KG4ESG: The ESG Knowledge Graph Atlas

1. Introduction

Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) regulation, sustainable finance, and corporate accountability increasingly depend on heterogeneous evidence: sustainability reports, regulatory texts with cross-references and exceptions, and narrative incident or controversy records. Because this evidence is largely language-mediated, knowledge graphs (KGs) provide a natural backbone: they encode standards-grounded semantics, represent qualifiers (e.g., time/unit/scope), and attach provenance so that querying and explanation remain auditable.

However, ESG KG research is difficult to synthesize. Works often draw inconsistent topical boundaries, combine partially overlapping standards without explicit alignment, or treat KG construction and language-facing access in isolation. This separation hides a key dependency: what downstream systems can retrieve, verify, and justify through NLP interfaces is determined upstream by representational choices (schema, qualification, and provenance). In regulatory contexts, the validity of a system’s output is contingent upon the auditability of its evidence chain.

We therefore frame the field end-to-end (Figure 1) as two coupled stages: Data→KG (evidence → schema-governed, provenance-bearing KGs) and KG→App (reporting/compliance, monitoring/risk intelligence, decision support) mediated by KG–NLP interfaces such as extraction/linking, text-to-query/KGQA, graph-grounded synthesis, and provenance-aware verification. To make results comparable across topics and standards, we introduce the ESG Research Focus Map (ESG-RFM), a vendor-agnostic pillar–theme–focus taxonomy crosswalked to major frameworks (MSCI/GRI/ESRS/SASB).

Prior surveys offer valuable perspectives but rarely connect construction choices in ESG knowledge graphs to audit-facing behavior in downstream language interfaces. Large sustainable-finance meta-analyses typically operate at the level of study outcomes, rather than on evidence-linked, machine-readable representations [1]. Ontology surveys in circular-economy and related sustainability domains catalog conceptual artifacts and alignment challenges, but are often decoupled from disclosure- and compliance-oriented pipelines [2]. More general roadmaps on integrating KGs with LLMs, RAG, and agentic workflows provide transferable design patterns, yet do not address ESG-specific cross-framework semantics, qualification, and provenance constraints that govern what systems can safely assert [3,4,5]. Extended illustrations are provided in Appendix A. We additionally position KG4ESG relative to primary technical work on disclosure structuring and cross-standard alignment, compliance- and governance-oriented KGs, and graph-grounded LLM/agent interfaces with validation and provenance in Appendix B.

Contributions. We provide: (1) ESG-RFM, a reusable topic map aligned with major ESG standards; (2) the KG4ESG corpus of works (2015–2025) retrieved via an ESG-RFM-grounded query dictionary and PRISMA-style screening; (3) a Data→KG synthesis that categorizes evidence sources and distills four construction paradigms (P1–P4) together with shifting expert roles; (4) a KG→App synthesis that organizes applications into reporting/compliance, monitoring/risk intelligence, and decision support, and summarizes recurring KG–NLP interfaces (extraction/linking, KGQA/text-to-query, GraphRAG/RAG-style synthesis, provenance-aware verification); (5) a corpus-level meta-analysis of resources, evaluation, and openness signals; and (6) a future research agenda grounded in these findings. All the artifacts will be released.

2. Survey Methodology

The KG4ESG corpus contains papers (2015–2025) whose primary contribution is to construct, extend, or apply an ESG/sustainability knowledge graph. We follow a taxonomy-driven, PRISMA-style workflow (Appendix D): (1) define ESG-RFM, a vendor-agnostic pillar–theme–focus map aligned with MSCI/GRI/ESRS/SASB (Appendix C); (2) derive a focus-level query dictionary and retrieve candidates from Google Scholar, ACL Anthology, OpenAlex, and Semantic Scholar, augmented with backward/forward citation chasing; and (3) merge, deduplicate, and screen records using explicit inclusion/exclusion criteria.

Each included work is annotated to connect Data→KG choices to KG→App behavior through an NLP lens: ESG-RFM topical tags, dominant construction paradigm (P1–P4), evidence modalities and resource statistics, dominant KG–NLP interfaces. Because ESG topics are cross-cutting, we retain multi-focus tags but record a single primary focus per paper for aggregation.

3. Data-to-KG: Constructing ESG KGs

The Data→KG stage turns heterogeneous ESG evidence into a schema-constrained, provenance-preserving graph. Across environmental (E), social (S), governance (G), and holistic (H) settings, this stage behaves less like “extracting triples” and more like enforcing an evidence-to-structure contract: entity and relation types must be typed, qualified (time, boundary/scope, unit, method), and linked back to supporting evidence so that downstream language interfaces can retrieve, explain, and verify claims under shifting standards [6,7,8,9]. The contract is especially non-negotiable in H and G applications (reporting, rating, and compliance) where a statement’s meaning depends on definitions and scope, but it is equally decisive in E systems where numeric comparability and spatiotemporal context dominate (e.g., risk, hazards, footprints) [10,11,12,13,14].

Two representation imperatives recur across all pillars. The first is qualification completeness: numeric indicators and event facts must carry units, temporal validity, and boundary/method metadata to remain computable rather than merely retrievable [8,14,15,16]. This is most visible in E and H pipelines that compute footprints, LCA metrics, or climate-risk indicators, but it also matters in S contexts such as health, safety, and inclusion metrics that require consistent definitions [17,18]. The second is evidence and provenance linking, where graph assertions point to clauses, spans, tables, logs, or geospatial products; this turns the KG into a verification surface that survives review, re-labeling, and re-alignment [9,11,13,19,20].

3.1. Evidence Sources and Modalities

Despite the diversity of domains, most ESG KGs draw from a few recurring evidence families, each with pillar-specific constraints. Standards, taxonomies, and indicator definitions provide semantic anchors for H and E work (metric meaning, unit semantics, formulas, cross-framework mapping), enabling comparable computation and alignment across reporting regimes [6,7,14,21]. Regulations, policies, and legal corpora are central in G and increasingly in H, where obligations, scope, exceptions, and cross-references must be modeled explicitly to support traceable compliance reasoning and review [11,22,23,24,25]. Corporate disclosures and enterprise records (reports, filings, ERP/MES/CRM tables, process models, event logs) appear throughout, but they are most structurally exploited in G/H reporting and governance workflows, where disclosure structuring, gap detection, and auditable metric management are primary [19,26,27,28,29]; in S settings, the same “enterprise record” category often shifts toward people- and safety-centered artifacts such as accident/near-miss narratives, dispute or inspection cases, OHS documentation, HR profiles and mobility histories, resumes and job ads linked to skills taxonomies, and privacy/security documentation (privacy policies, CTI reports, and operational logs), which require tighter context modeling (roles, responsibilities, exposure, and governance constraints) to remain actionable [30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40]. External narratives and literature (news/web/literature) frequently supply H monitoring signals (controversies, trends, reputational risk) and also feed E knowledge acquisition (climate, biodiversity, circular economy) [41,42,43,44,45,46]; they also appear as S-facing evidence when incident reporting and cyber/privacy risk intelligence are constructed from vendor reports, public disclosures, and narrative sources that must be grounded and normalized before use [38,47,48]. Finally, multimodal measurements (geospatial layers, remote sensing, imagery, sensor/time-series telemetry, CAD/BIM artifacts) are disproportionately important in E and many H systems, making spatiotemporal qualification, multi-resolution linking, and update mechanisms core design goals [12,13,49,50,51,52]; importantly, these modalities also surface in S deployments where OHS and product-quality settings combine sensor streams and event logs with text to support monitoring, diagnosis, and safety decision support [53,54,55,56].

This modality mix yields two recurring construction regimes that often coexist. Text-first pipelines (reports, regulations, news) emphasize schema-conditioned NLP: extraction, entity/relation linking, normalization to indicators, and evidence links to clauses/spans, typical in G and H compliance/reporting and in S policy/incident narratives [20,21,26,43]. Sensor/geo-first pipelines emphasize integration, spatiotemporal semantics, and provenance over derived products, typical in E monitoring (hazards, infrastructure resilience, water/energy) and in H disparity/impact analytics that blend geo-data with socio-economic context [12,13,16,50]. Hybrid designs increasingly bind narrative evidence to geospatial and imagery context for disaster and climate-risk analysis, or bind built-environment models to IoT streams for multi-scale sustainability evaluation [51,57,58,59,60]. Thus, text-to-typed-structure problem is dominant in ESG KGs.

3.2. Construction Paradigms (P1–P4) and Pillar Pressures

Four recurring construction paradigms appear across E/S/G/H. They differ in their dominant evidence-to-schema mapping operator, but all rely on explicit schema conformance, constraint checking, and provenance-aware validation to prevent semantic drift and to preserve auditability in ESG-grade settings [6,7,9]. A detailed methodological treatment, formal definitions, and supplementary analyses are provided in Appendix E.

3.2.1. P1: Ontology-First Lifting and Deterministic Integration

P1 approaches prioritize ontology stewardship and deterministic mappings. They are common in E and H contexts where interoperability and computability are non-negotiable: emissions-factor semantics and provenance of calculations [8], LCA indicator computation and cross-organization comparability [6,14,61], and large-scale geo-semantic integration over heterogeneous datasets [13,49,62]. They also appear in E/H built-environment and IoT settings where reused vocabularies enable consistent linking of devices, spaces, and measurements [50,60,63]. The strength is replayable semantics and clean computation; the trade-off is that coverage and agility depend on curated mappings and disciplined schema evolution as standards and data sources change [6,8].

3.2.2. P2: Rule/Supervised NLP/ML Extraction

P2 pipelines treat the schema as a label space populated by supervised NLP, patterns, and hybrid rules. This is prominent in S pipelines that structure incidents and occupational safety narratives for causal or risk analysis [32,33,64,65,66], and in security/privacy-adjacent S applications where structured representations are extracted from reports and logs [48,67,68]. In G and H settings, P2-style extraction also appears in filings/news monitoring and in fraud/risk corpora when the target labels are stable [41,69,70,71]. P2 scales ingestion effectively, but ESG concept drift (new reporting requirements, new controversy categories, evolving definitions) increases maintenance costs, motivating alignment-aware and validation-first extensions when target semantics move [6,41].

3.2.3. P3: LLM-Assisted Structuring and Alignment

P3 pipelines use LLMs to produce schema-conditioned structured outputs, typically coupled with retrieval grounding and validation. This has become especially influential in H and G systems that must structure sustainability reports, align indicators across frameworks, and maintain traceable links to definitions and evidence [9,19,21,26]. Similar patterns increasingly support S domains (policy, health, safety guidance) where heterogeneous narratives and long-tail terminology make brittle rules less attractive [18,72]. Because LLM outputs can introduce silent schema drift, robust P3 systems emphasize provenance preservation and explicit validation hooks (type/unit checks, constraint verification, evidence links), framing evaluation at both fact level and schema/ontology level [9,10,20].

3.2.4. P4: Agentic/Tool-Using Pipelines with Validation and Repair

P4 workflows treat construction as a controlled retrieve–extract–validate–repair loop, integrating query engines, calculators, geospatial operators, and optimization tools, and producing replayable traces for audit and continual updates [12,59,73]. This is common in G/H audit-facing applications (traceable compliance QA, evidence-backed explanations) [24,73], in H benchmarking-oriented ESG extraction and scoring where quality criteria are enforced iteratively [10], and in E operational sustainability analytics where completion, enrichment, and emissions accounting couple KG completion with optimization and scenario comparison [14,74,75]. Here, trust is externalized into constraints and traces, turning the KG into a governed process artifact rather than a one-shot output [10,73].

3.3. Cross-Cutting Representation Choices

Three representation choices consistently determine downstream feasibility. Unit and quantity modeling is essential once the KG must support numeric retrieval and indicator computation, particularly in E/H footprints and operational carbon traces, but also in S/H equity and health metrics where comparability depends on explicit definitions [8,14,15,17]. Spatiotemporal modeling becomes mandatory in E and many H settings that integrate sensor streams, geospatial layers, and event logs, enabling multi-resolution analysis for hazards, infrastructure resilience, and disparity assessment [12,13,16,50]. Provenance modeling bridges extraction and audit across all pillars: it supports inspection, re-evaluation, and dispute resolution as standards, contexts, and evidence quality shift [9,11,19,20].

3.4. How Construction Shifted over Time

Early systems (roughly prior to 2021) emphasized interoperability and curated semantics, favoring ontology-first integration in E and early cross-domain settings [76,77,78]. As monitoring and extraction expanded (2021–2023), supervised and rule-based pipelines grew for S incident/safety corpora and for G/H disclosure and risk corpora [64,67,69,79]. From 2022 onward, rapid growth in standards and cross-framework pressure pushed H and G systems toward flexible alignment and long-tail coverage, accelerating LLM-assisted structuring with explicit validation [6,9,21,26]. In parallel, auditability and streaming updates in E/H settings strengthened iterative, validation-first workflows that expose traces and constraints as part of the construction contract [10,59,73].

3.5. Quality Control and Expert Roles

Expert oversight remains central, but its leverage point shifts with the paradigm and the pillar. In E and H, experts often shape ontologies and calculation semantics (units, boundaries, conversion factors, indicator formulas) [6,8,14]. In S settings, expert labor frequently concentrates on annotation and validation of incident factors, causal chains, and safety/health categories [31,33,64]. In G and H compliance, expertise concentrates on encoding scope/exceptions, validating obligations, and governing acceptance via constraints and audit procedures [11,23,24,73]. Across pillars, the same reliability hooks recur: qualification completeness (time, unit, scope, method) for KPIs and events [8,15,16]; standards-to-KG traceability for indicator mapping and disclosure alignment [6,7,21]; evidence links to clauses, spans, tables, logs, and geospatial products [11,13,20]; constraint enforcement and quality reporting [9,10]; and reproducible update traces for longitudinal monitoring and audit [59,73,80].

4. KG-to-App: ESG Applications

The KG→App stage operationalizes ESG KGs as structured backbones for reporting and compliance, monitoring and risk intelligence, and decision support across E, S, G, and H needs. Here the KG acts simultaneously as a structured index over heterogeneous evidence and a reasoning substrate whose schema, qualifiers, and provenance make outputs inspectable and auditable [6,8,11]. Crucially, ESG systems are typically interacted with through language: users ask questions, reviewers demand justifications, and evidence is authored in text. As a result, the dominant integration point is the KG–NLP interface: controlled retrieval (often over evidence-linked subgraphs), text-to-query/KGQA, graph-grounded context expansion (GraphRAG/RAG), and provenance-aware verification [10,24,73]. This is why provenance-aware retrieval and graph-grounded context construction are increasingly used as the default interface for narrative-heavy evidence, particularly in H/G reporting and compliance, and in H monitoring of controversies and reputational risk [20,81,82]. A more detailed discussion is in Appendix F.

4.1. Interaction Patterns Across E/S/G/H

Four interaction patterns recur across pillars. First, the KG enables evidence grounding, binding answers and scores to explicit evidence so reviewers can verify what was used; this is especially central in G/H compliance and in H claim verification [20,24,73,83]. Second, it supports querying and KGQA, including natural-language access for relational exploration and structured search; this appears in E/H administrative and regulatory settings and in S safety/health QA where the value is controlled retrieval over structured relations [24,72,81,84]. Third, it enables KG-enhanced learning and prediction, where graph features and reasoning paths support interpretable modeling of fraud, risk propagation, controversies, and operational risks, spanning G financial governance, H ESG intelligence, and S safety/security settings [43,70,71,85,86,87]. Fourth, it supports optimization and scenario evaluation, where entities, constraints, and KPIs define a world model for planning and benchmarking, common in E circular economy and sustainable logistics, and increasingly used in H policy/SDG planning scenarios [14,74,75,88].

A distinctive ESG-wide requirement is numeric indicator computation under semantic constraints. When the output is a KPI (emissions, footprint, risk score), the system must reconcile units, methods, and boundaries rather than merely retrieving numbers, which is most visible in E/H footprinting and climate-risk analytics but also applies to S/H equity and health indicators [8,14,15,17]. This drives tight coupling between KG semantics and application logic in lifecycle, circular-economy, and infrastructure contexts where constraint-aware planning and comparable computation are core objectives [12,89,90,91].

4.2. Application Families with Pillar Emphasis

Reporting and compliance applications lean heavily on H and G semantics: they structure disclosures, align indicators across standards, compute or normalize metrics, and detect gaps or inconsistencies between claims and requirements [6,9,19,21,26,27]. Legal and governance deployments emphasize clause-level reasoning with cross-references and scope, enabling traceable compliance checking and audit-ready review [11,22,23,24]. Parallel patterns appear in privacy, AI governance, and tax settings, where obligations are represented structurally and outputs are backed by evidence-linked access paths designed for audit [20,24,25,92,93]. As these systems become audit-facing by default, they increasingly return provenance-grounded traces and inspectable supporting subgraphs so judgments remain verifiable end-to-end [24,73].

Monitoring and risk-intelligence applications are primarily H, but they draw signals from E, S, and G sources. They include controversy and violation detection from news and web streams [41,42,43], event-centric S safety analytics from accident and near-miss corpora [31,32,33,64,72], and supply-chain transparency/risk monitoring where graph completion and path reasoning surface hidden dependencies and support evidence-linked risk narratives [94,95,96,97,98]. E-facing monitoring extends to geo/sensor domains such as outage disparity analysis and multi-resolution spatiotemporal reasoning [13], and to disaster/climate-risk representations that combine narrative reports with geospatial and imagery evidence for interpretable comparison and decision support [12,57,58,99]. Where misinformation, greenwashing, or claim manipulation is central (often H), claim-verification and fact-checking graphs provide provenance-linked structures for transparent retrieval and explanation [82,83,100].

Decision-support apps are strongest in E and S but regularly couple into G/H governance requirements. E KGs act as constraint-aware substrates for optimization and scenario evaluation in sustainable logistics and circular economy planning [46,74,75,89]. Infrastructure and process contexts (water/energy/buildings) integrate telemetry, process knowledge, standards, and enterprise records to support querying, diagnosis, and operational planning [16,51,59,60,101,102]. Product-quality and lifecycle settings combine S safety expectations with operational traceability, supporting end-to-end tracing and feedback control [55,103,104], and disassembly/recycling planning under dependency constraints [91,105,106]. Social-oriented decision support spans nutrition/health guidance and equity analytics (S/H), as well as skills and education pathway recommendation (S) [17,18,35,107,108,109,110].

4.3. Cross-Cutting Tasks, Scale, and Evolution

Three task clusters recur across application families. One is benchmarking and scoring with explanations, including H ESG evaluation and G fraud/risk modeling where explanations must be tied to structured evidence and interpretable factors [10,71,85,111]. Another is SDG and sustainability analytics (H) that compute indicators and analyze interlinkages from heterogeneous open data with provenance and conflict resolution [88,112,113]. The third is audit-facing interaction contracts (especially G/H) requiring evidence links and reproducible traces rather than narrative-only outputs [11,24,73].

Scale strongly shapes app design and tends to correlate with pillar data modalities. Document- or case-level systems are common in G/H compliance and standards alignment, where controlled review is central [9,21,73]. Very large-scale graphs more often occur in E/H geo/sensor integration and monitoring, where update strategies, multi-resolution reasoning, and performance constraints dominate [13,16,49,50]. Historically, early work often treated KGs primarily as interoperability and querying layers over curated semantics [76,77,78]; later, S incident/safety corpora and G/H disclosure/news monitoring expanded the risk-intelligence surface [41,64,69]; and more recently, the rapid expansion of standards and streaming signals increased demand for cross-framework alignment and auditable, validation-first interactions where traceability is an explicit output rather than an afterthought [9,10,21,26,73,80].

