Abstract Sustainable development goals (SDGs) are the most relevant and recent attempt to integrate sustainable development ambitions and environmental concerns in a policy framework. Recently, few studies have been conducted to investigate the gap between sustainability reporting and the SDGs, initiating a new stream of research (Lozano 2015; Rosati and Faria 2019). However, the role of accounting systems as a support for moving toward goals and targets outlined by the SDGs has been poorly deepened in not-traditional profit-oriented businesses. Among these, there are cooperatives: jointly owned benefit corporations. The peculiarity of cooperatives lays in the collective governance and the fact that profits are re-invested in the cooperative or in local projects and activities rather than being distributed to the shareholders. The present study intends to fill this gap by answering the following research question: can a cooperative, given its peculiar nature, contribute to sustainability? To do so, the annual sustainability reports of the largest Italian cooperative have been analyzed under the lens of SDGs. The results show that cooperatives can actively contribute to sustainability, especially on the local level. In fact, they have proved to be important players in transposing the SDGs from the national level to the local level, constituting an important link between the international community and the local one.

中文翻译：

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使企业迈向可持续发展目标（SDG）：来自意大利“自然公益”公司的证据

摘要可持续发展目标（SDGs）是最近最相关的尝试，旨在将可持续发展的雄心和环境问题纳入政策框架。最近，很少进行研究来研究可持续发展报告与可持续发展目标之间的差距，从而开始了新的研究潮流（Lozano 2015; Rosati and Faria 2019）。但是，在非传统的以利润为导向的业务中，会计系统作为朝着实现可持续发展目标所概述的目标迈进的支持的角色，却很少得到深化。其中有合作社：共同拥有的福利公司。合作社的特殊性在于集体治理和利润被重新投资到合作社或地方项目和活动中而不是分配给股东的事实。本研究旨在通过回答以下研究问题来填补这一空白：合作社，由于其特殊的性质，能否为可持续发展做出贡献？为此，我们在可持续发展目标的框架下分析了意大利最大合作社的年度可持续发展报告。结果表明，合作社可以为可持续发展做出积极贡献，特别是在地方一级。实际上，事实证明，它们是将可持续发展目标从国家层面向地方层面转变的重要参与者，构成了国际社会与当地社会之间的重要纽带。在可持续发展目标的分析下，分析了意大利最大合作社的年度可持续发展报告。结果表明，合作社可以为可持续发展做出积极贡献，特别是在地方一级。实际上，事实证明，它们是将可持续发展目标从国家层面向地方层面转变的重要参与者，构成了国际社会与当地社会之间的重要纽带。在可持续发展目标的分析下，分析了意大利最大合作社的年度可持续发展报告。结果表明，合作社可以为可持续发展做出积极贡献，特别是在地方一级。实际上，事实证明，它们是将可持续发展目标从国家层面向地方层面转变的重要参与者，构成了国际社会与当地社会之间的重要纽带。