This study examines the degree of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the European banking sector in terms of commitment to the 2030 Agenda Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It also explores whether gender diversity on the board of directors can be used to differentiate between companies with different degrees of engagement with the SDGs. This question is important, given that achieving equal opportunities for women is a CSR priority for today’s companies given stakeholders’ demands. Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses are conducted using a sample of the 30 largest banks in Europe in terms of market capitalization as of 15 February 2019. Key conclusions are that most of the analyzed banks target at least one of the SDGs and that the banks that are most committed to Goals 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) and 13 (Climate Action) of the 2030 Agenda have greater gender diversity on their boards of directors.

Climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing humanity today. Therefore, all segments of society must act together to stop the deterioration of the planet and the depletion of its resources. The business sector must play an active role in acting responsibly toward the environment. Given the importance of this issue, major efforts have been made to analyze the environmental performance of the most polluting sectors. In contrast, other sectors that are also of great interest due to their contribution to sustainable development, such as the banking sector, have been overlooked. Notable factors conditioning performance include aspects of corporate governance such as gender diversity. However, the empirical evidence reveals a lack of consensus regarding the influence of women directors on corporate environmental performance. This background motivates the study of the commitment of the banking sector to reducing their environmental impact and the analysis the influence of board gender diversity on environmental performance. Data for the period 2009 to 2018 on 52 banks from the most polluting Western regions were studied using descriptive statistics and fixed effects econometric estimation to test the relationship between a selection of relevant variables. The key conclusions are that banks are committed to protecting the environment and that there are no significant differences between banks’ commitment to the planet on the basis of board gender diversity.

The tourism sector is a driver of economic development characterised by its environmental impact. It is a prevalent part of the 2030 Agenda, given its potential to help meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). At the same time, board gender diversity is considered essential for companies to implement environmentally sustainable initiatives. However, analysis of the relationship between the role of women on boards and environmental performance has been neglected in the tourism literature. This paper adopts a novel approach to the study of this sector by analysing the relationship between gender diversity on the board of directors and companies’ environmental practices. A fixed effects model is estimated using an international sample of 120 listed tourism companies for the period 2002 to 2019. The results show that boards that are more gender diverse and have a greater female presence are associated with poorer environmental performance and a weaker implementation of policies and practices to reduce resource use and emissions. However, board gender diversity aids performance in environmental innovation.

This study examines whether gender diversity on the board of directors determines the performance of tourism firms in terms of their use of natural resources. A variable measuring environmental performance in response to the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is created for the first time. The creation of this variable represents the main contribution of this study. Focusing on the under‐researched environmental dimension of natural resource use also contributes to the literature. A third contribution is the choice of the tourism sector, since its performance from the perspective of the SDGs has not been assessed in previous literature. Data correspond to a sample of 163 tourism companies over the period 2015–2020. Fixed effects estimation provides robust evidence of the importance of including female talent on the board of directors. Women's inclusion on the board can promote environmental policies that seek sustainable development.

The urgent need to tackle climate change has led scholars to study the factors that affect companies’ ability to achieve superior environmental performance. One such factor, the influence of women board members, has received considerable attention because of women’s greater tendency to care for the planet. However, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no literature review has yet attempted to describe the state of the art of this relationship and its conditioning factors. Therefore, this paper aims to identify the degree of consensus in the literature regarding the role of board gender diversity in environmental performance and to specify the variables that condition this relationship. The content of all studies that offer evidence of this relationship is analyzed. The results imply that there is a high degree of consensus regarding the positive influence of female leadership on environmental performance in studies that focus exclusively on this relationship. The review also shows that this relationship is conditioned by numerous factors. However, the evidence in this regard is scant and in some cases inconclusive. Therefore, this review reveals both the scope and the unfilled needs in this field of study. It thus supports the sharing of knowledge on this topic and draws attention to the questions that need to be addressed.

Ensuring a sustainable future by meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) cannot be achieved without women's empowerment and gender equality. This study aims to determine whether there are differences between European banks in terms of their commitment to SDGs and the intensity of this commitment depending on their board gender diversity. A sample of the 50 largest European banks from 2016 to 2020 was used to perform hypothesis testing for differences in means. The results provide robust support for the assertion that banks with greater female representation on the board of directors have a greater commitment to the 2030 Agenda. The originality of this research lies in the use of indicators of commitment to SDGs corresponding to each of the five SDG pillars. This study thus provides the first evidence of the importance of distinguishing between these pillars when examining the relationship between commitment to SDGs and board gender diversity. This evidence advances the scant literature on this relationship.