5. Meta Analysis

(i) Trend signal from query volumes. The query-volume analysis shows monotonic KG uptake from 2015–2025 with a clear acceleration after 2021 across engines, while KG-based work remains a small fraction of the broader ESG literature (Figure A11, Figure A12, Figure A13). At the focus level, KG activity consistently concentrates in Data Protection & Cybersecurity, Energy Consumption & Fuel Mix, and Digital Responsibility, Data & AI Ethics, alongside core climate indicators (GHG emissions, product footprints) and SDG analytics (Figure A7, Figure A9, Figure A10). Notably, governance-heavy foci such as Digital Responsibility, Data & AI Ethics exhibit among the highest KG adoption rates in high-volume topics (e.g., exceeding $5\%$ on Google Scholar), while the ACL Anthology shows substantially higher per-focus KG rates (often 10–$20\%$; Figure A8), indicating that KG4ESG progress is amplified through NLP-facing interfaces such as schema-conditioned extraction, alignment, KGQA/text-to-query, and evidence-grounded verification. (ii) Resource–application mismatch. A recurring gap is misalignment between Data→KG and KG→App contributions: construction papers introduce schemas or pipelines without releasing machine-readable artifacts, while application papers often rely on proprietary graphs or undisclosed mappings; we recommend reporting an explicit contribution footprint per work (schema + provenance model + validation rules + KG access; or task protocol + evaluation + explicit output→evidence linkage), aligned to pipeline stage. (iii) Openness remains uneven. Fully reusable releases (schema and non-trivial KG access) remain a minority, limiting reproducibility and benchmark formation; a lightweight “openness profile” (schema, data, code, endpoint) should become standard, and a small set of fully open ESG KGs spanning multiple pillars would anchor shared evaluation. (iv) Shift toward validation-first pipelines. LLM- and tool-driven workflows increasingly wrap (rather than replace) ontology- and supervised components, shifting technical risk to grounding, constraint enforcement, provenance integrity, and audit trails; consequently, validation-first design (typed outputs, unit and scope checks, evidence links, conflict reporting) is becoming the default for high-stakes ESG use. (v) Modality skew and topical long tail. E/H systems more often integrate geospatial or sensor evidence, while S/G work is dominated by text and tabular sources, leaving multimodal grounding under-explored; focus-level activity is uneven, with infrastructure- and governance-heavy foci (cybersecurity, AI ethics, energy and emissions) leading KG uptake, while many sensitive S/G foci remain under-served. Full distributions and trend plots are reported in Appendix G.

6. Future Research Agenda

Given post-2021 acceleration and sustained topical pull from cybersecurity, digital responsibility/AI ethics, and climate–energy indicators (Figure A11–Figure A13), the next breakthroughs are likely to come from auditable end-to-end contracts rather than isolated components: cross-framework normalization that preserves units/scope, compliance-grade KGQA/verification that returns evidence-linked subgraphs and traces, and evaluation that scores extraction/alignment/grounded generation under explicit schema and provenance constraints.

(1) Data→KG benchmarks for extraction, normalization, and alignment. Shared benchmarks should test schema-constrained extraction and linking with qualification (time, unit, scope, method) and provenance completeness, and explicitly evaluate cross-standard mappings (GRI–ESRS–SASB–MSCI–SDGs) while penalizing silent schema drift. Recent ESG LLM evaluation benchmarks (e.g., ESGenius) provide complementary task scaffolds that could be extended with KG-grounded provenance/qualification scoring and schema-conformance evaluation [114].

(2) KG→App task suites with auditable reasoning. Downstream evaluation needs shared task suites (compliance QA, disclosure gap detection, claim verification, due diligence, risk monitoring) whose protocols require KG-level evidence (nodes, edges, provenance) alongside answers. (3) Expert-in-the-loop and stakeholder-aware workflows. Expert roles (schema design, annotation, validation, governance) should be reported and linked to provenance and versioning; research should measure the marginal value of expert feedback in P3–P4 pipelines and design escalation paths for sensitive topics. (4) Closing the text–evidence gap with multimodal ESG KGs. Progress requires KGs that unify text, tables, sensor streams, and geospatial layers with consistent entity and event models and cross-modal linking, enabling “show the evidence” behavior for both narrative and numeric outputs. This need is consistent with emerging multimodal ESG reasoning benchmarks such as MMESGBench, which further motivate unified cross-modal grounding and evaluation protocols [115]. (5) Green NLP and sustainable KG pipelines as operational constraints. Future work should report compute and energy cost for construction and querying, and develop incremental update strategies that avoid full rebuilds; provenance should record pipeline stages and model or tool configurations to make efficiency–quality trade-offs comparable. (6) Community reuse and extension of ESG-RFM. ESG-RFM should evolve as a versioned community artifact with stable identifiers and maintainable crosswalks to evolving standards; reusing it to tag datasets, benchmarks, and systems can reduce fragmentation and make coverage comparable across the ecosystem. (7) Illuminate ESG-FTM blind spots. Across pillars, several high-stakes foci remain under-studied in KG4ESG and warrant explicit targeting: SuppEnvDD; FoACollB; Loc HirMarPre; FinProt; RespMkt; BoardOvr; ExecPay; PolEngage; RespProc; Whistle; and ImpInv. Addressing these gaps likely requires more efforts and attention in the future.

7. Conclusion

KG4ESG provides ESG-RFM and a curated corpus of ESG KG works (2015–2025), organized as Data→KG construction and KG→App use. Query-volume trends show accelerating KG uptake after 2021, led by compliance- and governance-constrained foci alongside core climate/energy indicators. Across domains, ESG KGs are increasingly operationalized through language interfaces—which makes qualification and evidence linkage first-class constraints. These patterns motivate auditable, validation-first pipelines and shared benchmarks that require evidence-linked outputs.

8. Limitations

Our survey is constrained by the scope of the KG4ESG corpus and the search strategy used to construct it. The papers we analyze are the result of a PRISMA-style pipeline driven by a query dictionary anchored on the phrase “knowledge graph”, combined with manual venue search and citation chasing. This setup privileges work that explicitly self-identifies as KG- or ontology-based and is discoverable through mainstream search engines, which means that adjacent literature framed in terms of databases, graphs, or ontologies but not using the “knowledge graph” label may be under-represented. Likewise, research published in non-indexed venues, paywalled reports, and grey literature is only partially captured. Although we attempted to harmonize coverage across environmental, social, governance, and holistic topics, the resulting corpus should be interpreted as a carefully curated but incomplete sample rather than an exhaustive census of ESG KGs.

The taxonomy and coding scheme we introduce are also subject to design choices and subjective judgment. Mapping multiple industrial standards (ESRS, GRI, SASB, MSCI) into a single pillar–theme–focus hierarchy necessarily involves simplification and normative decisions about which distinctions to preserve and which to merge. Similarly, assigning each paper to a primary pillar, theme, and focus area, as well as to a single dominant construction paradigm (P1–P4), abstracts over the fact that many systems span multiple topics and methodological families. We do not assume focus areas are mutually exclusive: ESG phenomena, standards, and applications are structurally cross-cutting (e.g., transition planning couples climate metrics with governance controls and workforce impacts; biodiversity overlaps with land use and water; privacy and cybersecurity often intersect both social and governance concerns). Enforcing strict exclusivity would either duplicate papers across categories or require arbitrary splitting that obscures real dependencies. We therefore allow multi-focus tagging, and use a single primary focus only for aggregation; as a result, focus-level plots should be interpreted as “dominant emphasis” rather than “exclusive membership.” The released annotations are designed to preserve these overlaps explicitly so that readers can regroup or re-aggregate the corpus under alternative (but still valid) interpretations. Quantitative summaries and visualizations should therefore be read as indicative patterns rather than precise measurements. In addition, ESG-RFM is primarily a topic-level research map that we use consistently across the survey: it structures corpus retrieval (via the query dictionary), supports comparable coding of both Data→KG and KG→App papers, and provides a shared index for summarizing how data sources, KG artifacts, and downstream systems distribute across ESG topics. At the same time, some infrastructure- or standards-centric contributions do not naturally align with a single focus area; these papers are therefore best interpreted through the construction paradigm and released-artifact lens rather than through a single topical assignment.

The temporal analysis is limited by both the collection window and the fast-moving nature of LLM- and agentic methods. Our search was conducted in late 2025 and focuses on work published between 2015 and 2025. New KGs, paradigms, and benchmarks are likely to appear after this window, and some very recent preprints or industrial systems may not yet have been captured at the time of coding. In addition, we rely on publication year as a coarse proxy for methodological evolution, even though development and deployment timelines can lag behind publication, and older systems may have been retrofitted with LLM- or agentic components that are not described in the original papers.

Methodologically, our meta-analysis is based entirely on reported descriptions; we do not re-implement systems, re-run extraction pipelines, or independently audit evaluation setups. Claims about performance, scalability, or robustness are therefore taken from the original publications and may not be directly comparable across domains and tasks. The same caveat applies to openness and resource availability: many KGs are only partially released (e.g., schema but not data, or code without underlying corpora), and in some cases we were unable to verify whether promised artifacts are still hosted or maintained. Our own commitment to open-sourcing the taxonomy, query dictionary, annotations, and analysis code is likewise constrained by licensing and confidentiality restrictions on the underlying papers and datasets; we can share derived metadata and coding decisions, but not proprietary corpora.

Finally, the perspective of this survey is deliberately centered on NLP- and KG-driven views of ESG and sustainability. We focus on text-centric pipelines and multimodal integrations where KGs are explicit artifacts, and do not attempt to synthesize the much broader literature in climate science, ecology, public policy, economics, or critical social sciences that study ESG topics without using KG terminology. As a result, some substantive debates about the meaning and validity of ESG metrics, materiality, or just transition appear here only indirectly, through how they are encoded in KGs. Our identification of “gaps” and “opportunities” reflects this KG4ESG lens and should not be read as a prescriptive statement about what ESG research as a whole ought to prioritize.

9. Ethics Statement

This work is a secondary analysis of published research on ESG and sustainability knowledge graphs. We do not collect new human-subject data, conduct experiments with users, or work with personally identifiable information beyond what is already present in scientific publications and bibliographic metadata. Our corpus consists of papers that have themselves passed peer review and, where applicable, institutional ethics procedures. Nevertheless, by systematizing this literature and proposing a taxonomy and meta-analysis, we can influence how KG4ESG technologies are developed and deployed, and it is important to reflect on the associated ethical dimensions.

A first concern is representation and epistemic fairness. Our search strategy, reliance on English-language venues, and focus on widely indexed conferences and journals biases the corpus toward systems built by institutions in the Global North and toward domains with strong digital or regulatory infrastructures. KGs and applications originating from under-represented regions, languages, and communities are likely under-sampled, and topics that are salient in Global South contexts (e.g., informal economies, customary land tenure, community-led monitoring) may be under-exposed. By releasing our taxonomy and corpus annotations, we hope to make these biases visible and enable other researchers to augment or contest our coverage, but this survey does not resolve underlying structural imbalances in who produces ESG data and knowledge.

Second, many of the KGs we survey operate in high-stakes domains such as credit and insurance, taxation, health equity, labor management, and compliance. Techniques for ESG scoring, risk modeling, and supply-chain visibility can be used to advance sustainability and social protection, but they can also enable more granular worker surveillance, exclusionary lending, or the externalization of risk to vulnerable communities. Similarly, graph-based and LLM-assisted ESG analytics can lend an unwarranted air of objectivity to indicators that remain politically contested. Our role in this survey is descriptive rather than prescriptive: we summarize systems and highlight emerging capabilities, but do not endorse specific ESG metrics or rating practices. We encourage practitioners to use KG4ESG methods within robust governance frameworks that include domain experts, affected stakeholders, and mechanisms for appeal and redress.

Third, although KG4ESG is a survey, the accompanying artifacts we plan to release (ESG-RFM, the query dictionary, and corpus-level annotations/metadata) may lower the barrier to building ESG monitoring, scoring, and compliance systems. This creates dual-use and misuse risks: (i) automated ESG screening in hiring, lending, insurance, procurement, or supply-chain due diligence could amplify biases present in source evidence and lead to unfair exclusion; (ii) fine-grained monitoring pipelines may enable intrusive worker, supplier, or community surveillance under the guise of sustainability oversight; (iii) controversy- and incident-centric graphs sourced from news or narrative reports can propagate unverified allegations and cause reputational harm if treated as ground truth; and (iv) cross-framework crosswalks and graph-backed explanations can project a misleading sense of certainty (“false authority”), even when standards are ambiguous, evolving, or contested. We therefore frame KG4ESG outputs as decision support rather than automated adjudication, and we encourage downstream users to (a) require provenance-linked evidence and explicit uncertainty/confidence reporting, (b) keep humans in the loop for high-stakes determinations, (c) perform bias and harm assessments with domain experts and (where feasible) affected stakeholders, and (d) apply appropriate access controls, security review, and governance when KGs incorporate proprietary or personal data. To further reduce harm from errors, we will version and time-stamp released artifacts and maintain a mechanism for reporting and correcting problematic mappings or annotations.

Fourth, there is a risk that the tools and architectures surveyed here contribute to more sophisticated forms of greenwashing or “sustainability-washing”. KGs can be used to curate narratives of alignment with standards, taxonomies, and SDGs without a commensurate change in underlying practices, and LLM-based interfaces may make it easier to generate plausible but misleading sustainability stories. Our discussion of future research emphasizes provenance, evidence grounding, and links to physical and regulatory data precisely because these can support external scrutiny and falsifiability, but implementing such safeguards ultimately depends on how organizations choose to use the technologies we describe. Because ESG KGs span both Data→KG (what is encoded and how it is validated) and KG→App (how it is queried and acted upon), governance risks arise end-to-end: weak provenance or schema drift in construction can propagate into downstream decisions, while persuasive language interfaces can obscure uncertainty unless outputs are explicitly linked to KG evidence and versioned artifacts.

Fifth, the environmental footprint of KG4ESG pipelines is itself non-negligible. While many ontology-first and rule-based systems are relatively lightweight, the recent shift toward large neural models, multimodal fusion, and agentic workflows implies substantial compute and energy use. As a survey, we do not estimate the carbon footprint of individual KGs or models, and many of the primary papers do not report energy metrics. Nonetheless, we see it as ethically important that future KG4ESG work reports training and inference costs where feasible, considers lower-footprint alternatives, and avoids deploying unnecessarily heavy models in settings where simpler methods suffice.

Finally, some of the KGs in our corpus are built on sensitive or proprietary data (e.g., financial statements, tax records, HR databases, clinical or claims data). We interact with these systems only through their published descriptions and do not attempt to reconstruct or redistribute underlying datasets. When we release our own artifacts, we restrict ourselves to bibliographic and high-level metadata about the papers and systems, without including any personal data beyond what is already public in author lists and affiliations. We encourage future work building on our resources to follow privacy- and security-preserving best practices, including data minimization, appropriate access controls, and attention to the risks faced by individuals and communities represented in ESG KGs. We also avoid redistributing copyrighted full texts or any underlying proprietary corpora, and instead release only derived metadata and annotations needed for reproducibility.

Appendix A.1. ESG and Sustainable Finance Surveys

A major strand of prior work in sustainable finance consists of large-scale reviews and meta-analyses that synthesize evidence on the association between environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria and corporate financial performance across a very large body of empirical studies [1]. These reviews organize findings by study design (e.g., portfolio vs. non-portfolio studies), regions, and asset classes, and they highlight that results can vary with methodological choices and context [1]. From the perspective of KG4ESG, the key limitation is that this literature is not primarily concerned with producing explicit, machine-readable representations of the underlying evidence (standards, disclosures, policies, and narratives); instead, it aggregates conclusions reported in the finance literature. KG4ESG is complementary in that it targets evidence-to-structure representations that can be queried, aligned across standards, and audited.

Appendix A.2. Sustainability Ontologies and Domain Knowledge Graphs

Surveys of sustainability- and circular-economy-related ontologies provide a complementary perspective by cataloguing conceptual artifacts for representing cross-industry sustainability domains. For example, [2] surveys general ontologies relevant to the circular-economy domain and related cross-industry areas (e.g., sustainability, materials, manufacturing, products, and logistics), and discusses interoperability challenges that arise when reusing and aligning heterogeneous ontologies. Such work underscores the importance of explicit schemas and alignment strategies when integrating sustainability data.

Appendix A.3. Knowledge Graph Construction, LLMs, RAG, and Agentic Workflows

General KG surveys provide methodological context for KG4ESG. [116] offers a broad introduction to knowledge graphs, including data models, querying and validation, and deductive/inductive techniques for making knowledge explicit. Complementary surveys review KG representation learning, acquisition and completion, temporal KGs, and knowledge-aware applications [117]. In the LLM era, recent work also evaluates how LLMs can be used for KG construction and reasoning tasks (e.g., extraction, link prediction, and KGQA) and discusses future opportunities, including multi-agent approaches for KG workflows [118].

A parallel survey strand focuses on how to unify KGs with LLMs. [3] frames the space as (i) KG-enhanced LLMs, (ii) LLM-augmented KGs, and (iii) synergized LLM+KG systems, and surveys representative techniques across these directions. Surveys of retrieval-augmented generation systematize design choices for retrieval, augmentation, and answer synthesis in LLM pipelines [4], while GraphRAG surveys focus specifically on graph-structured indexing and retrieval that leverages entity and relation structure for more precise context construction [119]. Finally, surveys of LLM-based multi-agent systems analyze how collections of LLM-driven agents coordinate roles, communicate, and use tools and environments, and they summarize emerging benchmarks for evaluating such systems [5].

KG4ESG draws on these methodological insights but instantiates them in an ESG setting where cross-framework semantics, qualification (time/unit/scope/method), provenance, and auditability are first-class constraints.

Appendix B.1. Disclosure Structuring and Cross-Framework Indicator Alignment

A growing set of ESG systems uses KGs as intermediate representations for turning narrative disclosures into comparable, framework-grounded indicators. These pipelines typically perform schema-conditioned structuring and alignment while retaining fine-grained evidence pointers (clauses/tables/spans) to support reviewer-facing traceability and re-auditing as standards evolve [9,19,21,26]. Closely related work emphasizes indicator semantics and computation provenance (units, boundaries, and method metadata) so that downstream analytics remain computable rather than merely retrievable [6,8,14]. KG4ESG differs by organizing these contributions as an atlas across ESG-RFM foci and by explicitly coupling construction choices to the behavior of downstream language interfaces.

Appendix B.2. Compliance- and Governance-Oriented Knowledge Graphs

In regulatory and governance deployments, the central representational problem is often clause-level modeling of obligations, scope, exceptions, and cross-references, together with provenance structures that keep the evidence chain inspectable. Representative work includes compliance-oriented legal/policy graphs [11,23], audit-facing LLM+KG systems that answer with evidence-backed traces [24,73], and privacy/governance graphs that prioritize verifiable retrieval and justification under policy constraints [20,25,92]. These lines motivate KG4ESG’s focus on provenance and qualification as first-class constraints, because they define the interaction contract between extraction, reasoning, and external review.

Appendix B.3. Graph-Grounded LLM Interfaces and Validation-First Workflows

Recent systems increasingly treat graph-grounded interfaces (KGQA, text-to-query, GraphRAG-style context construction) as the default access pattern for narrative-heavy ESG evidence, but pair them with explicit validation and conflict reporting to prevent silent semantic drift. In practice, this means typed outputs with constraint checks (e.g., units, scope, temporal validity), provenance enforcement, and replayable traces when tools or agents are used [9,10,73,81]. KG4ESG abstracts these trends into P3 (LLM-assisted structuring/alignment) and P4 (agentic/tool-using workflows) so that reporting and evaluation practices become comparable across ESG topics and application contexts.

