In the current context of ESG practices, sustainability reporting becomes very important in strengthening consumer perception about a company’s ESG performance. This study has employed the P-ESG scale to investigate how consumers relate to companies in the oil and gas industry in relation to their corporate social responsibility and sustainability activities. Specifically, this study investigates how consumers perceive the impact of ESG-related communication—particularly disclosures about community involvement—on organizational attributes such as corporate culture, internal communication, and employee engagement. Online quantitative marketing research was carried out on a sample of 400 respondents. The results show that ESG factors have a strong association with consumer perceptions on organizational transparency, effective communication and organizational culture. A negative direct relationship of ESG with the consumer perceptions regarding employee engagement is noticed, and a strong correlation between consumer perceived organizational culture and the consumer perception about employee engagement. This study contributes to defining the role of ESG reporting on the consumers perception about the company, and how ESG can be used to increase consumer trust.

The transition towards net zero by 2050 is underway in the European Union, but its country members are divided over their energy strategies. France, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovakia, and Romania support nuclear plants as contributing to carbon neutrality, while Germany, Spain, Denmark, Portugal, and Luxembourg oppose (Reuters, 2023). The study “Between Stability and Sustainability: Nuclear Energy in Romania's Energy Mix” concludes that Romania can benefit from its nuclear facilities and domestic uranium resources, to consolidate its sustainable energy policy. However, new nuclear capacities may pose considerable challenges, especially in terms of costs (Dumitrescu, 2023). Unfortunately, rising costs per megawatt hour are the very reason why NuScale, the operator chosen by Romania to deploy six small nuclear reactors by 2027, canceled their US-based flagship Carbon Free Power Project (Fortune, 2023). Nevertheless, the setback in the home country did not prevent Romanian authorities from licensing the NuScale small modular reactor power plant in Doicești (World Nuclear News, 2023). The watchdog Greenpeace warned about the project’s high costs and the long construction timeframe. It was also emphasized that Romania adopted a technology that had never been tested before. In addition, the location of the new plant had been decided without prior consultation from the local community, claimed the NGO (Greenpeace, 2022). According to the journalists, the local community has been divided between those who want new jobs and people afraid of radiations. Reporters made a parallel between the current situation and a formerly failed Chevron shale gas production investment, due to the strong opposition to fracking (Hotnews, 2024). This paper attempts to determine how a newcomer to the nuclear energy market, with a significant approval setback in its home country, using untested technology, can complete the construction of six small modular reactors in Romania, integrate those into the national grid and win over the public acceptance by 2030.

The International Conferences on Economics and Social Sciences (ICESS) organized by Bucharest University of Economic Studies provide an opportunity for all those interested in Economics and Social Sciences to discuss and exchange research ideas. The papers presented at the Conference are available online in the Conference Proceedings series (ISSN 2704-6524): Volume 2019 Collaborative Research for Excellence in Economics and Social Sciences, ISBN 9788366675322 Volume 2020 Innovative Models to Revive the Global Economy, ISBN 9788395815072 Volume 2021 Resilience and Economic Intelligence Through Digitalization and Big Data Analytics, ISBN 9788366675704 Volume 2022 Fostering recovery through metaverse business modelling, ISBN 978-83-67405-07-2 The world today is vastly different than what it was even a few decades ago, as a result of advances in technology, globalization, and societal changes. Recently, particular attention has been given to sustainable development raising the question of how to drive economic growth in a responsible manner by harnessing technology’s potential while accounting for diverse national perspectives. In 2015, the United Nations agreed upon 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aimed to transform our world by 2030. However, without the support of stakeholders from government, business and civil societies, the SDGs are