obliged entities and the degree of standardisation, reflecting a distinct calibration between regulatory ambition and compliance capacity. This article analyses how sustainability reporting obligations are regulated in the EU and Switzerland and draws implications for Viet Nam. Using doctrinal legal analysis and comparative methodology, it systematises key legal choices concerning the scope of application, environmental and sustainability-related report content, double materiality, reporting standards, approval processes, external audit, and sanctions. The findings show that Viet Nam’s framework remains fragmented: sustainability disclosures are largely embedded in annual reports under securities law, while sector-specific reporting duties (notably in the environmental and labour fields) operate in parallel for state-administrative purposes. The absence of unified rules on minimum content, standards, double materiality, assurance, and enforcement undermines comparability and the reliability of environmental sustainability data. The article proposes a consolidated framework treating sustainability reporting as an independent periodic obligation, implemented through a roadmap calibrated to risk and compliance capacity, supported by mandatory minimum standards, assurance requirements, and sanctions. Keywords: Environmental law. Climate accountability. Corporate sustainability reporting. CSRD. ESRS. Double materiality. Greenwashing. European Union. Switzerland. Viet Nam. Index: 1. Introduction 2. Research methodology 3. The theoretical basis of sustainability disclosure obligations 4. An overview of the legal framework on corporate sustainability reporting 4.1. EU CSRD 4.2. Swiss Law 5. Scope of application 5.1. EU CSRD 5.2. Swiss Law 6. The content of corporate sustainability reporting 6.1. EU CSRD 6.2. Swiss Law 7. Approval and audit of corporate sustainability reports 7.1. EU CSRD 7.2. Swiss Law 8. Sanctions 8.1. EU CSRD 8.2. Swiss Law 9. A Comparison of EU and Swiss law on corporate sustainability reporting obligations 10. Corporate sustainability reporting in Viet Nam 10.1. An overview of national strategies related to sustainable development 10.2. Regulations on corporate sustainability reporting 10.3. The current state of the legal framework on sustainability reporting 10.4. “Soft Law” on corporate sustainability reporting 10.5. Recommendations for regulating corporate sustainability reporting in Viet Nam 11. Conclusion 12. Funding source 13. Bibliography

• semanticscholar https://doi.org/10.56398/ajacieda.00482first seen 2026-05-15 17:01:09