Appendix B.4. Monitoring, Controversy Intelligence, and Claim Verification

For monitoring and risk intelligence, KGs often act as event- and entity-centric indices over noisy narrative signals such as news, web pages, and reports. Works in this direction construct or align graphs for controversy tracking and ESG risk intelligence [41,42,43], and build claim- or fact-centric structures for transparent evidence-backed verification [82,83,100]. Compared to disclosure structuring, these settings face more severe uncertainty and source conflict, further amplifying the need for explicit provenance, versioning, and “show the evidence” interaction contracts—themes that recur in KG4ESG’s meta-analysis and future research agenda.

Appendix C.1. Source Frameworks and Priority Order

We integrate one widely used ESG rating methodology (MSCI1) with three prominent ESG standards families (GRI2, ESRS3, SASB4) to construct the ESG-RFM. These sources differ in purpose and scope, and this shapes the hierarchy we apply in organizing topics.

Figure A1. Visual overview of the ESG-RFM construction process. The process involves three main steps: (1) Normalizing MSCI Key Issues, (2) Grouping them into pillars and themes with holistic input from GRI and ESRS, and (3) Defining focus areas by matching with GRI reporting and SASB materiality. This results in the final ESG-RFM structure comprising 4 pillars, 13 themes, and 66 focus areas.

Figure A1. Visual overview of the ESG-RFM construction process. The process involves three main steps: (1) Normalizing MSCI Key Issues, (2) Grouping them into pillars and themes with holistic input from GRI and ESRS, and (3) Defining focus areas by matching with GRI reporting and SASB materiality. This results in the final ESG-RFM structure comprising 4 pillars, 13 themes, and 66 focus areas.

MSCI as the Structural Backbone MSCI’s ESG Ratings assess company performance on environmental, social, and governance issues relative to peers, focusing on how exposed a company is to ESG risks and how effectively it manages those risks. The methodology centers on a hierarchy of ESG topics (pillar → theme → key issue), and is broadly adopted by investors for comparative assessment of corporate sustainability performance. We use MSCI’s Environmental, Social, and Governance pillar assignments as the structural backbone of the map and as the starting point for topic normalization and cross-framework alignment.

GRI for Detailed Vocabulary and Reporting Practice The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards provide comprehensive guidance for sustainability reporting on a wide range of environmental, social, and governance topics. GRI’s standards support organizations in identifying material sustainability issues and disclosing performance using standardized indicators and terminology, which enhances clarity and comparability in reporting. Because GRI elaborates specific indicators and reporting expectations, we use its standards to refine and articulate the terminology of broader ESG topics, anchoring them in widely recognized disclosure practice.

ESRS for double materiality and holistic expansion The European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), developed under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), require companies to assess sustainability matters through a double materiality lens, considering both how sustainability issues affect the company and how the company’s activities impact society and the environment. This dual approach goes beyond a solely investor-centric perspective by integrating both financial and impact materiality. ESRS’s structured topical standards allow broad issues to be conceptually unpacked into distinct material components and support formulation of broader themes that extend beyond the core three pillars of ESG.

SASB as a financial-materiality lens The SASB Standards (now maintained by the IFRS Foundation) provide industry-based disclosure standards that focus on sustainability issues most likely to have material impacts on a company’s financial performance. Rather than adopting SASB’s detailed industry-level standards wholesale, we use SASB’s emphasis on financial materiality as a consistency check to ensure that theme groupings in the map align with considerations that matter for investor decision-making.

Across all four pillars of ESG-RFM, the integration of these sources ensures broad coverage: MSCI defines the structural backbone of environmental, social, and governance categories; GRI supplies reporting terminology and disclosure scope; ESRS embeds double materiality and supports extension into expansive sustainability concepts; and SASB reinforces financial-materiality interpretation for thematic coherence. This priority structure is reflected in the crosswalk Table A1 and Table A2, which map ESG-RFM labels to their upstream sources.

Appendix C.2. ESG-RFM Construction and Harmonization Process

The harmonization proceeds in three steps.

Step 1: Normalizing MSCI key issues into neutral labels

We begin by taking the full set of MSCI ESG Ratings key issues as the initial universe of issuer-level ESG topics and normalizing them into a vendor-agnostic pool of candidate labels. This normalization removes framework-specific phrasing and consolidates semantically equivalent issues into neutral ESG focus candidates, while preserving the original Environmental, Social, and Governance pillar assignments defined by MSCI. The result is a standardized topic layer that retains MSCI’s coverage and structural backbone, while enabling consistent cross-framework alignment and subsequent harmonization with ESRS, GRI, SASB, and the broader ESG literature.

Step 2: Grouping topics into pillars and themes

Next, we organize the normalized candidate topics into a four-pillar structure, with a set of themes defined within each pillar. Topics originating from MSCI Environmental, Social, and Governance key issues retain their original pillar assignments and are mapped directly to the Environmental, Social, and Governance pillars, respectively. In addition, we introduce a Holistic pillar to capture cross-cutting concepts that are not modeled as a separate pillar in MSCI but are explicitly articulated in ESRS, GRI, SASB, and the broader ESG literature. This pillar covers concepts such as materiality analysis, just transition, circular-economy perspectives, and systemic sustainability models.

Within each pillar, we define themes by clustering candidate topics that are conceptually related and that form coherent blocks in disclosure practice and rating methodologies across MSCI, GRI, ESRS, and SASB. While MSCI also defines themes, we apply vendor-agnostic naming and (where needed) slight re-scoping to support cross-standard alignment and to accommodate the additional Holistic pillar.

The Environmental pillar is organized into four themes: (i) Climate Change, (ii) Natural Capital, (iii) Pollution, Waste and Circularity, and (iv) Sustainability Solutions and Technologies.

The Social pillar comprises four themes: (i) Human Capital, (ii) Product Responsibility and Customer Safety, (iii) Community and Rights Risks, and (iv) Inclusive Solutions and Social Access.

The Governance pillar is structured around two themes: (i) Corporate Governance and (ii) Corporate Conduct and Integrity.

Finally, the Holistic pillar is divided into three themes: (i) Integrated ESG Assessment, (ii) Sustainable Development Frameworks, and (iii) Systemic Sustainability Models. These themes draw primarily on ESRS and GRI, with additional support from SASB and recurring practices observed in the academic literature, rather than from standalone MSCI key issues.

At this stage, we use GRI and ESRS primarily to check that theme boundaries correspond to coherent disclosure blocks. For instance, MSCI’s “Water Stress” key issue is grouped with other water- and ecosystem-related topics under Natural Capital, in line with GRI 303 (Water and Effluents) and ESRS E3 (Water and marine resources). The resulting mapping between KG4ESG pillars and themes and representative MSCI, GRI, ESRS, and SASB topics is summarized in Table A1.

Step 3: Defining focus areas as units of analysis

Within each theme, we define focus as the atomic units of analysis used for querying and coding the KG4ESG corpus. Each focus area is anchored in one or more MSCI key issues, or in cross-cutting MSCI metrics for the Environmental, Social, and Governance pillars, which serve as the structural backbone of the taxonomy.

For the Holistic pillar, focus areas are instead grounded in explicit cross-cutting constructs defined in ESRS and GRI, with additional support from SASB and recurring patterns observed in the academic literature, rather than being tied to a single MSCI key issue.

Across all pillars, each focus area is required to have at least one clear correspondence in GRI or ESRS, ensuring well-defined disclosure scope and impact materiality, and typically aligns with one or more SASB general issue categories where applicable, providing a complementary perspective on financial materiality.

Table A2 presents each ESG-RFM focus as one row, with the right-hand columns showing the closest upstream topics in MSCI, GRI, ESRS and SASB. This mapping is deliberately compact and non-exhaustive: it records the main anchors that informed the KG4ESG label rather than attempting to list all possible standard references.

Appendix C.3. Pillar–Theme Mapping Between the ESG-RFM and ESG Frameworks

To document the construction of the ESG-RFM, this subsection sets out how the pillar–theme structure aligns with upstream ESG standards and ratings. The KG4ESG labels are deliberately paraphrased and vendor-agnostic, so the mapping is indicative rather than strictly one-to-one. The right-hand columns of Table A1 summarise, in a compact and non-exhaustive way, the most closely related topics in MSCI, GRI, ESRS and SASB.

Table A1. Conceptual crosswalk between the ESG-RFM (pillar–theme; abbreviations per Table A3) and representative topics in MSCI, GRI, ESRS and SASB. Multiple upstream issues can map to a single KG4ESG theme and vice versa. Wording in the right-hand columns is summarised and does not reproduce the original frameworks.

Pillar	Theme	MSCI key issues (representative)	GRI / ESRS topics (representative)	SASB issue categories (representative)
E	ClimChg	Carbon Emissions; Climate Change Vulnerability; Financing Environmental Impact; Product Carbon Footprint	GRI: GRI 102: Climate Change 2025; GRI 103: Energy 2025 (legacy: GRI 302/305, GRI 201-2); ESRS: E1 Climate change (transition and physical risks, decarbonisation)	Environment: GHG Emissions; Energy Management; Physical impacts of climate change
E	NatCap	Biodiversity & Land Use; Raw Material Sourcing; Water Stress; Materials Use & Resource Efficiency (via resource-related indicators)	GRI: Materials, Water and Effluents, Biodiversity, Supplier Environmental Assessment; ESRS: E3 Water and marine resources, E4 Biodiversity and ecosystems, E5 Resource use and circular economy, S2 Workers in the value chain	Environment: Water & Wastewater Management; Ecological Impacts; Resource Efficiency; Supply Chain Management
E	PolWasCiru	Toxic Emissions & Waste; Packaging Material & Waste; Electronic Waste; cross-cutting compliance indicators	GRI: Emissions, Waste, Environmental Compliance; ESRS: E2 Pollution, E5 Resource use and circular economy	Environment: Air Quality; Waste & Hazardous Materials Management; Product Design & Lifecycle Management
E	SustSolTech	Opportunities in Clean Tech; Opportunities in Renewable Energy; Opportunities in Green Building	GRI: Energy, Emissions, Indirect Economic Impacts; ESRS: E1 Climate change, E5 Resource use and circular economy	Environment: GHG Emissions; Energy Management; Business Model & Innovation (low-carbon products)
S	HumCap	Health & Safety; Human Capital Development; Labor Management; Supply Chain Labor Standards (plus diversity- and job-quality-related metrics)	GRI: Employment, Labour/Management Relations, Occupational Health and Safety, Training and Education, Diversity and Equal Opportunity, Non-discrimination, Market Presence, Supplier Social Assessment; ESRS: S1 Own workforce, S2 Workers in the value chain	Human Capital: Employee Health & Safety; Labor Practices; Employee Engagement, Diversity & Inclusion; Supply Chain Management
S	ProdRespCustSafe	Chemical Safety; Consumer Financial Protection; Privacy & Data Security; Product Safety & Quality; Health & Demographic Risk; Responsible Marketing & Product Labeling; Responsible Investment	GRI: Product Quality and Safety, Marketing and Labeling, Customer Health and Safety, Customer Privacy, Financial sector supplements; ESRS: S4 Consumers and end-users, E2 Pollution (hazardous substances)	Social Capital: Product Quality & Safety; Customer Welfare; Customer Privacy; Access & Affordability; Leadership & Governance (Financials)
S	ComRigRisks	Community Relations; Controversial Sourcing; human-rights-related factors across social key issues	GRI: Local Communities, Human Rights series, Supplier Social Assessment; ESRS: S2 Workers in the value chain, S3 Affected communities	Social Capital: Human Rights & Community Relations; Supply Chain Management
S	IncSolSocAcc	Access to Finance; Access to Health Care; Access to Communications; Opportunities in Nutrition & Health	GRI: Product and Service Labelling, Indirect Economic Impacts, sector standards (financial, health, telecom); ESRS: S3 Affected communities, S4 Consumers and end-users	Social Capital: Access & Affordability; Product Quality & Safety; Business Model & Innovation (inclusive products)
G	CorpGov	Board; Pay; Ownership & Control; Accounting	GRI: Governance structure and composition, Remuneration; ESRS: ESRS 2 General disclosures (governance)	Leadership & Governance: Board structure & oversight; Incentive structure; Systemic risk management
G	CorpCondInt	Business Ethics; Tax Transparency; Public Policy; cross-cutting compliance and controversy indicators	GRI: Anti-corruption, Anti-competitive Behaviour, Tax, Socioeconomic Compliance, Procurement Practices, Customer Privacy; ESRS: G1 Business conduct, ESRS 2 Governance disclosures	Leadership & Governance: Business Ethics; Competitive Behaviour; Tax Transparency; Regulatory environment; Social Capital: Customer Privacy; Supply Chain Management
H	ESGIntAss	Overall ESG performance and rating; ESG risk management; data integration; materiality assessment; scenario analysis; reporting & disclosure; controversies	GRI: Material topics and general disclosures; ESRS: ESRS 1 General requirements, ESRS 2 General disclosures and cross-topic matters	Cross-cutting: Topic selection and materiality; Risk Management; Data security & reporting across all SASB dimensions
H	SDFrame	SDG alignment; impact investing; reporting frameworks; ESG taxonomies and standards alignment	GRI: SDG mapping and sector-specific standards; ESRS: references to EU Taxonomy and SDGs, interoperability guidance	Cross-cutting: SDG alignment; Impact metrics; Framework mapping (e.g. GRI / SASB / TCFD)
H	SysSustMod	Circular economy; holistic supply chain sustainability; just transition and socio-ecological transformation	GRI: Materials, Waste, Economic, Social topics; ESRS: E5 Resource use and circular economy, S1–S4 social standards	Environment: Resource Efficiency & Waste; Social Capital: Community Relations; Human Capital: Labor Practices; Business Model & Innovation

Table A1. Conceptual crosswalk between the ESG-RFM (pillar–theme; abbreviations per Table A3) and representative topics in MSCI, GRI, ESRS and SASB. Multiple upstream issues can map to a single KG4ESG theme and vice versa. Wording in the right-hand columns is summarised and does not reproduce the original frameworks.

Pillar	Theme	MSCI key issues (representative)	GRI / ESRS topics (representative)	SASB issue categories (representative)
E	ClimChg	Carbon Emissions; Climate Change Vulnerability; Financing Environmental Impact; Product Carbon Footprint	GRI: GRI 102: Climate Change 2025; GRI 103: Energy 2025 (legacy: GRI 302/305, GRI 201-2); ESRS: E1 Climate change (transition and physical risks, decarbonisation)	Environment: GHG Emissions; Energy Management; Physical impacts of climate change
E	NatCap	Biodiversity & Land Use; Raw Material Sourcing; Water Stress; Materials Use & Resource Efficiency (via resource-related indicators)	GRI: Materials, Water and Effluents, Biodiversity, Supplier Environmental Assessment; ESRS: E3 Water and marine resources, E4 Biodiversity and ecosystems, E5 Resource use and circular economy, S2 Workers in the value chain	Environment: Water & Wastewater Management; Ecological Impacts; Resource Efficiency; Supply Chain Management
E	PolWasCiru	Toxic Emissions & Waste; Packaging Material & Waste; Electronic Waste; cross-cutting compliance indicators	GRI: Emissions, Waste, Environmental Compliance; ESRS: E2 Pollution, E5 Resource use and circular economy	Environment: Air Quality; Waste & Hazardous Materials Management; Product Design & Lifecycle Management
E	SustSolTech	Opportunities in Clean Tech; Opportunities in Renewable Energy; Opportunities in Green Building	GRI: Energy, Emissions, Indirect Economic Impacts; ESRS: E1 Climate change, E5 Resource use and circular economy	Environment: GHG Emissions; Energy Management; Business Model & Innovation (low-carbon products)
S	HumCap	Health & Safety; Human Capital Development; Labor Management; Supply Chain Labor Standards (plus diversity- and job-quality-related metrics)	GRI: Employment, Labour/Management Relations, Occupational Health and Safety, Training and Education, Diversity and Equal Opportunity, Non-discrimination, Market Presence, Supplier Social Assessment; ESRS: S1 Own workforce, S2 Workers in the value chain	Human Capital: Employee Health & Safety; Labor Practices; Employee Engagement, Diversity & Inclusion; Supply Chain Management
S	ProdRespCustSafe	Chemical Safety; Consumer Financial Protection; Privacy & Data Security; Product Safety & Quality; Health & Demographic Risk; Responsible Marketing & Product Labeling; Responsible Investment	GRI: Product Quality and Safety, Marketing and Labeling, Customer Health and Safety, Customer Privacy, Financial sector supplements; ESRS: S4 Consumers and end-users, E2 Pollution (hazardous substances)	Social Capital: Product Quality & Safety; Customer Welfare; Customer Privacy; Access & Affordability; Leadership & Governance (Financials)
S	ComRigRisks	Community Relations; Controversial Sourcing; human-rights-related factors across social key issues	GRI: Local Communities, Human Rights series, Supplier Social Assessment; ESRS: S2 Workers in the value chain, S3 Affected communities	Social Capital: Human Rights & Community Relations; Supply Chain Management
S	IncSolSocAcc	Access to Finance; Access to Health Care; Access to Communications; Opportunities in Nutrition & Health	GRI: Product and Service Labelling, Indirect Economic Impacts, sector standards (financial, health, telecom); ESRS: S3 Affected communities, S4 Consumers and end-users	Social Capital: Access & Affordability; Product Quality & Safety; Business Model & Innovation (inclusive products)
G	CorpGov	Board; Pay; Ownership & Control; Accounting	GRI: Governance structure and composition, Remuneration; ESRS: ESRS 2 General disclosures (governance)	Leadership & Governance: Board structure & oversight; Incentive structure; Systemic risk management
G	CorpCondInt	Business Ethics; Tax Transparency; Public Policy; cross-cutting compliance and controversy indicators	GRI: Anti-corruption, Anti-competitive Behaviour, Tax, Socioeconomic Compliance, Procurement Practices, Customer Privacy; ESRS: G1 Business conduct, ESRS 2 Governance disclosures	Leadership & Governance: Business Ethics; Competitive Behaviour; Tax Transparency; Regulatory environment; Social Capital: Customer Privacy; Supply Chain Management
H	ESGIntAss	Overall ESG performance and rating; ESG risk management; data integration; materiality assessment; scenario analysis; reporting & disclosure; controversies	GRI: Material topics and general disclosures; ESRS: ESRS 1 General requirements, ESRS 2 General disclosures and cross-topic matters	Cross-cutting: Topic selection and materiality; Risk Management; Data security & reporting across all SASB dimensions
H	SDFrame	SDG alignment; impact investing; reporting frameworks; ESG taxonomies and standards alignment	GRI: SDG mapping and sector-specific standards; ESRS: references to EU Taxonomy and SDGs, interoperability guidance	Cross-cutting: SDG alignment; Impact metrics; Framework mapping (e.g. GRI / SASB / TCFD)
H	SysSustMod	Circular economy; holistic supply chain sustainability; just transition and socio-ecological transformation	GRI: Materials, Waste, Economic, Social topics; ESRS: E5 Resource use and circular economy, S1–S4 social standards	Environment: Resource Efficiency & Waste; Social Capital: Community Relations; Human Capital: Labor Practices; Business Model & Innovation

Figure A2. The ESG Research Focus Map (ESG-RFM). The map organizes ESG research into a three-level hierarchy of pillars, themes, and research focus, integrating ESG rating methodologies and reporting standards to provide a unified semantic structure for corpus annotation, cross-study comparison, and downstream knowledge graph construction.

Figure A2. The ESG Research Focus Map (ESG-RFM). The map organizes ESG research into a three-level hierarchy of pillars, themes, and research focus, integrating ESG rating methodologies and reporting standards to provide a unified semantic structure for corpus annotation, cross-study comparison, and downstream knowledge graph construction.

