This paper constructs and empirically tests a combined analytical model that establishes and demonstrates links between the quality of ESG reporting, access to sustainable finance, adoption of green accounting, corporate social responsibility (CSR), and circular-economy eventuation and the adoption of climate-responsive business models. Based on the conceptual framework of the tri-faith approach called the triple-bottom-line and shared-value ones, it is possible to conceptualise the role of disclosure credibility, monetary incentives, internalisation of environmental costs, and cyclical operational strategies in the context of organisational adjustment to climate resilience and low-carbon value creation. The empirical design will involve a mixed-method design, which will involve (1) content analysis of sustainability disclosures over 80 large corporations (2018–2023), (2) panel regression models analysing the effects of cost-of-capital and circular investment, and (3) semistructured interviews with sustainability executives. Results show that the quality of ESG reporting is significantly related to lowering the cost of capital, the adoption of green accounting positively predicts circular investment intensity, and sustainable finance shows a partial mediation effect between disclosure and investment. The interaction effects point to strategic complementarity between the credibility of disclosure and circular investments in climate responsive business model transformation. The research has a theoretical, managerial and policy contribution to the future development of integrating systemic sustainability.
ESG reporting, sustainable finance, green accounting, circular economy, climate-responsive business models, disclosure quality