Appendix C.4. Focus-Level Mapping Between the ESG-RFM and ESG Frameworks

Appendix C.5. Focus-Level Mapping Between the ESG-RFM and ESG Frameworks

At the focus level, the ESG-RFM becomes more granular. In what follows, each focus is linked to the closest upstream topics across the four frameworks. MSCI ESG key issues remain the main starting point for issuer-level topics, but for many focus areas—especially social sub-topics and holistic concepts such as dual materiality or just transition—the most informative upstream anchors come from GRI, ESRS or SASB rather than from a single MSCI key issue. The long table below provides a compact, non-exhaustive crosswalk. Where no dedicated MSCI key issue exists, the MSCI column explicitly notes that the concept is covered via cross-cutting metrics or through several key issues combined.

Table A2. Focus-level crosswalk between the ESG-RFM (pillar–theme–focus) and representative topics in MSCI, GRI, ESRS and SASB. Multiple upstream issues can map to a single KG4ESG focus area and vice versa. Wording in the right-hand columns is summarized and does not reproduce the original frameworks.

Pillar	Theme	Focus	MSCI topics (representative)	GRI / ESRS topics (representative)	SASB issue categories (representative)
E	ClimChg	GHG	Carbon Emissions; (partly) Product Carbon Footprint	GRI 102: Climate Change 2025; GRI 103: Energy 2025 (legacy: GRI 302: Energy; GRI 305: Emissions); ESRS E1 Climate change (GHG emissions, energy use)	Environment: GHG Emissions; Energy Management
E	ClimChg	PhysClimRisk	Climate Change Vulnerability	GRI 201: Economic Performance (climate-related financial implications; legacy: GRI 201-2); GRI 102: Climate Change 2025; ESRS E1 Climate change (physical risks, scenario analysis)	Environment: Physical impacts of climate change; cross-cutting climate risk metrics
E	ClimChg	ClimFin	Financing Environmental Impact	GRI 201: Economic Performance; GRI 203: Indirect Economic Impacts; GRI 102: Climate Change 2025; ESRS E1 Climate change (transition plans, financed emissions); ESRS E5 Resource use and circular economy (green finance for circular solutions)	Environment & Business Model/Innovation: GHG Emissions and Energy Management for financed activities; Product Design & Lifecycle for green products
E	ClimChg	EnergyMix	Primarily captured within Carbon Emissions key issue (energy intensity and fuel mix metrics)	GRI 103: Energy 2025; GRI 102: Climate Change 2025 (legacy: GRI 302/305); ESRS E1 Climate change (energy consumption and mix)	Environment: Energy Management; Fuel Management
E	ClimChg	ProdFoot	Product Carbon Footprint	GRI 102: Climate Change 2025 (value-chain emissions); GRI 301: Materials (legacy: GRI 305: Emissions); ESRS E1 Climate change (value-chain emissions)	Environment & Business Model/Innovation: GHG Emissions; Product Design & Lifecycle Management
E	NatCap	BiodivLU	Biodiversity & Land Use	GRI 304: Biodiversity; ESRS E4 Biodiversity and ecosystems	Environment: Ecological Impacts
E	NatCap	RawSrc	Raw Material Sourcing	GRI 301: Materials; GRI 204: Procurement Practices; GRI 308: Supplier Environmental Assessment; ESRS E5 Resource use and circular economy; ESRS S2 Workers in the value chain	Environment & Social Capital: Ecological Impacts; Supply Chain Management
E	NatCap	ResUseMatEff	Raw Material Sourcing; (indirectly) Electronic Waste and Packaging Material & Waste where resource efficiency affects downstream waste	GRI 301: Materials; GRI 302: Energy; GRI 306: Waste; ESRS E5 Resource use and circular economy	Environment & Business Model/Innovation: Waste & Hazardous Materials Management; Product Design & Lifecycle Management
E	NatCap	SuppEnvDD	No dedicated key issue; mainly reflected through Raw Material Sourcing, Electronic Waste and sector-specific supply-chain indicators across the Environmental pillar	GRI 308: Supplier Environmental Assessment; GRI 204: Procurement Practices; ESRS E2–E5 environmental standards and ESRS S2 Workers in the value chain	Environment & Social Capital: Supply Chain Management; Ecological Impacts
E	NatCap	WaterSS	Water Stress	GRI 303: Water and Effluents; ESRS E3 Water and marine resources	Environment: Water & Wastewater Management
E	PolWasCiru	EWaste	Electronic Waste	GRI 301: Materials; GRI 306: Waste; GRI 303: Water and Effluents (where relevant); ESRS E2 Pollution; ESRS E5 Resource use and circular economy	Environment: Waste & Hazardous Materials Management; Product Design & Lifecycle Management
E	PolWasCiru	PackWaste	Packaging Material & Waste	GRI 301: Materials; GRI 306: Waste; ESRS E2 Pollution; ESRS E5 Resource use and circular economy	Environment: Waste & Hazardous Materials Management; Product Design & Lifecycle Management
E	PolWasCiru	EnvComp	No single dedicated key issue; environmental compliance and management systems are cross-cutting metrics used to assess performance on all Environmental key issues	GRI 307: Environmental Compliance; GRI 305: Emissions; GRI 306: Waste; ESRS 2 General disclosures (compliance with laws and regulations); ESRS E2 Pollution	Environment & Leadership/Governance: Air Quality; Waste & Hazardous Materials Management; Systemic risk and compliance management
E	PolWasCiru	HazWaste	Toxic Emissions & Waste	GRI 305: Emissions; GRI 306: Waste; GRI 303: Water and Effluents; GRI 307: Environmental Compliance; ESRS E2 Pollution	Environment: Air Quality; Waste & Hazardous Materials Management
E	SustSolTech	CleanTech	Opportunities in Clean Tech	GRI 302: Energy; GRI 305: Emissions; GRI 201: Economic Performance (green revenues); ESRS E1 Climate change (transition plans, low-carbon products); ESRS E5 Resource use and circular economy	Environment & Business Model/Innovation: GHG Emissions; Energy Management; Product Design & Lifecycle Management (low-carbon solutions)
E	SustSolTech	GreenBldg	Opportunities in Green Building	GRI 302: Energy; GRI 305: Emissions; GRI 303: Water and Effluents; GRI 306: Waste; ESRS E1 Climate change (building energy performance); ESRS E3 Water and marine resources; ESRS E5 Resource use and circular economy	Environment: Energy Management; Water & Wastewater Management; Waste & Hazardous Materials Management; Business Model/Innovation: Product Design & Lifecycle Management (building design)
E	SustSolTech	ReEneg	Opportunities in Renewable Energy	GRI 302: Energy; GRI 305: Emissions; GRI 201: Economic Performance (renewable investments); ESRS E1 Climate change (renewable energy generation and use)	Environment: GHG Emissions; Energy Management; Business Model/Innovation: Product Design & Lifecycle Management (renewable offerings)
S	HumCap	OHS	Health & Safety	GRI 403: Occupational Health and Safety; GRI 401: Employment; ESRS S1 Own workforce (health and safety); ESRS S2 Workers in the value chain (OHS in supply chains)	Human Capital: Employee Health & Safety
S	HumCap	LearnDev	Human Capital Development	GRI 404: Training and Education; GRI 401: Employment; ESRS S1 Own workforce (skills, training, career development)	Human Capital: Labor Practices; Employee Engagement, Diversity & Inclusion (training, retention)
S	HumCap	WorkManRel	Labor Management	GRI 402: Labour/Management Relations; GRI 401: Employment; ESRS S1 Own workforce; ESRS S2 Workers in the value chain	Human Capital: Labor Practices; Employee Engagement, Diversity & Inclusion
S	HumCap	JobQual	No dedicated key issue; mainly reflected in Health & Safety and Labor Management key issues and related Human Capital metrics	GRI 401: Employment; GRI 403: Occupational Health and Safety; GRI 404: Training and Education; ESRS S1 Own workforce (fair wages, work conditions)	Human Capital: Labor Practices; Employee Health & Safety; Employee Engagement, Diversity & Inclusion
S	HumCap	DEI	Assessed as part of Human Capital theme (e.g. workforce diversity metrics under Labor Management and Human Capital Development)	GRI 405: Diversity and Equal Opportunity; GRI 406: Non-discrimination; ESRS S1 Own workforce (diversity, equal treatment)	Human Capital: Employee Engagement, Diversity & Inclusion
S	HumCap	FoACollB	Assessed primarily within Labor Management key issue (unionization, collective bargaining) and related controversy indicators	GRI 407: Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining; GRI 402: Labour/Management Relations; ESRS S1 Own workforce and ESRS S2 Workers in the value chain (freedom of association and CB)	Human Capital & Social Capital: Labor Practices; Supply Chain Management
S	HumCap	LocHirMarPre	Addressed through market-presence and employment-related metrics within the Human Capital theme, rather than a standalone key issue	GRI 202: Market Presence; GRI 203: Indirect Economic Impacts; GRI 401: Employment; ESRS S1 Own workforce; ESRS S3 Affected communities	Human Capital & Social Capital: Labor Practices; Human Rights & Community Relations
S	HumCap	LabStanSC	Supply Chain Labor Standards	GRI 414: Supplier Social Assessment; GRI 408: Child Labor; GRI 409: Forced or Compulsory Labour; ESRS S2 Workers in the value chain; ESRS S3 Affected communities	Social Capital & Human Capital: Supply Chain Management; Human Rights & Community Relations
S	ProdRespCustSafe	ChemSafe	Chemical Safety	GRI 416: Customer Health and Safety; GRI 306: Waste; GRI 303: Water and Effluents (discharges of hazardous substances); ESRS E2 Pollution; ESRS S4 Consumers and end-users	Environment & Social Capital: Waste & Hazardous Materials Management; Product Quality & Safety; Customer Welfare
S	ProdRespCustSafe	FinProt	Consumer Financial Protection	GRI 416: Customer Health and Safety; GRI 417: Marketing and Labeling; GRI 418: Customer Privacy; financial sector GRI supplements; ESRS S4 Consumers and end-users (fair treatment, product suitability)	Social Capital: Customer Welfare; Product Quality & Safety; Customer Privacy & Data Security
S	ProdRespCustSafe	DataSec	Privacy & Data Security	GRI 418: Customer Privacy; GRI 419: Socioeconomic Compliance (for data-related fines); ESRS S4 Consumers and end-users (privacy, security); ESRS G1 Business conduct (data and digital ethics)	Social Capital & Leadership/Governance: Customer Privacy; Data Security; Business Ethics
S	ProdRespCustSafe	ProdQual	Product Safety & Quality	GRI 416: Customer Health and Safety; GRI 417: Marketing and Labelling; ESRS S4 Consumers and end-users (product safety and quality)	Social Capital: Product Quality & Safety; Customer Welfare; Selling Practices & Product Labeling
S	ProdRespCustSafe	HealVuln	Health & Demographic Risk	GRI 416: Customer Health and Safety; GRI 203: Indirect Economic Impacts; GRI 413: Local Communities; ESRS S3 Affected communities; ESRS S4 Consumers and end-users	Social Capital: Customer Welfare; Human Rights & Community Relations
S	ProdRespCustSafe	RespMkt	Responsible Marketing & Product Labeling	GRI 417: Marketing and Labeling; GRI 416: Customer Health and Safety; ESRS S4 Consumers and end-users (marketing, communication, fair treatment)	Social Capital: Selling Practices & Product Labeling; Customer Welfare
S	ProdRespCustSafe	RSInv	Responsible Investment	GRI 201: Economic Performance; GRI 203: Indirect Economic Impacts; financial-sector GRI standards; ESRS E1–E5 and S1–S4 as underlying sustainability impacts considered in investment products	Cross-cutting across SASB dimensions for financials (e.g. GHG Emissions, Customer Welfare, Human Capital, Business Ethics)
S	ComRigRisks	ComRel	Community Relations	GRI 413: Local Communities; GRI 411: Rights of Indigenous Peoples; ESRS S3 Affected communities	Social Capital: Human Rights & Community Relations
S	ComRigRisks	HRDD	Addressed across Social key issues (e.g. Labor Management, Supply Chain Labor Standards, Community Relations) rather than a single named key issue	GRI 408: Child Labor; GRI 409: Forced or Compulsory Labor; GRI 410: Security Practices; GRI 414: Supplier Social Assessment; ESRS S1–S3 social standards; ESRS G1 Business conduct	Social Capital & Human Capital: Human Rights & Community Relations; Labor Practices; Supply Chain Management
S	ComRigRisks	RiskSrc	Controversial Sourcing	GRI 204: Procurement Practices; GRI 308: Supplier Environmental Assessment; GRI 414: Supplier Social Assessment; ESRS S2 Workers in the value chain; ESRS S3 Affected communities; ESRS E3/E5 (high-risk raw materials)	Environment & Social Capital: Supply Chain Management; Ecological Impacts; Human Rights & Community Relations
S	IncSolSocAcc	FinAcc	Access to Finance	GRI 203: Indirect Economic Impacts; GRI 416: Customer Health and Safety; sector-specific financial services Standards; ESRS S4 Consumers and end-users (access and affordability of financial services)	Social Capital: Access & Affordability; Customer Welfare
S	IncSolSocAcc	HealAcc	Access to Health Care	GRI 416: Customer Health and Safety; GRI 203: Indirect Economic Impacts; GRI 413: Local Communities; ESRS S3 Affected communities; ESRS S4 Consumers and end-users	Social Capital: Access & Affordability; Customer Welfare; Product Quality & Safety
S	IncSolSocAcc	DigIncl	Access to Communications	GRI 203: Indirect Economic Impacts; GRI 413: Local Communities; GRI 416: Customer Health and Safety; ESRS S1 Own workforce (digital inclusion of employees); ESRS S4 Consumers and end-users (digital access, inclusion)	Social Capital: Access & Affordability; Customer Welfare; Data Security
S	IncSolSocAcc	NutriHeal	Opportunities in Nutrition & Health	GRI 416: Customer Health and Safety; GRI 203: Indirect Economic Impacts; GRI 413: Local Communities; ESRS S3 Affected communities; ESRS S4 Consumers and end-users	Social Capital: Customer Welfare; Access & Affordability; Product Quality & Safety
G	CorpGov	BoardOvr	Board	GRI 2: General Disclosures (governance structure and composition); ESRS 2 General disclosures (governance, strategy and management of impacts and risks)	Leadership & Governance: Board structure and oversight; Systemic risk management
G	CorpGov	ExecPay	Pay	GRI 2: General Disclosures (remuneration policies and practices); GRI 201: Economic Performance (links to variable remuneration); ESRS 2 General disclosures (incentives linked to sustainability performance)	Leadership & Governance: Incentive and remuneration alignment; Business Ethics
G	CorpGov	OwnCtrl	Ownership & Control	GRI 2: General Disclosures (ownership and control); GRI 207: Tax (transparency on structures); ESRS 2 General disclosures; ESRS G1 Business conduct (transparency, beneficial ownership)	Leadership & Governance: Business Ethics; Competitive Behavior; Systemic risk management
G	CorpGov	FinRepQ	Accounting	GRI 201: Economic Performance; GRI 2: General Disclosures (internal controls, audit, governance); ESRS 1 General requirements and ESRS 2 General disclosures (link between sustainability and financial information)	Leadership & Governance: Systemic risk management; Business Ethics
G	CorpCondInt	EthicsAC	Business Ethics	GRI 205: Anti-corruption; GRI 206: Anti-competitive Behavior; GRI 419: Socioeconomic Compliance; ESRS G1 Business conduct	Leadership & Governance: Business Ethics; Competitive Behavior; Systemic risk management
G	CorpCondInt	TaxTrans	Tax Transparency	GRI 207: Tax; GRI 201: Economic Performance; GRI 419: Socioeconomic Compliance; ESRS G1 Business conduct (tax governance, country-by-country reporting)	Leadership & Governance: Business Ethics (tax planning and transparency); Systemic risk management
G	CorpCondInt	PolEngage	Public Policy	GRI 415: Public Policy; GRI 201: Economic Performance (public subsidies); GRI 419: Socioeconomic Compliance; ESRS G1 Business conduct; ESRS 2 General disclosures (lobbying, political engagement)	Leadership & Governance: Business Ethics; Systemic risk management; Social Capital: Human Rights & Community Relations (policy impacts)
G	CorpCondInt	RegComp	Reflected through cross-cutting compliance indicators rather than a named key issue (e.g. fines and controversies across Environmental, Social and Governance topics)	GRI 419: Socioeconomic Compliance; GRI 307: Environmental Compliance; GRI 2-27: Compliance with laws and regulations; ESRS 2 General disclosures (compliance and litigation)	Leadership & Governance: Business Ethics; Systemic risk and compliance management
G	CorpCondInt	RespProc	Assessed mainly through Community Relations, Raw Material Sourcing and Supply Chain Labor Standards key issues, depending on impact type	GRI 204: Procurement Practices; GRI 308: Supplier Environmental Assessment; GRI 414: Supplier Social Assessment; GRI 413: Local Communities; ESRS S2 Workers in the value chain; ESRS E5 Resource use and circular economy	Environment, Human Capital & Social Capital: Supply Chain Management; Human Rights & Community Relations
G	CorpCondInt	FairComp	Covered primarily within Business Ethics key issue (anti-competitive conduct, market abuse) and related controversy indicators	GRI 206: Anti-competitive Behavior; GRI 205: Anti-corruption; ESRS G1 Business conduct	Leadership & Governance: Competitive Behavior; Business Ethics
G	CorpCondInt	Whistle	Included within Business Ethics key issue (whistleblower mechanisms, retaliation risks) and across governance controversy indicators	GRI 2: General Disclosures (ethics, integrity, speaking up); GRI 205: Anti-corruption; GRI 406: Non-discrimination; ESRS G1 Business conduct	Leadership & Governance: Business Ethics; Systemic risk and compliance management
G	CorpCondInt	AIEthics	Most closely linked to Privacy & Data Security and Business Ethics key issues, as well as to emerging “digital responsibility” assessments in ESG ratings	GRI 418: Customer Privacy; GRI 416: Customer Health and Safety (digital products); GRI 205: Anti-corruption; ESRS S4 Consumers and end-users (digital services, privacy and safety); ESRS G1 Business conduct (AI and digital conduct)	Social Capital & Leadership/Governance: Customer Privacy; Data Security; Business Ethics
H	ESGIntAss	ESGRate	Overall MSCI ESG rating derived from the full set of Environmental, Social and Governance key issues	GRI 1: Foundation; GRI 2: General Disclosures; GRI 3: Material Topics; full suite of topic Standards; ESRS 1 General requirements; ESRS 2 General disclosures	Cross-cutting across all Environment, Social Capital, Human Capital, Business Model & Innovation, and Leadership & Governance issues
H	ESGIntAss	ESGData	Data architecture and aggregation rules underlying the ESG Ratings methodology rather than a discrete key issue	GRI 2: General Disclosures (data quality, boundaries, restatements); GRI 3: Material Topics; ESRS 2 General disclosures (data, estimates, and value-chain coverage)	Leadership & Governance: Systemic risk management and disclosure quality; cross-cutting use of SASB indicators
H	ESGIntAss	EconImp	Indirect economic and social effects captured across E, S and G key issues (e.g. community impacts, employment, innovation) rather than a separate key issue	GRI 201: Economic Performance; GRI 203: Indirect Economic Impacts; GRI 204: Procurement Practices; ESRS E1–E5 and S1–S4 (impacts, risks and opportunities on economy and society)	Cross-cutting: Business Model & Innovation (economic resilience); Social Capital and Human Capital (distributional and community effects)
H	ESGIntAss	DualMat	Internal process for issue weighting and materiality mapping that determines the selection and weight of key issues in the overall rating	GRI 3: Material Topics (materiality determination); GRI 1: Foundation (impact materiality); ESRS 1 General requirements (double materiality) and ESRS 2 General disclosures (material impacts, risks and opportunities)	All SASB dimensions, via the SASB Materiality Map used to identify financially material issues
H	ESGIntAss	ESGScen	Climate and ESG risk assessment embedded in key issues such as Carbon Emissions, Climate Change Vulnerability, Business Ethics and others	GRI Climate Change and Energy Standards (GRI 102 Climate Change 2025 and revised GRI 302/305); GRI 201: Economic Performance (climate-related financial implications); ESRS E1 Climate change (risk and scenario analysis) and other topical ESRS standards	Environment & Leadership/Governance: Physical impacts of climate change; Systemic risk management; cross-cutting risk metrics
H	ESGIntAss	ESGRept	Underlying disclosure coverage and transparency assessments across all key issues and pillars	GRI 1, GRI 2 and GRI 3 (overall reporting architecture); all topic Standards; ESRS 1 General requirements; ESRS 2 General disclosures	Cross-cutting: all SASB issues to the extent disclosed using SASB metrics and narrative
H	ESGIntAss	GreenWH	Reflected mainly in Business Ethics and ESG controversy indicators (misleading claims, selective disclosure, controversies on sustainability claims)	GRI 2-22 and 2-27 (sustainable development strategy and compliance); GRI 417: Marketing and Labelling; GRI 419: Socioeconomic Compliance; ESRS 2 General disclosures; ESRS G1 Business conduct	Leadership & Governance: Business Ethics; Social Capital: Selling Practices & Product Labelling; Systemic risk and reputation management
H	ESGIntAss	ESGIncid	MSCI ESG Controversies framework, which flags incidents across all Environmental, Social and Governance key issues	GRI 2-27: Compliance with laws and regulations; GRI 307: Environmental Compliance; GRI 419: Socioeconomic Compliance; ESRS 2 General disclosures (incidents, severe impacts) and topical ESRS incident-related requirements	Cross-cutting across all SASB issues, captured via incident, controversy and regulatory metrics
H	SDFrame	SDGs	MSCI SDG-alignment analytics linking key issues and revenues to SDG targets	GRI SDG mapping guidance (linking topic Standards to SDGs); ESRS references to EU Taxonomy and SDG alignment in ESRS 1 and ESRS 2	Cross-cutting: SASB SDG mapping linking general issue categories and industry metrics to SDG targets
H	SDFrame	ImpInv	MSCI impact and thematic ESG indexes and solutions derived from key issue exposures (e.g. climate, natural capital, social themes)	GRI 201: Economic Performance; GRI 203: Indirect Economic Impacts; sector-specific financial services Standards; ESRS E1–E5 and S1–S4 as impact lenses for investment products	Cross-cutting: environment, social and governance issues that underpin impact investing taxonomies and metrics
H	SDFrame	ReptStd	Considered as upstream frameworks informing MSCI data inputs and methodologies rather than key issues per se	GRI 1, GRI 2, GRI 3 and all topic Standards (full GRI architecture); ESRS 1 and ESRS 2 as the EU sustainability reporting baseline	All SASB industry-specific Standards and general issue categories, used as reporting and disclosure benchmarks
H	SDFrame	TaxMap	Internal mapping of MSCI key issues to regulations and taxonomies (e.g. EU Taxonomy, SFDR), used in product construction	GRI taxonomy of topics; ESRS references to EU Taxonomy and other frameworks (in ESRS 1 and topical appendices)	Cross-cutting mapping between SASB issues, SDGs, TCFD and other sustainability frameworks
H	SysSustMod	CircLoop	Reflected mainly in Raw Material Sourcing, Electronic Waste, Packaging Material & Waste and related key issues on resource efficiency	GRI 301: Materials; GRI 306: Waste; GRI 303: Water and Effluents; GRI 305: Emissions; ESRS E5 Resource use and circular economy	Environment & Business Model/Innovation: Waste & Hazardous Materials Management; Product Design & Lifecycle Management; Resource efficiency
H	SysSustMod	JustTrans	Cross-cutting across Carbon Emissions, Climate Change Vulnerability, Supply Chain Labor Standards and Community Relations key issues (transition impacts on workers and communities)	GRI 201: Economic Performance; GRI 203: Indirect Economic Impacts; GRI 413: Local Communities; GRI 408/409 on labour rights; ESRS E1 Climate change (just transition references); ESRS S1–S3 social standards	Environment, Human Capital & Social Capital: GHG Emissions; Labor Practices; Human Rights & Community Relations
H	SysSustMod	SCSust	Combination of Raw Material Sourcing, Supply Chain Labor Standards, Electronic Waste, Packaging Material & Waste, Controversial Sourcing and other value-chain key issues	GRI 204: Procurement Practices; GRI 308: Supplier Environmental Assessment; GRI 414: Supplier Social Assessment; GRI 303, 305 and 306 for environmental impacts; ESRS S2 Workers in the value chain; ESRS S3 Affected communities; ESRS E2–E5 environmental standards	Environment, Human Capital & Social Capital: Supply Chain Management; Ecological Impacts; Human Rights & Community Relations

Table A2. Focus-level crosswalk between the ESG-RFM (pillar–theme–focus) and representative topics in MSCI, GRI, ESRS and SASB. Multiple upstream issues can map to a single KG4ESG focus area and vice versa. Wording in the right-hand columns is summarized and does not reproduce the original frameworks.

Pillar	Theme	Focus	MSCI topics (representative)	GRI / ESRS topics (representative)	SASB issue categories (representative)
E	ClimChg	GHG	Carbon Emissions; (partly) Product Carbon Footprint	GRI 102: Climate Change 2025; GRI 103: Energy 2025 (legacy: GRI 302: Energy; GRI 305: Emissions); ESRS E1 Climate change (GHG emissions, energy use)	Environment: GHG Emissions; Energy Management
E	ClimChg	PhysClimRisk	Climate Change Vulnerability	GRI 201: Economic Performance (climate-related financial implications; legacy: GRI 201-2); GRI 102: Climate Change 2025; ESRS E1 Climate change (physical risks, scenario analysis)	Environment: Physical impacts of climate change; cross-cutting climate risk metrics
E	ClimChg	ClimFin	Financing Environmental Impact	GRI 201: Economic Performance; GRI 203: Indirect Economic Impacts; GRI 102: Climate Change 2025; ESRS E1 Climate change (transition plans, financed emissions); ESRS E5 Resource use and circular economy (green finance for circular solutions)	Environment & Business Model/Innovation: GHG Emissions and Energy Management for financed activities; Product Design & Lifecycle for green products
E	ClimChg	EnergyMix	Primarily captured within Carbon Emissions key issue (energy intensity and fuel mix metrics)	GRI 103: Energy 2025; GRI 102: Climate Change 2025 (legacy: GRI 302/305); ESRS E1 Climate change (energy consumption and mix)	Environment: Energy Management; Fuel Management
E	ClimChg	ProdFoot	Product Carbon Footprint	GRI 102: Climate Change 2025 (value-chain emissions); GRI 301: Materials (legacy: GRI 305: Emissions); ESRS E1 Climate change (value-chain emissions)	Environment & Business Model/Innovation: GHG Emissions; Product Design & Lifecycle Management
E	NatCap	BiodivLU	Biodiversity & Land Use	GRI 304: Biodiversity; ESRS E4 Biodiversity and ecosystems	Environment: Ecological Impacts
E	NatCap	RawSrc	Raw Material Sourcing	GRI 301: Materials; GRI 204: Procurement Practices; GRI 308: Supplier Environmental Assessment; ESRS E5 Resource use and circular economy; ESRS S2 Workers in the value chain	Environment & Social Capital: Ecological Impacts; Supply Chain Management
E	NatCap	ResUseMatEff	Raw Material Sourcing; (indirectly) Electronic Waste and Packaging Material & Waste where resource efficiency affects downstream waste	GRI 301: Materials; GRI 302: Energy; GRI 306: Waste; ESRS E5 Resource use and circular economy	Environment & Business Model/Innovation: Waste & Hazardous Materials Management; Product Design & Lifecycle Management
E	NatCap	SuppEnvDD	No dedicated key issue; mainly reflected through Raw Material Sourcing, Electronic Waste and sector-specific supply-chain indicators across the Environmental pillar	GRI 308: Supplier Environmental Assessment; GRI 204: Procurement Practices; ESRS E2–E5 environmental standards and ESRS S2 Workers in the value chain	Environment & Social Capital: Supply Chain Management; Ecological Impacts
E	NatCap	WaterSS	Water Stress	GRI 303: Water and Effluents; ESRS E3 Water and marine resources	Environment: Water & Wastewater Management
E	PolWasCiru	EWaste	Electronic Waste	GRI 301: Materials; GRI 306: Waste; GRI 303: Water and Effluents (where relevant); ESRS E2 Pollution; ESRS E5 Resource use and circular economy	Environment: Waste & Hazardous Materials Management; Product Design & Lifecycle Management
E	PolWasCiru	PackWaste	Packaging Material & Waste	GRI 301: Materials; GRI 306: Waste; ESRS E2 Pollution; ESRS E5 Resource use and circular economy	Environment: Waste & Hazardous Materials Management; Product Design & Lifecycle Management
E	PolWasCiru	EnvComp	No single dedicated key issue; environmental compliance and management systems are cross-cutting metrics used to assess performance on all Environmental key issues	GRI 307: Environmental Compliance; GRI 305: Emissions; GRI 306: Waste; ESRS 2 General disclosures (compliance with laws and regulations); ESRS E2 Pollution	Environment & Leadership/Governance: Air Quality; Waste & Hazardous Materials Management; Systemic risk and compliance management
E	PolWasCiru	HazWaste	Toxic Emissions & Waste	GRI 305: Emissions; GRI 306: Waste; GRI 303: Water and Effluents; GRI 307: Environmental Compliance; ESRS E2 Pollution	Environment: Air Quality; Waste & Hazardous Materials Management
E	SustSolTech	CleanTech	Opportunities in Clean Tech	GRI 302: Energy; GRI 305: Emissions; GRI 201: Economic Performance (green revenues); ESRS E1 Climate change (transition plans, low-carbon products); ESRS E5 Resource use and circular economy	Environment & Business Model/Innovation: GHG Emissions; Energy Management; Product Design & Lifecycle Management (low-carbon solutions)
E	SustSolTech	GreenBldg	Opportunities in Green Building	GRI 302: Energy; GRI 305: Emissions; GRI 303: Water and Effluents; GRI 306: Waste; ESRS E1 Climate change (building energy performance); ESRS E3 Water and marine resources; ESRS E5 Resource use and circular economy	Environment: Energy Management; Water & Wastewater Management; Waste & Hazardous Materials Management; Business Model/Innovation: Product Design & Lifecycle Management (building design)
E	SustSolTech	ReEneg	Opportunities in Renewable Energy	GRI 302: Energy; GRI 305: Emissions; GRI 201: Economic Performance (renewable investments); ESRS E1 Climate change (renewable energy generation and use)	Environment: GHG Emissions; Energy Management; Business Model/Innovation: Product Design & Lifecycle Management (renewable offerings)
S	HumCap	OHS	Health & Safety	GRI 403: Occupational Health and Safety; GRI 401: Employment; ESRS S1 Own workforce (health and safety); ESRS S2 Workers in the value chain (OHS in supply chains)	Human Capital: Employee Health & Safety
S	HumCap	LearnDev	Human Capital Development	GRI 404: Training and Education; GRI 401: Employment; ESRS S1 Own workforce (skills, training, career development)	Human Capital: Labor Practices; Employee Engagement, Diversity & Inclusion (training, retention)
S	HumCap	WorkManRel	Labor Management	GRI 402: Labour/Management Relations; GRI 401: Employment; ESRS S1 Own workforce; ESRS S2 Workers in the value chain	Human Capital: Labor Practices; Employee Engagement, Diversity & Inclusion
S	HumCap	JobQual	No dedicated key issue; mainly reflected in Health & Safety and Labor Management key issues and related Human Capital metrics	GRI 401: Employment; GRI 403: Occupational Health and Safety; GRI 404: Training and Education; ESRS S1 Own workforce (fair wages, work conditions)	Human Capital: Labor Practices; Employee Health & Safety; Employee Engagement, Diversity & Inclusion
S	HumCap	DEI	Assessed as part of Human Capital theme (e.g. workforce diversity metrics under Labor Management and Human Capital Development)	GRI 405: Diversity and Equal Opportunity; GRI 406: Non-discrimination; ESRS S1 Own workforce (diversity, equal treatment)	Human Capital: Employee Engagement, Diversity & Inclusion
S	HumCap	FoACollB	Assessed primarily within Labor Management key issue (unionization, collective bargaining) and related controversy indicators	GRI 407: Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining; GRI 402: Labour/Management Relations; ESRS S1 Own workforce and ESRS S2 Workers in the value chain (freedom of association and CB)	Human Capital & Social Capital: Labor Practices; Supply Chain Management
S	HumCap	LocHirMarPre	Addressed through market-presence and employment-related metrics within the Human Capital theme, rather than a standalone key issue	GRI 202: Market Presence; GRI 203: Indirect Economic Impacts; GRI 401: Employment; ESRS S1 Own workforce; ESRS S3 Affected communities	Human Capital & Social Capital: Labor Practices; Human Rights & Community Relations
S	HumCap	LabStanSC	Supply Chain Labor Standards	GRI 414: Supplier Social Assessment; GRI 408: Child Labor; GRI 409: Forced or Compulsory Labour; ESRS S2 Workers in the value chain; ESRS S3 Affected communities	Social Capital & Human Capital: Supply Chain Management; Human Rights & Community Relations
S	ProdRespCustSafe	ChemSafe	Chemical Safety	GRI 416: Customer Health and Safety; GRI 306: Waste; GRI 303: Water and Effluents (discharges of hazardous substances); ESRS E2 Pollution; ESRS S4 Consumers and end-users	Environment & Social Capital: Waste & Hazardous Materials Management; Product Quality & Safety; Customer Welfare
S	ProdRespCustSafe	FinProt	Consumer Financial Protection	GRI 416: Customer Health and Safety; GRI 417: Marketing and Labeling; GRI 418: Customer Privacy; financial sector GRI supplements; ESRS S4 Consumers and end-users (fair treatment, product suitability)	Social Capital: Customer Welfare; Product Quality & Safety; Customer Privacy & Data Security
S	ProdRespCustSafe	DataSec	Privacy & Data Security	GRI 418: Customer Privacy; GRI 419: Socioeconomic Compliance (for data-related fines); ESRS S4 Consumers and end-users (privacy, security); ESRS G1 Business conduct (data and digital ethics)	Social Capital & Leadership/Governance: Customer Privacy; Data Security; Business Ethics
S	ProdRespCustSafe	ProdQual	Product Safety & Quality	GRI 416: Customer Health and Safety; GRI 417: Marketing and Labelling; ESRS S4 Consumers and end-users (product safety and quality)	Social Capital: Product Quality & Safety; Customer Welfare; Selling Practices & Product Labeling
S	ProdRespCustSafe	HealVuln	Health & Demographic Risk	GRI 416: Customer Health and Safety; GRI 203: Indirect Economic Impacts; GRI 413: Local Communities; ESRS S3 Affected communities; ESRS S4 Consumers and end-users	Social Capital: Customer Welfare; Human Rights & Community Relations
S	ProdRespCustSafe	RespMkt	Responsible Marketing & Product Labeling	GRI 417: Marketing and Labeling; GRI 416: Customer Health and Safety; ESRS S4 Consumers and end-users (marketing, communication, fair treatment)	Social Capital: Selling Practices & Product Labeling; Customer Welfare
S	ProdRespCustSafe	RSInv	Responsible Investment	GRI 201: Economic Performance; GRI 203: Indirect Economic Impacts; financial-sector GRI standards; ESRS E1–E5 and S1–S4 as underlying sustainability impacts considered in investment products	Cross-cutting across SASB dimensions for financials (e.g. GHG Emissions, Customer Welfare, Human Capital, Business Ethics)
S	ComRigRisks	ComRel	Community Relations	GRI 413: Local Communities; GRI 411: Rights of Indigenous Peoples; ESRS S3 Affected communities	Social Capital: Human Rights & Community Relations
S	ComRigRisks	HRDD	Addressed across Social key issues (e.g. Labor Management, Supply Chain Labor Standards, Community Relations) rather than a single named key issue	GRI 408: Child Labor; GRI 409: Forced or Compulsory Labor; GRI 410: Security Practices; GRI 414: Supplier Social Assessment; ESRS S1–S3 social standards; ESRS G1 Business conduct	Social Capital & Human Capital: Human Rights & Community Relations; Labor Practices; Supply Chain Management
S	ComRigRisks	RiskSrc	Controversial Sourcing	GRI 204: Procurement Practices; GRI 308: Supplier Environmental Assessment; GRI 414: Supplier Social Assessment; ESRS S2 Workers in the value chain; ESRS S3 Affected communities; ESRS E3/E5 (high-risk raw materials)	Environment & Social Capital: Supply Chain Management; Ecological Impacts; Human Rights & Community Relations
S	IncSolSocAcc	FinAcc	Access to Finance	GRI 203: Indirect Economic Impacts; GRI 416: Customer Health and Safety; sector-specific financial services Standards; ESRS S4 Consumers and end-users (access and affordability of financial services)	Social Capital: Access & Affordability; Customer Welfare
S	IncSolSocAcc	HealAcc	Access to Health Care	GRI 416: Customer Health and Safety; GRI 203: Indirect Economic Impacts; GRI 413: Local Communities; ESRS S3 Affected communities; ESRS S4 Consumers and end-users	Social Capital: Access & Affordability; Customer Welfare; Product Quality & Safety
S	IncSolSocAcc	DigIncl	Access to Communications	GRI 203: Indirect Economic Impacts; GRI 413: Local Communities; GRI 416: Customer Health and Safety; ESRS S1 Own workforce (digital inclusion of employees); ESRS S4 Consumers and end-users (digital access, inclusion)	Social Capital: Access & Affordability; Customer Welfare; Data Security
S	IncSolSocAcc	NutriHeal	Opportunities in Nutrition & Health	GRI 416: Customer Health and Safety; GRI 203: Indirect Economic Impacts; GRI 413: Local Communities; ESRS S3 Affected communities; ESRS S4 Consumers and end-users	Social Capital: Customer Welfare; Access & Affordability; Product Quality & Safety
G	CorpGov	BoardOvr	Board	GRI 2: General Disclosures (governance structure and composition); ESRS 2 General disclosures (governance, strategy and management of impacts and risks)	Leadership & Governance: Board structure and oversight; Systemic risk management
G	CorpGov	ExecPay	Pay	GRI 2: General Disclosures (remuneration policies and practices); GRI 201: Economic Performance (links to variable remuneration); ESRS 2 General disclosures (incentives linked to sustainability performance)	Leadership & Governance: Incentive and remuneration alignment; Business Ethics
G	CorpGov	OwnCtrl	Ownership & Control	GRI 2: General Disclosures (ownership and control); GRI 207: Tax (transparency on structures); ESRS 2 General disclosures; ESRS G1 Business conduct (transparency, beneficial ownership)	Leadership & Governance: Business Ethics; Competitive Behavior; Systemic risk management
G	CorpGov	FinRepQ	Accounting	GRI 201: Economic Performance; GRI 2: General Disclosures (internal controls, audit, governance); ESRS 1 General requirements and ESRS 2 General disclosures (link between sustainability and financial information)	Leadership & Governance: Systemic risk management; Business Ethics
G	CorpCondInt	EthicsAC	Business Ethics	GRI 205: Anti-corruption; GRI 206: Anti-competitive Behavior; GRI 419: Socioeconomic Compliance; ESRS G1 Business conduct	Leadership & Governance: Business Ethics; Competitive Behavior; Systemic risk management
G	CorpCondInt	TaxTrans	Tax Transparency	GRI 207: Tax; GRI 201: Economic Performance; GRI 419: Socioeconomic Compliance; ESRS G1 Business conduct (tax governance, country-by-country reporting)	Leadership & Governance: Business Ethics (tax planning and transparency); Systemic risk management
G	CorpCondInt	PolEngage	Public Policy	GRI 415: Public Policy; GRI 201: Economic Performance (public subsidies); GRI 419: Socioeconomic Compliance; ESRS G1 Business conduct; ESRS 2 General disclosures (lobbying, political engagement)	Leadership & Governance: Business Ethics; Systemic risk management; Social Capital: Human Rights & Community Relations (policy impacts)
G	CorpCondInt	RegComp	Reflected through cross-cutting compliance indicators rather than a named key issue (e.g. fines and controversies across Environmental, Social and Governance topics)	GRI 419: Socioeconomic Compliance; GRI 307: Environmental Compliance; GRI 2-27: Compliance with laws and regulations; ESRS 2 General disclosures (compliance and litigation)	Leadership & Governance: Business Ethics; Systemic risk and compliance management
G	CorpCondInt	RespProc	Assessed mainly through Community Relations, Raw Material Sourcing and Supply Chain Labor Standards key issues, depending on impact type	GRI 204: Procurement Practices; GRI 308: Supplier Environmental Assessment; GRI 414: Supplier Social Assessment; GRI 413: Local Communities; ESRS S2 Workers in the value chain; ESRS E5 Resource use and circular economy	Environment, Human Capital & Social Capital: Supply Chain Management; Human Rights & Community Relations
G	CorpCondInt	FairComp	Covered primarily within Business Ethics key issue (anti-competitive conduct, market abuse) and related controversy indicators	GRI 206: Anti-competitive Behavior; GRI 205: Anti-corruption; ESRS G1 Business conduct	Leadership & Governance: Competitive Behavior; Business Ethics
G	CorpCondInt	Whistle	Included within Business Ethics key issue (whistleblower mechanisms, retaliation risks) and across governance controversy indicators	GRI 2: General Disclosures (ethics, integrity, speaking up); GRI 205: Anti-corruption; GRI 406: Non-discrimination; ESRS G1 Business conduct	Leadership & Governance: Business Ethics; Systemic risk and compliance management
G	CorpCondInt	AIEthics	Most closely linked to Privacy & Data Security and Business Ethics key issues, as well as to emerging “digital responsibility” assessments in ESG ratings	GRI 418: Customer Privacy; GRI 416: Customer Health and Safety (digital products); GRI 205: Anti-corruption; ESRS S4 Consumers and end-users (digital services, privacy and safety); ESRS G1 Business conduct (AI and digital conduct)	Social Capital & Leadership/Governance: Customer Privacy; Data Security; Business Ethics
H	ESGIntAss	ESGRate	Overall MSCI ESG rating derived from the full set of Environmental, Social and Governance key issues	GRI 1: Foundation; GRI 2: General Disclosures; GRI 3: Material Topics; full suite of topic Standards; ESRS 1 General requirements; ESRS 2 General disclosures	Cross-cutting across all Environment, Social Capital, Human Capital, Business Model & Innovation, and Leadership & Governance issues
H	ESGIntAss	ESGData	Data architecture and aggregation rules underlying the ESG Ratings methodology rather than a discrete key issue	GRI 2: General Disclosures (data quality, boundaries, restatements); GRI 3: Material Topics; ESRS 2 General disclosures (data, estimates, and value-chain coverage)	Leadership & Governance: Systemic risk management and disclosure quality; cross-cutting use of SASB indicators
H	ESGIntAss	EconImp	Indirect economic and social effects captured across E, S and G key issues (e.g. community impacts, employment, innovation) rather than a separate key issue	GRI 201: Economic Performance; GRI 203: Indirect Economic Impacts; GRI 204: Procurement Practices; ESRS E1–E5 and S1–S4 (impacts, risks and opportunities on economy and society)	Cross-cutting: Business Model & Innovation (economic resilience); Social Capital and Human Capital (distributional and community effects)
H	ESGIntAss	DualMat	Internal process for issue weighting and materiality mapping that determines the selection and weight of key issues in the overall rating	GRI 3: Material Topics (materiality determination); GRI 1: Foundation (impact materiality); ESRS 1 General requirements (double materiality) and ESRS 2 General disclosures (material impacts, risks and opportunities)	All SASB dimensions, via the SASB Materiality Map used to identify financially material issues
H	ESGIntAss	ESGScen	Climate and ESG risk assessment embedded in key issues such as Carbon Emissions, Climate Change Vulnerability, Business Ethics and others	GRI Climate Change and Energy Standards (GRI 102 Climate Change 2025 and revised GRI 302/305); GRI 201: Economic Performance (climate-related financial implications); ESRS E1 Climate change (risk and scenario analysis) and other topical ESRS standards	Environment & Leadership/Governance: Physical impacts of climate change; Systemic risk management; cross-cutting risk metrics
H	ESGIntAss	ESGRept	Underlying disclosure coverage and transparency assessments across all key issues and pillars	GRI 1, GRI 2 and GRI 3 (overall reporting architecture); all topic Standards; ESRS 1 General requirements; ESRS 2 General disclosures	Cross-cutting: all SASB issues to the extent disclosed using SASB metrics and narrative
H	ESGIntAss	GreenWH	Reflected mainly in Business Ethics and ESG controversy indicators (misleading claims, selective disclosure, controversies on sustainability claims)	GRI 2-22 and 2-27 (sustainable development strategy and compliance); GRI 417: Marketing and Labelling; GRI 419: Socioeconomic Compliance; ESRS 2 General disclosures; ESRS G1 Business conduct	Leadership & Governance: Business Ethics; Social Capital: Selling Practices & Product Labelling; Systemic risk and reputation management
H	ESGIntAss	ESGIncid	MSCI ESG Controversies framework, which flags incidents across all Environmental, Social and Governance key issues	GRI 2-27: Compliance with laws and regulations; GRI 307: Environmental Compliance; GRI 419: Socioeconomic Compliance; ESRS 2 General disclosures (incidents, severe impacts) and topical ESRS incident-related requirements	Cross-cutting across all SASB issues, captured via incident, controversy and regulatory metrics
H	SDFrame	SDGs	MSCI SDG-alignment analytics linking key issues and revenues to SDG targets	GRI SDG mapping guidance (linking topic Standards to SDGs); ESRS references to EU Taxonomy and SDG alignment in ESRS 1 and ESRS 2	Cross-cutting: SASB SDG mapping linking general issue categories and industry metrics to SDG targets
H	SDFrame	ImpInv	MSCI impact and thematic ESG indexes and solutions derived from key issue exposures (e.g. climate, natural capital, social themes)	GRI 201: Economic Performance; GRI 203: Indirect Economic Impacts; sector-specific financial services Standards; ESRS E1–E5 and S1–S4 as impact lenses for investment products	Cross-cutting: environment, social and governance issues that underpin impact investing taxonomies and metrics
H	SDFrame	ReptStd	Considered as upstream frameworks informing MSCI data inputs and methodologies rather than key issues per se	GRI 1, GRI 2, GRI 3 and all topic Standards (full GRI architecture); ESRS 1 and ESRS 2 as the EU sustainability reporting baseline	All SASB industry-specific Standards and general issue categories, used as reporting and disclosure benchmarks
H	SDFrame	TaxMap	Internal mapping of MSCI key issues to regulations and taxonomies (e.g. EU Taxonomy, SFDR), used in product construction	GRI taxonomy of topics; ESRS references to EU Taxonomy and other frameworks (in ESRS 1 and topical appendices)	Cross-cutting mapping between SASB issues, SDGs, TCFD and other sustainability frameworks
H	SysSustMod	CircLoop	Reflected mainly in Raw Material Sourcing, Electronic Waste, Packaging Material & Waste and related key issues on resource efficiency	GRI 301: Materials; GRI 306: Waste; GRI 303: Water and Effluents; GRI 305: Emissions; ESRS E5 Resource use and circular economy	Environment & Business Model/Innovation: Waste & Hazardous Materials Management; Product Design & Lifecycle Management; Resource efficiency
H	SysSustMod	JustTrans	Cross-cutting across Carbon Emissions, Climate Change Vulnerability, Supply Chain Labor Standards and Community Relations key issues (transition impacts on workers and communities)	GRI 201: Economic Performance; GRI 203: Indirect Economic Impacts; GRI 413: Local Communities; GRI 408/409 on labour rights; ESRS E1 Climate change (just transition references); ESRS S1–S3 social standards	Environment, Human Capital & Social Capital: GHG Emissions; Labor Practices; Human Rights & Community Relations
H	SysSustMod	SCSust	Combination of Raw Material Sourcing, Supply Chain Labor Standards, Electronic Waste, Packaging Material & Waste, Controversial Sourcing and other value-chain key issues	GRI 204: Procurement Practices; GRI 308: Supplier Environmental Assessment; GRI 414: Supplier Social Assessment; GRI 303, 305 and 306 for environmental impacts; ESRS S2 Workers in the value chain; ESRS S3 Affected communities; ESRS E2–E5 environmental standards	Environment, Human Capital & Social Capital: Supply Chain Management; Ecological Impacts; Human Rights & Community Relations

Appendix C.6. Abbreviation Dictionary for Pillars, Themes, and Focus

Table A3. Pillar and theme abbreviations (E/S/G/H).

Pillar (abbr.)	Theme	Theme abbr.
Environmental (E)	Climate Change	ClimChg
	Natural Capital	NatCap
	Pollution, Waste & Circularity	PolWasCiru
	Sustainability Solutions & Technologies	SustSolTech
Social (S)	Human Capital	HumCap
	Product Responsibility & Customer Safety	ProdRespCustSafe
	Community & Rights Risks	ComRigRisks
	Inclusive Solutions & Social Access	IncSolSocAcc
Governance (G)	Corporate Governance	CorpGov
	Corporate Conduct & Integrity	CorpCondInt
Holistic (H)	Integrated ESG Assessment	ESGIntAss
	Sustainable Development Frameworks	SDFrame
	Systemic Sustainability Models	SysSustMod

Table A3. Pillar and theme abbreviations (E/S/G/H).

Pillar (abbr.)	Theme	Theme abbr.
Environmental (E)	Climate Change	ClimChg
	Natural Capital	NatCap
	Pollution, Waste & Circularity	PolWasCiru
	Sustainability Solutions & Technologies	SustSolTech
Social (S)	Human Capital	HumCap
	Product Responsibility & Customer Safety	ProdRespCustSafe
	Community & Rights Risks	ComRigRisks
	Inclusive Solutions & Social Access	IncSolSocAcc
Governance (G)	Corporate Governance	CorpGov
	Corporate Conduct & Integrity	CorpCondInt
Holistic (H)	Integrated ESG Assessment	ESGIntAss
	Sustainable Development Frameworks	SDFrame
	Systemic Sustainability Models	SysSustMod

Table A4. Focus abbreviations keyed by Pillar/Theme (e.g., E/ClimChg, S/HumCap).

Pillar/Theme	Focus	Focus abbr.
E/ClimChg	Greenhouse Gas Emissions	GHG
E/ClimChg	Physical Climate Risk & Vulnerability	PhysClimRisk
E/ClimChg	Climate-& Environment-linked Finance	ClimFin
E/ClimChg	Energy Consumption & Fuel Mix	EnergyMix
E/ClimChg	Product-level Emissions & Footprints	ProdFoot
E/NatCap	Biodiversity, Habitats & Land Use	BiodivLU
E/NatCap	Upstream Raw-materials Sourcing	RawSrc
E/NatCap	Resource Use & Material Efficiency	ResUseMatEff
E/NatCap	Supplier Environmental Due Diligence	SuppEnvDD
E/NatCap	Water Scarcity & Stress	WaterSS
E/PolWasCiru	End-of-life Electronics & E-waste	EWaste
E/PolWasCiru	Packaging Materials & Waste Streams	PackWaste
E/PolWasCiru	Environmental Compliance & Management Systems	EnvComp
E/PolWasCiru	Hazardous Emissions & Wastes	HazWaste
E/SustSolTech	Clean Technology Solutions	CleanTech
E/SustSolTech	Low-impact & Efficient Buildings	GreenBldg
E/SustSolTech	Renewable Energy Assets	ReEneg
S/HumCap	Occupational Health & Safety	OHS
S/HumCap	Employee Learning & Development	LearnDev
S/HumCap	Workforce Management & Relations	WorkManRel
S/HumCap	Job Quality & Working Conditions	JobQual
S/HumCap	Diversity, Equity & Inclusion	DEI
S/HumCap	Freedom of Association & Collective Bargaining	FoACollB
S/HumCap	Local Hiring & Market Presence	LocHirMarPre
S/HumCap	Labor Standards in Supply Chains	LabStanSC
S/ProdRespCustSafe	Hazardous Substances & Chemical Safety	ChemSafe
S/ProdRespCustSafe	Consumer Protection in Finance	FinProt
S/ProdRespCustSafe	Data Protection & Cybersecurity	DataSec
S/ProdRespCustSafe	Product Safety, Quality & Reliability	ProdQual
S/ProdRespCustSafe	Health & Demographic Vulnerability	HealVuln
S/ProdRespCustSafe	Responsible Marketing & Product Information	RespMkt
S/ProdRespCustSafe	Responsible & Sustainable Investment	RSInv
S/ComRigRisks	Community Impacts & Relations	ComRel
S/ComRigRisks	Human Rights Due Diligence	HRDD
S/ComRigRisks	High-risk & Controversial Sourcing	RiskSrc
S/IncSolSocAcc	Access to Financial Services	FinAcc
S/IncSolSocAcc	Access to Healthcare & Medicines	HealAcc
S/IncSolSocAcc	Digital Connectivity & Inclusion	DigIncl
S/IncSolSocAcc	Nutrition, Diet & Health Opportunities	NutriHeal
G/CorpGov	Board Structure & Oversight	BoardOvr
G/CorpGov	Executive Pay & Incentives	ExecPay
G/CorpGov	Ownership Structures & Control Rights	OwnCtrl
G/CorpGov	Financial Reporting & Accounting Quality	FinRepQ
G/CorpCondInt	Business Ethics & Anti-corruption	EthicsAC
G/CorpCondInt	Tax Strategy, Transparency & Compliance	TaxTrans
G/CorpCondInt	Public Policy & Political Engagement	PolEngage
G/CorpCondInt	Regulatory & Socioeconomic Compliance	RegComp
G/CorpCondInt	Responsible & Local Procurement	RespProc
G/CorpCondInt	Anti-competitive Practices & Fair Competition	FairComp
G/CorpCondInt	Whistleblower Protection & Speak-up Culture	Whistle
G/CorpCondInt	Digital Responsibility, Data & AI Ethics	AIEthics
H/ESGIntAss	Overall ESG Performance & Ratings	ESGRate
H/ESGIntAss	ESG Data Integration & Aggregation	ESGData
H/ESGIntAss	Economic Outcomes & Indirect Impacts	EconImp
H/ESGIntAss	Materiality & Dual-materiality Analysis	DualMat
H/ESGIntAss	ESG Risk & Scenario Analysis	ESGScen
H/ESGIntAss	ESG Reporting & Disclosures	ESGRept
H/ESGIntAss	Greenwashing & Greenhushing	GreenWH
H/ESGIntAss	ESG Controversies & Incident Monitoring	ESGIncid
H/SDFrame	UN SDGs & 2030 Agenda	SDGs
H/SDFrame	Impact-focused Investment	ImpInv
H/SDFrame	Sustainability Reporting Standards (e.g. GRI/SASB)	ReptStd
H/SDFrame	ESG Taxonomies & Standards Mapping	TaxMap
H/SysSustMod	Circular Economy & Resource Loops	CircLoop
H/SysSustMod	End-to-end Supply Chain Sustainability	SCSust
H/SysSustMod	Just Transition & Socio-ecological Change	JustTrans

Table A4. Focus abbreviations keyed by Pillar/Theme (e.g., E/ClimChg, S/HumCap).

Pillar/Theme	Focus	Focus abbr.
E/ClimChg	Greenhouse Gas Emissions	GHG
E/ClimChg	Physical Climate Risk & Vulnerability	PhysClimRisk
E/ClimChg	Climate-& Environment-linked Finance	ClimFin
E/ClimChg	Energy Consumption & Fuel Mix	EnergyMix
E/ClimChg	Product-level Emissions & Footprints	ProdFoot
E/NatCap	Biodiversity, Habitats & Land Use	BiodivLU
E/NatCap	Upstream Raw-materials Sourcing	RawSrc
E/NatCap	Resource Use & Material Efficiency	ResUseMatEff
E/NatCap	Supplier Environmental Due Diligence	SuppEnvDD
E/NatCap	Water Scarcity & Stress	WaterSS
E/PolWasCiru	End-of-life Electronics & E-waste	EWaste
E/PolWasCiru	Packaging Materials & Waste Streams	PackWaste
E/PolWasCiru	Environmental Compliance & Management Systems	EnvComp
E/PolWasCiru	Hazardous Emissions & Wastes	HazWaste
E/SustSolTech	Clean Technology Solutions	CleanTech
E/SustSolTech	Low-impact & Efficient Buildings	GreenBldg
E/SustSolTech	Renewable Energy Assets	ReEneg
S/HumCap	Occupational Health & Safety	OHS
S/HumCap	Employee Learning & Development	LearnDev
S/HumCap	Workforce Management & Relations	WorkManRel
S/HumCap	Job Quality & Working Conditions	JobQual
S/HumCap	Diversity, Equity & Inclusion	DEI
S/HumCap	Freedom of Association & Collective Bargaining	FoACollB
S/HumCap	Local Hiring & Market Presence	LocHirMarPre
S/HumCap	Labor Standards in Supply Chains	LabStanSC
S/ProdRespCustSafe	Hazardous Substances & Chemical Safety	ChemSafe
S/ProdRespCustSafe	Consumer Protection in Finance	FinProt
S/ProdRespCustSafe	Data Protection & Cybersecurity	DataSec
S/ProdRespCustSafe	Product Safety, Quality & Reliability	ProdQual
S/ProdRespCustSafe	Health & Demographic Vulnerability	HealVuln
S/ProdRespCustSafe	Responsible Marketing & Product Information	RespMkt
S/ProdRespCustSafe	Responsible & Sustainable Investment	RSInv
S/ComRigRisks	Community Impacts & Relations	ComRel
S/ComRigRisks	Human Rights Due Diligence	HRDD
S/ComRigRisks	High-risk & Controversial Sourcing	RiskSrc
S/IncSolSocAcc	Access to Financial Services	FinAcc
S/IncSolSocAcc	Access to Healthcare & Medicines	HealAcc
S/IncSolSocAcc	Digital Connectivity & Inclusion	DigIncl
S/IncSolSocAcc	Nutrition, Diet & Health Opportunities	NutriHeal
G/CorpGov	Board Structure & Oversight	BoardOvr
G/CorpGov	Executive Pay & Incentives	ExecPay
G/CorpGov	Ownership Structures & Control Rights	OwnCtrl
G/CorpGov	Financial Reporting & Accounting Quality	FinRepQ
G/CorpCondInt	Business Ethics & Anti-corruption	EthicsAC
G/CorpCondInt	Tax Strategy, Transparency & Compliance	TaxTrans
G/CorpCondInt	Public Policy & Political Engagement	PolEngage
G/CorpCondInt	Regulatory & Socioeconomic Compliance	RegComp
G/CorpCondInt	Responsible & Local Procurement	RespProc
G/CorpCondInt	Anti-competitive Practices & Fair Competition	FairComp
G/CorpCondInt	Whistleblower Protection & Speak-up Culture	Whistle
G/CorpCondInt	Digital Responsibility, Data & AI Ethics	AIEthics
H/ESGIntAss	Overall ESG Performance & Ratings	ESGRate
H/ESGIntAss	ESG Data Integration & Aggregation	ESGData
H/ESGIntAss	Economic Outcomes & Indirect Impacts	EconImp
H/ESGIntAss	Materiality & Dual-materiality Analysis	DualMat
H/ESGIntAss	ESG Risk & Scenario Analysis	ESGScen
H/ESGIntAss	ESG Reporting & Disclosures	ESGRept
H/ESGIntAss	Greenwashing & Greenhushing	GreenWH
H/ESGIntAss	ESG Controversies & Incident Monitoring	ESGIncid
H/SDFrame	UN SDGs & 2030 Agenda	SDGs
H/SDFrame	Impact-focused Investment	ImpInv
H/SDFrame	Sustainability Reporting Standards (e.g. GRI/SASB)	ReptStd
H/SDFrame	ESG Taxonomies & Standards Mapping	TaxMap
H/SysSustMod	Circular Economy & Resource Loops	CircLoop
H/SysSustMod	End-to-end Supply Chain Sustainability	SCSust
H/SysSustMod	Just Transition & Socio-ecological Change	JustTrans

Appendix D.1. Query Construction and Per–Focus Queries

For each focus in the ESG-RFM pillar–theme–focus hierarchy we construct two families of search queries:

• a KG-anchored query, which requires the phrase “knowledge graph” and combines it with up to ten topic-specific terms; and
• a background query, which uses the same topic-specific terms but omits the “knowledge graph” anchor, so that it reflects the broader ESG/sustainability literature on that focus.

The exact KG-anchored query strings appear in the Full Google Scholar query column of Table A5. We run the background queries during corpus harvesting, but we do not report Google Scholar hit counts in the table because they are noisy and time-dependent.

Table A5. KG4ESG search-term dictionary across pillars, themes, and focus areas (all searches executed in December 2025).

Pillar	Theme	Focus	Search Query Terms	Selected Works
E	ClimChg	GHG	"GHG emissions" | "CO2 emissions" | "carbon emissions" | "carbon intensity" | "emissions inventory" | "emissions factor" | "carbon disclosure" | "Scope 1 emissions" | "Scope 2 emissions" | "Scope 3 emissions"	[123]; [124]; [125]; CarbonKGwu2024carbonkg; NW1xie2024dynamic; Machine Knowledge Graph (MKG)chatterjee2024representation; [128]; [129]; [130]; [131]; E-Liability Knowledge Grapholadeji2023ai; Emission Conversion Factors Knowledge Graph (ECF KG / CFKG)markovic2023tec; [133]
E	ClimChg	PhysClimRisk	"physical climate risk" | "climate resilience" | "climate vulnerability" | "climate risk assessment" | "climate adaptation" | "climate transition risk" | "acute climate risk" | "TCFD reporting" | "climate scenario analysis" | "climate risk disclosure"	[84]; ClimaFactsKGburel2025climafactskg; [134]; [57]; Remote Sensing Early Warning Knowledge Graph (RSEW-KG)chen2025constructionb; [135]; [12]; [136]; Extreme Climate Architecture Knowledge Graphtu2024constructing; SILVANUS Knowledge Graphmarotta2024unified; I-KNOW-FOO knowledge graphsimsek2023know; KnowUREnvironmentislam2022knowurenvironment; [79]
E	ClimChg	ClimFin	"financing environmental impact" | "sustainable finance" | "green finance" | "transition finance" | "coal financing" | "green bonds" | "ESG lending" | "sustainability-linked loans" | "climate finance" | "green investment banking"	[81]; NatureKGsheikh8naturekg; [140]; [141]; ESG Knowledge Graphzhoua2022green
E	ClimChg	EnergyMix	"energy use" | "energy consumption" | "energy efficiency" | "energy intensity" | "fuel mix" | "electricity mix" | "renewable energy consumption" | "electricity consumption" | "energy management system" | "energy performance"	Energy Knowledge Graph (EKG)wu2025intelligent; [60]; [144]; OfficeGraphvan2024officegraph; [145]; [146]; [147]; [148]; [149]; [150]; [151]; Power Knowledge Graphjiang2020constructing; [153]; [154]
E	ClimChg	ProdFoot	"product carbon footprint" | "product GHG accounting" | "product life cycle emissions" | "life cycle assessment" | "LCA" | "product environmental footprint" | "product carbon intensity" | "ISO 14067" | "product carbon label" | "product-level emissions disclosure"	LCA Knowledge Graphdiamantini2025knowledge; LCI knowledge graphguo2025semantic; ForestFoodKG-KGyan2025forestfoodkg; Asset Life Cycle Knowledge Graph (ALC KG)shaw2024end; [158]; [159]; [160]; LCIKGsaad2023graph; [161]
E	NatCap	BiodivLU	"biodiversity loss" | "biodiversity conservation" | "land use change" | "deforestation" | "habitat conversion" | "ecosystem services" | "nature-related risk" | "nature loss" | "TNFD" | "biodiversity impact assessment"	CropDP-KGyan2025knowledge; [163]; Firmographicahuseynov2025firmographica; FooDShamed2025foods; GeoKG (Habitat GeoKG)xiao2025geokg; SOCKGshirvani2025knowledge; ECOLOPES KGahmeti2025enabling; METRIN-KGtandon2025metrin; KG-PLUBmartinez2025knowledge; [171]; Semantic Knowledge Graph of European Mountain Value Chainsbartalesi2024semantic; [173]; Nature FIRST KGahmeti2023towards; [175]; OpenBiodiv biodiversity knowledge graphpenev2022biodiversity; Biospytial Knowledge Graphescamilla2020biospytial
E	NatCap	RawSrc	"raw material sourcing" | "raw material supply" | "responsible raw materials" | "origin of raw materials" | "upstream commodity sourcing" | "raw material traceability" | "mineral sourcing" | "agricultural commodity sourcing" | "certified raw materials" | "conflict-free sourcing"	[96]; [177]; [178]
E	NatCap	ResUseMatEff	"materials use" | "material consumption" | "resource efficiency" | "material efficiency" | "resource productivity" | "material intensity" | "resource use reduction" | "use of recycled materials" | "recycled content" | "resource conservation"	[58]
E	NatCap	SuppEnvDD	"supplier environmental assessment" | "supplier environmental performance" | "environmental supplier audit" | "environmental supplier evaluation" | "environmental supplier questionnaire" | "green supplier selection" | "supplier environmental scorecard" | "supplier environmental rating" | "environmental supply chain assessment" | "environmental supplier monitoring"	N.A.
E	NatCap	WaterSS	"water scarcity" | "water stress" | "water risk" | "water footprint" | "basin water risk" | "water withdrawal" | "water consumption" | "water availability" | "water use efficiency" | "water stewardship"	WHOW-KGlippolis2025water; [179]; [102]; [180]; [181]; [182]; [183]; [101]; [184]; [185]; [186]; [187]; [106]; [188]; Water Knowledge Graph (WKG) and Water Information Network (WIN)mezni2022smartwater; [190]; Water Affair Knowledge Graphyan2018construction
E	PolWasCiru	EWaste	"electronic waste" | "e-waste" | "WEEE" | "end-of-life electronics" | "electronic waste recycling" | "e-waste management" | "e-waste collection" | "e-waste disposal" | "informal e-waste sector" | "e-waste policy"	[75]; [191]; [91]; [105]; Global EEE Green Design Knowledge Graphdang2023green; [193]
E	PolWasCiru	PackWaste	"plastic packaging" | "single-use packaging" | "single-use plastics" | "packaging waste" | "packaging circularity" | "recyclable packaging" | "packaging design for recycling" | "packaging recyclability" | "packaging extended producer responsibility" | "sustainable packaging design"	[194]; [195]
E	PolWasCiru	EnvComp	"environmental compliance" | "environmental regulation compliance" | "environmental fines" | "environmental violations" | "environmental management system" | "EMS certification" | "environmental policy" | "environmental audit" | "environmental legal compliance" | "environmental enforcement"	KnowWhereGraph (KWG)zhu2025knowwheregraph; [196]; Knowledge Graph of Dangerous Goods (KGDG)thimm2022relation; [198]; [199]
E	PolWasCiru	HazWaste	"hazardous waste" | "toxic releases" | "toxic emissions" | "industrial air pollution" | "industrial water pollution" | "soil contamination" | "hazardous substances" | "toxic waste management" | "industrial waste management" | "pollutant discharge"	[200]; [201]; [202]; [203]; [204]
E	SustSolTech	CleanTech	"clean technology" | "cleantech innovation" | "low-carbon technology" | "industrial decarbonization technology" | "energy-efficient technologies" | "emissions-reduction technologies" | "green technology innovation" | "climate technology solutions" | "clean technology adoption" | "industrial clean tech"	[205]
E	SustSolTech	GreenBldg	"green building" | "sustainable building" | "energy-efficient buildings" | "building energy performance" | "LEED certification" | "BREEAM certification" | "zero-energy buildings" | "net zero buildings" | "green building certification" | "green building design"	[206]; [207]; [59]; PGD-KGwu2024knowledge; [63]
E	SustSolTech	ReEneg	"renewable energy" | "solar power" | "solar photovoltaics" | "wind power" | "onshore wind power" | "offshore wind power" | "hydropower projects" | "renewable energy projects" | "renewable energy investment" | "corporate renewable sourcing"	knowledge graph structurezhang2025multi; Multi-modal Process Knowledge Graph for Wind Turbines (MPKG-WT)hu2025question; [211]; Energy Knowledge Graphpopadic2023toward; XAI4Wind Knowledge Graphchatterjee2020xai4wind; Energy Knowledge Graph (EKG)chun2020designing; Energy Knowledge Graph (EKG)chun2018knowledge
S	HumCap	OHS	"occupational health and safety" | "workplace health and safety" | "workplace injuries" | "safety incidents" | "lost time injury" | "lost time injury frequency rate" | "safety management systems" | "process safety management" | "safety culture" | "occupational safety"	AEC-KGwu2025construction; FFHKGliu2025automated; [72]; [33]; [66]; [53]; [216]; [54]; MAKGliu2024makg; [217]; Construction Accident Knowledge Graph (CAKG)chen2023knowledge; [218]; [219]; Job Hazard Analysis Knowledge Graph (JHAKG)pandithawatta2023development; Risk Knowledge Graph in Railway Safety (RKGRS)liu2022using; [221]; [222]; [223]
S	HumCap	LearnDev	"human capital development" | "employee development" | "learning and development" | "upskilling" | "reskilling" | "talent development" | "workforce development" | "employee training" | "skills development" | "continuous learning culture"	Person–Job Temporal Knowledge Graphzhang2025construction; [110]; MetaKGyang2023contextualized; [225]; [109]; Skills & Occupation Knowledge Graphde2021job
S	HumCap	WorkManRel	"labor management" | "employee relations" | "workforce relations" | "employee relations strategy" | "employee engagement" | "labor dispute resolution" | "employee voice mechanisms" | "workplace dialogue" | "labor-management cooperation" | "employee relations climate"	JobEdKG and T-JobEdKGfettach2025skill; KG-IRDMyang2025knowledge; [228]
S	HumCap	JobQual	"employment quality" | "decent work" | "fair wages" | "living wage" | "working conditions" | "job security" | "precarious employment" | "working time" | "employee benefits" | "employment contracts"	Human-Centered Knowledge Graph (HCKG)nagy2024knowledge; Salary Knowledge Graphhuang2023kosa; [231]
S	HumCap	DEI	"workplace diversity" | "equal opportunity" | "non-discrimination" | "workforce diversity" | "gender diversity" | "racial diversity" | "pay equity" | "inclusive workplace" | "diversity and inclusion" | "DEI program"	[232]
S	HumCap	FoACollB	"freedom of association" | "collective bargaining" | "trade union rights" | "unionization" | "collective labor agreements" | "collective agreements coverage" | "social dialogue" | "works council" | "employee representation" | "union density"	N.A.
S	HumCap	LocHirMarPre	"market presence" | "local hiring" | "local employment" | "local recruitment" | "local wage levels" | "local management hiring" | "local content in employment" | "local workforce development" | "local economic integration" | "local talent pipeline"	N.A.
S	HumCap	LabStanSC	"supplier labor standards" | "forced labor" | "child labor" | "modern slavery" | "decent work in supply chains" | "supply chain human rights" | "labor exploitation in supply chains" | "supply chain due diligence" | "ethical supply chains" | "labor rights in supply chains"	[233]; [234]
S	ProdRespCustSafe	ChemSafe	"chemical safety" | "hazardous substances" | "toxic chemicals" | "substance restrictions" | "REACH regulation" | "chemical risk management" | "chemical hazard assessment" | "chemical exposure limits" | "hazard communication" | "chemical safety regulation"	CPSKGzheng2025chemical; Hazardous Chemical Accident Knowledge Graph (HCAKG)zhao2025data; Multimodal Knowledge Graph (MMKG)xu5938365kgc; [238]; TERAmyklebust2022prediction; SEARCH-KGshin2022knowledge; [241]
S	ProdRespCustSafe	FinProt	"consumer financial protection" | "financial consumer protection" | "fair lending" | "predatory lending" | "consumer credit risk" | "responsible lending" | "over-indebtedness" | "consumer protection regulation" | "financial conduct regulation" | "consumer financial rights"	N.A.
S	ProdRespCustSafe	DataSec	"data privacy" | "information privacy" | "cybersecurity" | "information security" | "personal data protection" | "data protection regulation" | "GDPR compliance" | "data breach" | "privacy by design" | "data security management"	[36]; [242]; [37]; IoT-Reg Knowledge Graphechenim2025automating; [39]; [244]; AttacKG+zhang2024attackg+; [38]; PrivComp-KGgarza2024privcomp; VulKGyin2024compact; [245]; [40]; [246]; [247]; IoT-Reg Knowledge Graphechenim2023iot; PRIVAFRAMEgambarelli2022privaframe; AttacKGli2022attackg; CSKG4APTren2022cskg4apt; Open-CyKGsarhan2021open; Cybersecurity Knowledge Graph (CSKG)shen2020data; SEPSES Cybersecurity Knowledge Graphkiesling2019sepses; [77]; [253]
S	ProdRespCustSafe	ProdQual	"product safety" | "product safety incidents" | "product recalls" | "safety defects" | "product quality" | "product quality assurance" | "product reliability" | "consumer product safety" | "product safety regulation" | "product conformity assessment"	[254]; ESKGzang2025event; MPKGwu2025automatic; QChsGwen2025novel; [103]; Causal Quality-related Knowledge Graph (CQKG)zhou2024causalkgpt; [55]; Human–Cyber–Physical Knowledge Graphwang2024intelligent; [258]; [259]; [260]; [261]; [262]; Manufacturing Knowledge Graph (MKG)he2019manufacturing
S	ProdRespCustSafe	HealVuln	"health and demographic risk" | "demographic risk" | "aging population risk" | "population aging" | "epidemiological transition" | "chronic disease burden" | "pandemic risk" | "population health trends" | "demographic change" | "health risk exposure"	Elderly Advantages Knowledge Graphli2025aging; [265]; [266]
S	ProdRespCustSafe	RespMkt	"responsible marketing" | "responsible advertising" | "product labeling" | "product labeling" | "marketing ethics" | "misleading advertising" | "green marketing claims" | "sustainability claims" | "fair marketing practices" | "truthful product information"	N.A.
S	ProdRespCustSafe	RSInv	"responsible investment" | "responsible investing" | "sustainable investing" | "ESG investing" | "ESG integration" | "ESG screening" | "stewardship investing" | "shareholder engagement" | "active ownership" | "fiduciary duty and ESG"	Social-Impact Funding Knowledge Graphli2020domain
S	ComRigRisks	ComRel	"community engagement" | "stakeholder engagement" | "social license to operate" | "indigenous rights" | "community impact" | "local community opposition" | "community consultation" | "community grievance mechanisms" | "community development programs" | "community benefit agreements"	[268]
S	ComRigRisks	HRDD	"human rights" | "human rights impact assessment" | "HRIA" | "salient human rights issues" | "UN Guiding Principles" | "UNGP implementation" | "OECD due diligence" | "corporate human rights assessment" | "human rights risk assessment" | "human rights grievance mechanism"	PREJUST4WOMANdamato2025automated; Observatory Knowledge Graph (OKG)blin2023okg
S	ComRigRisks	RiskSrc	"controversial sourcing" | "conflict minerals" | "responsible mineral sourcing" | "cobalt supply chain" | "palm oil sourcing" | "high-risk sourcing countries" | "responsible mineral supply chains" | "ethical mineral sourcing" | "responsible cobalt sourcing" | "responsible palm oil"	Supply Chain Knowledge Graph (SC-KG)kosasih2024towards
S	IncSolSocAcc	FinAcc	"access to finance" | "access to financial services" | "financial inclusion" | "microfinance" | "digital financial services" | "inclusive finance" | "unbanked populations" | "underserved customers" | "mobile money" | "SME access to finance"	[271]; [272]; [273]
S	IncSolSocAcc	HealAcc	"access to health care" | "access to medicines" | "affordable medicines" | "healthcare affordability" | "telemedicine services" | "healthcare availability" | "universal health coverage" | "healthcare equity" | "rural health care access" | "primary health care access"	HealthEQKGnananukul2025healtheqkg; [274]; NHANES Knowledge Graphqi2023demographic; Diseasomics knowledge graphtalukder2022diseasomics; [277]
S	IncSolSocAcc	DigIncl	"access to communications" | "digital inclusion" | "digital divide" | "access to internet" | "broadband access" | "mobile connectivity" | "ICT access" | "affordable connectivity" | "digital infrastructure" | "telecommunications access"	[278]; [279]
S	IncSolSocAcc	NutriHeal	"nutrition and health" | "healthy foods" | "fortified foods" | "nutrition interventions" | "obesity prevention" | "diet-related health" | "healthy diet" | "nutrition security" | "functional foods" | "nutrition labeling"	[18]; [108]; NRKGma2024nutrition; Food4healthKGfu2023food4healthkg; GENAdang2023gena; KG4NHfu2023kg4nh; KG4NHfu2023multimodal; FoodKGchen2021personalized; [285]
G	CorpGov	BoardOvr	"corporate board" | "board independence" | "independent directors" | "board diversity" | "board gender diversity" | "board oversight" | "board composition" | "director overboarding" | "board refreshment" | "board tenure"	N.A.
G	CorpGov	ExecPay	"executive compensation" | "CEO compensation" | "CEO salary" | "say on pay" | "CEO pay ratio" | "incentive alignment" | "performance-based pay" | "remuneration policy" | "compensation committee" | "executive pay governance"	N.A.
G	CorpGov	OwnCtrl	"ownership and control" | "dual-class shares" | "pyramidal ownership" | "control rights" | "controlling shareholders" | "ownership concentration" | "ownership structure" | "family ownership" | "blockholder ownership" | "minority shareholder protection"	Equity Knowledge Graph (EKG)xu2025disclosing; LCAIM Knowledge Graphshaw2025knowledge; Company Knowledge Graphmagnanimi2023reactive; [78]
G	CorpGov	FinRepQ	"accounting irregularities" | "financial restatement" | "earnings management" | "aggressive accounting" | "audit quality" | "financial reporting quality" | "accounting fraud" | "financial statement fraud" | "creative accounting" | "accounting enforcement"	Financial Knowledge Graph (FKG)wang2025corporate; [289]; [87]; [28]; FSFD-TLKGcai2024explainable; Supplier–Customer Knowledge Graphli2023tracking; [71]; Manager Knowledge Graphwen2022analysis; Financial Knowledge Graph (FKG)zehra2021financial; FSFDshen2021financial
G	CorpCondInt	EthicsAC	"business ethics" | "corporate ethics" | "anti-corruption" | "anti-bribery" | "corruption risk" | "integrity management" | "ethics training" | "ethics and compliance program" | "corporate misconduct" | "ethical culture"	[293]; [294]
G	CorpCondInt	TaxTrans	"tax transparency" | "tax disclosure" | "tax avoidance" | "tax planning" | "effective tax rate" | "country-by-country reporting" | "tax policy" | "corporate tax strategy" | "tax justice" | "aggressive tax planning"	[93]; Tax Law Knowledge Graph (TaxKG)tan2025llama; Enterprise Knowledge Graphzheng2023machine; TaxGraph – Global Multinational Tax Planning Knowledge Graphludemann2020knowledge
G	CorpCondInt	PolEngage	"corporate political activity" | "corporate political engagement" | "lobbying activities" | "public policy advocacy" | "political contributions" | "political donations" | "policy influence" | "trade association lobbying" | "political spending disclosure" | "regulatory lobbying"	N.A.
G	CorpCondInt	RegComp	"socioeconomic compliance" | "regulatory compliance" | "non-financial compliance" | "competition law compliance" | "product regulatory compliance" | "social regulation compliance" | "legal non-compliance" | "fines and sanctions" | "compliance violations" | "regulatory enforcement actions"	GovGraphma2025govgraph; [80]; [23]; [73]; [22]; Regulatory Knowledge Graphershov2023case; [92]
G	CorpCondInt	RespProc	"responsible procurement" | "local procurement" | "local suppliers" | "inclusive procurement" | "responsible purchasing" | "sustainable purchasing policy" | "ethical procurement" | "supplier diversity" | "community-focused procurement" | "procurement sustainability"	N.A.
G	CorpCondInt	FairComp	"anti-competitive behavior" | "anti-competitive behavior" | "competition law" | "antitrust violations" | "cartel" | "price fixing" | "abuse of dominance" | "market collusion" | "bid rigging" | "fair competition"	[298]
G	CorpCondInt	Whistle	"whistleblower protection" | "whistleblowing system" | "speak-up culture" | "whistleblowing hotline" | "retaliation against whistleblowers" | "internal reporting channels" | "ethics reporting" | "whistleblower policy" | "whistleblowing in organizations" | "speak-up mechanism"	N.A.
G	CorpCondInt	AIEthics	"AI ethics" | "algorithmic accountability" | "algorithmic fairness" | "responsible AI" | "digital responsibility" | "AI governance" | "data ethics" | "ethical AI principles" | "AI risk management" | "trustworthy AI"	TAIR (Trustworthy AI Requirements) knowledge graphhernandez2025open
H	ESGIntAss	ESGRate	"ESG performance" | "ESG rating" | "overall ESG score" | "ESG benchmarking" | "sustainability score" | "ESG assessment" | "ESG index rating" | "issuer ESG rating" | "portfolio ESG rating" | "ESG ranking"	[10]; [111]; [51]; ESG-KGangioni2024exploring; [69]
H	ESGIntAss	ESGData	"ESG data integration" | "ESG data aggregation" | "ESG data harmonization" | "sustainability data platforms" | "ESG data pipelines" | "ESG data quality" | "ESG datasets" | "ESG data sources" | "ESG database integration" | "ESG data interoperability"	[42]
H	ESGIntAss	EconImp	"economic performance" | "economic value generated" | "economic value distributed" | "indirect economic impacts" | "local economic impact" | "inclusive economic growth" | "economic development impact" | "social return on investment" | "socioeconomic impact assessment" | "economic contribution analysis"	Spatiotemporal Knowledge Graph (STKG)wang2025intelligent
H	ESGIntAss	DualMat	"materiality assessment" | "ESG materiality" | "double materiality" | "impact materiality" | "financial materiality" | "sustainability materiality" | "materiality matrix" | "stakeholder materiality assessment" | "ESG topic prioritization" | "material issues identification"	[26]
H	ESGIntAss	ESGScen	"ESG risk management" | "sustainability risk modeling" | "climate-related financial risk analysis" | "transition and physical climate risk evaluation" | "ESG scenario-based analytics" | "climate-aligned scenario planning" | "ESG exposure and vulnerability assessment" | "sustainability stress-test analytics" | "climate-financial impact projection" | "climate-ESG risk propagation"	LinkClimate knowledge graphwu2022linkclimate
H	ESGIntAss	ESGRept	"ESG reporting" | "sustainability disclosure" | "ESG disclosure" | "sustainability statement" | "ESG transparency" | "corporate sustainability reporting" | "non-financial disclosure" | "integrated ESG reporting" | "ESG narrative reporting" | "ESG metrics disclosure"	[9]; ESGSenticNetong2025esgsenticnet; [29]; Power Equipment Management Using Knowledge Graphdriller2024unlocking; [301]
H	ESGIntAss	GreenWH	"greenwashing" | "green hushing" | "greenhushing" | "misleading environmental claims" | "misleading sustainability claims" | "green claims" | "environmental claim substantiation" | "sustainability claim verification" | "green claims directive" | "ESG communication integrity"	[82]; EmeraldGraphKaoukis2025EmeraldMindAK
H	ESGIntAss	ESGIncid	"ESG controversies" | "ESG controversy" | "sustainability controversies" | "ESG incident database" | "ESG incident detection" | "ESG news monitoring" | "adverse ESG events" | "ESG negative screening" | "controversial business practices" | "controversy scoring"	[43]
H	SDFrame	SDGs	"SDGs" | "Sustainable Development Goals" | "Agenda 2030" | "sustainability targets" | "SDG indicators" | "SDG alignment" | "SDG monitoring" | "SDG integration" | "SDG evaluation" | "sustainable development framework"	SDG-KGbenjira2025sdg; [302]; Regional Graph (RG) + Intent Graph (IG)wang2025unveiling; [304]; [305]; [306]; [307]; UrbanKGandrona2024knowledge; SustainGraphfotopoulou2022sustaingraph; DaanMatch Knowledge Graph (DaanKG)debellis2023daankg; [309]; [310]; [311]; [312]
H	SDFrame	ImpInv	"impact investing" | "impact investment funds" | "impact measurement" | "impact financing" | "social impact investing" | "environmental impact investing" | "impact evaluation" | "impact reporting" | "impact fund strategies" | "sustainable impact investing"	N.A.
H	SDFrame	ReptStd	"sustainability reporting" | "GRI standards" | "SASB standards" | "GRI/SASB alignment" | "sustainability reporting framework" | "non-financial reporting standards" | "GRI-compliant reporting" | "SASB-based disclosure" | "sustainability reporting taxonomy" | "ESG reporting standards"	ESG Metric Knowledge Graph (ESGMKG)yu2024ontology; [19]; RSOKGzhou2024towards; [21]; [314]; [6]
H	SDFrame	TaxMap	"ESG taxonomy" | "sustainable finance taxonomy" | "EU taxonomy" | "green taxonomy" | "ESG classification system" | "ESG standard mapping" | "ESG standards alignment" | "sustainability reporting standards" | "ESG ontology" | "sustainability ontology"	[315]
H	SysSustMod	CircLoop	"circular economy" | "closed-loop supply chains" | "resource circularity" | "material circularity" | "product life extension" | "reuse and remanufacturing" | "circular business models" | "industrial symbiosis" | "circular value chains" | "circular economy metrics"	[89]; [316]; Housing Passport Knowledge Graph (HPKG)keena2025housing; W2RKGzhao2025construction; [317]; [90]; ScrapKGvasileiadis2023leveraging; [319]
H	SysSustMod	SCSust	"sustainable supply chains" | "end-to-end supply chain sustainability" | "ESG in supply chains" | "supply chain sustainability assessment" | "multi-tier supply chain ESG" | "responsible global supply chains" | "sustainable sourcing and logistics" | "supply chain sustainability metrics" | "supply chain ESG performance" | "holistic supply chain risk"	[74]; [95]; [97]; [98]
H	SysSustMod	JustTrans	"just transition" | "climate justice" | "energy justice" | "low-carbon transition pathways" | "socially just decarbonization" | "green jobs transition" | "coal phase-out justice" | "inclusive climate transition" | "socio-ecological transformation" | "just transition planning"	GeoOutageKGfrakes2025geooutagekg

Table A5. KG4ESG search-term dictionary across pillars, themes, and focus areas (all searches executed in December 2025).

Pillar	Theme	Focus	Search Query Terms	Selected Works
E	ClimChg	GHG	"GHG emissions" | "CO2 emissions" | "carbon emissions" | "carbon intensity" | "emissions inventory" | "emissions factor" | "carbon disclosure" | "Scope 1 emissions" | "Scope 2 emissions" | "Scope 3 emissions"	[123]; [124]; [125]; CarbonKGwu2024carbonkg; NW1xie2024dynamic; Machine Knowledge Graph (MKG)chatterjee2024representation; [128]; [129]; [130]; [131]; E-Liability Knowledge Grapholadeji2023ai; Emission Conversion Factors Knowledge Graph (ECF KG / CFKG)markovic2023tec; [133]
E	ClimChg	PhysClimRisk	"physical climate risk" | "climate resilience" | "climate vulnerability" | "climate risk assessment" | "climate adaptation" | "climate transition risk" | "acute climate risk" | "TCFD reporting" | "climate scenario analysis" | "climate risk disclosure"	[84]; ClimaFactsKGburel2025climafactskg; [134]; [57]; Remote Sensing Early Warning Knowledge Graph (RSEW-KG)chen2025constructionb; [135]; [12]; [136]; Extreme Climate Architecture Knowledge Graphtu2024constructing; SILVANUS Knowledge Graphmarotta2024unified; I-KNOW-FOO knowledge graphsimsek2023know; KnowUREnvironmentislam2022knowurenvironment; [79]
E	ClimChg	ClimFin	"financing environmental impact" | "sustainable finance" | "green finance" | "transition finance" | "coal financing" | "green bonds" | "ESG lending" | "sustainability-linked loans" | "climate finance" | "green investment banking"	[81]; NatureKGsheikh8naturekg; [140]; [141]; ESG Knowledge Graphzhoua2022green
E	ClimChg	EnergyMix	"energy use" | "energy consumption" | "energy efficiency" | "energy intensity" | "fuel mix" | "electricity mix" | "renewable energy consumption" | "electricity consumption" | "energy management system" | "energy performance"	Energy Knowledge Graph (EKG)wu2025intelligent; [60]; [144]; OfficeGraphvan2024officegraph; [145]; [146]; [147]; [148]; [149]; [150]; [151]; Power Knowledge Graphjiang2020constructing; [153]; [154]
E	ClimChg	ProdFoot	"product carbon footprint" | "product GHG accounting" | "product life cycle emissions" | "life cycle assessment" | "LCA" | "product environmental footprint" | "product carbon intensity" | "ISO 14067" | "product carbon label" | "product-level emissions disclosure"	LCA Knowledge Graphdiamantini2025knowledge; LCI knowledge graphguo2025semantic; ForestFoodKG-KGyan2025forestfoodkg; Asset Life Cycle Knowledge Graph (ALC KG)shaw2024end; [158]; [159]; [160]; LCIKGsaad2023graph; [161]
E	NatCap	BiodivLU	"biodiversity loss" | "biodiversity conservation" | "land use change" | "deforestation" | "habitat conversion" | "ecosystem services" | "nature-related risk" | "nature loss" | "TNFD" | "biodiversity impact assessment"	CropDP-KGyan2025knowledge; [163]; Firmographicahuseynov2025firmographica; FooDShamed2025foods; GeoKG (Habitat GeoKG)xiao2025geokg; SOCKGshirvani2025knowledge; ECOLOPES KGahmeti2025enabling; METRIN-KGtandon2025metrin; KG-PLUBmartinez2025knowledge; [171]; Semantic Knowledge Graph of European Mountain Value Chainsbartalesi2024semantic; [173]; Nature FIRST KGahmeti2023towards; [175]; OpenBiodiv biodiversity knowledge graphpenev2022biodiversity; Biospytial Knowledge Graphescamilla2020biospytial
E	NatCap	RawSrc	"raw material sourcing" | "raw material supply" | "responsible raw materials" | "origin of raw materials" | "upstream commodity sourcing" | "raw material traceability" | "mineral sourcing" | "agricultural commodity sourcing" | "certified raw materials" | "conflict-free sourcing"	[96]; [177]; [178]
E	NatCap	ResUseMatEff	"materials use" | "material consumption" | "resource efficiency" | "material efficiency" | "resource productivity" | "material intensity" | "resource use reduction" | "use of recycled materials" | "recycled content" | "resource conservation"	[58]
E	NatCap	SuppEnvDD	"supplier environmental assessment" | "supplier environmental performance" | "environmental supplier audit" | "environmental supplier evaluation" | "environmental supplier questionnaire" | "green supplier selection" | "supplier environmental scorecard" | "supplier environmental rating" | "environmental supply chain assessment" | "environmental supplier monitoring"	N.A.
E	NatCap	WaterSS	"water scarcity" | "water stress" | "water risk" | "water footprint" | "basin water risk" | "water withdrawal" | "water consumption" | "water availability" | "water use efficiency" | "water stewardship"	WHOW-KGlippolis2025water; [179]; [102]; [180]; [181]; [182]; [183]; [101]; [184]; [185]; [186]; [187]; [106]; [188]; Water Knowledge Graph (WKG) and Water Information Network (WIN)mezni2022smartwater; [190]; Water Affair Knowledge Graphyan2018construction
E	PolWasCiru	EWaste	"electronic waste" | "e-waste" | "WEEE" | "end-of-life electronics" | "electronic waste recycling" | "e-waste management" | "e-waste collection" | "e-waste disposal" | "informal e-waste sector" | "e-waste policy"	[75]; [191]; [91]; [105]; Global EEE Green Design Knowledge Graphdang2023green; [193]
E	PolWasCiru	PackWaste	"plastic packaging" | "single-use packaging" | "single-use plastics" | "packaging waste" | "packaging circularity" | "recyclable packaging" | "packaging design for recycling" | "packaging recyclability" | "packaging extended producer responsibility" | "sustainable packaging design"	[194]; [195]
E	PolWasCiru	EnvComp	"environmental compliance" | "environmental regulation compliance" | "environmental fines" | "environmental violations" | "environmental management system" | "EMS certification" | "environmental policy" | "environmental audit" | "environmental legal compliance" | "environmental enforcement"	KnowWhereGraph (KWG)zhu2025knowwheregraph; [196]; Knowledge Graph of Dangerous Goods (KGDG)thimm2022relation; [198]; [199]
E	PolWasCiru	HazWaste	"hazardous waste" | "toxic releases" | "toxic emissions" | "industrial air pollution" | "industrial water pollution" | "soil contamination" | "hazardous substances" | "toxic waste management" | "industrial waste management" | "pollutant discharge"	[200]; [201]; [202]; [203]; [204]
E	SustSolTech	CleanTech	"clean technology" | "cleantech innovation" | "low-carbon technology" | "industrial decarbonization technology" | "energy-efficient technologies" | "emissions-reduction technologies" | "green technology innovation" | "climate technology solutions" | "clean technology adoption" | "industrial clean tech"	[205]
E	SustSolTech	GreenBldg	"green building" | "sustainable building" | "energy-efficient buildings" | "building energy performance" | "LEED certification" | "BREEAM certification" | "zero-energy buildings" | "net zero buildings" | "green building certification" | "green building design"	[206]; [207]; [59]; PGD-KGwu2024knowledge; [63]
E	SustSolTech	ReEneg	"renewable energy" | "solar power" | "solar photovoltaics" | "wind power" | "onshore wind power" | "offshore wind power" | "hydropower projects" | "renewable energy projects" | "renewable energy investment" | "corporate renewable sourcing"	knowledge graph structurezhang2025multi; Multi-modal Process Knowledge Graph for Wind Turbines (MPKG-WT)hu2025question; [211]; Energy Knowledge Graphpopadic2023toward; XAI4Wind Knowledge Graphchatterjee2020xai4wind; Energy Knowledge Graph (EKG)chun2020designing; Energy Knowledge Graph (EKG)chun2018knowledge
S	HumCap	OHS	"occupational health and safety" | "workplace health and safety" | "workplace injuries" | "safety incidents" | "lost time injury" | "lost time injury frequency rate" | "safety management systems" | "process safety management" | "safety culture" | "occupational safety"	AEC-KGwu2025construction; FFHKGliu2025automated; [72]; [33]; [66]; [53]; [216]; [54]; MAKGliu2024makg; [217]; Construction Accident Knowledge Graph (CAKG)chen2023knowledge; [218]; [219]; Job Hazard Analysis Knowledge Graph (JHAKG)pandithawatta2023development; Risk Knowledge Graph in Railway Safety (RKGRS)liu2022using; [221]; [222]; [223]
S	HumCap	LearnDev	"human capital development" | "employee development" | "learning and development" | "upskilling" | "reskilling" | "talent development" | "workforce development" | "employee training" | "skills development" | "continuous learning culture"	Person–Job Temporal Knowledge Graphzhang2025construction; [110]; MetaKGyang2023contextualized; [225]; [109]; Skills & Occupation Knowledge Graphde2021job
S	HumCap	WorkManRel	"labor management" | "employee relations" | "workforce relations" | "employee relations strategy" | "employee engagement" | "labor dispute resolution" | "employee voice mechanisms" | "workplace dialogue" | "labor-management cooperation" | "employee relations climate"	JobEdKG and T-JobEdKGfettach2025skill; KG-IRDMyang2025knowledge; [228]
S	HumCap	JobQual	"employment quality" | "decent work" | "fair wages" | "living wage" | "working conditions" | "job security" | "precarious employment" | "working time" | "employee benefits" | "employment contracts"	Human-Centered Knowledge Graph (HCKG)nagy2024knowledge; Salary Knowledge Graphhuang2023kosa; [231]
S	HumCap	DEI	"workplace diversity" | "equal opportunity" | "non-discrimination" | "workforce diversity" | "gender diversity" | "racial diversity" | "pay equity" | "inclusive workplace" | "diversity and inclusion" | "DEI program"	[232]
S	HumCap	FoACollB	"freedom of association" | "collective bargaining" | "trade union rights" | "unionization" | "collective labor agreements" | "collective agreements coverage" | "social dialogue" | "works council" | "employee representation" | "union density"	N.A.
S	HumCap	LocHirMarPre	"market presence" | "local hiring" | "local employment" | "local recruitment" | "local wage levels" | "local management hiring" | "local content in employment" | "local workforce development" | "local economic integration" | "local talent pipeline"	N.A.
S	HumCap	LabStanSC	"supplier labor standards" | "forced labor" | "child labor" | "modern slavery" | "decent work in supply chains" | "supply chain human rights" | "labor exploitation in supply chains" | "supply chain due diligence" | "ethical supply chains" | "labor rights in supply chains"	[233]; [234]
S	ProdRespCustSafe	ChemSafe	"chemical safety" | "hazardous substances" | "toxic chemicals" | "substance restrictions" | "REACH regulation" | "chemical risk management" | "chemical hazard assessment" | "chemical exposure limits" | "hazard communication" | "chemical safety regulation"	CPSKGzheng2025chemical; Hazardous Chemical Accident Knowledge Graph (HCAKG)zhao2025data; Multimodal Knowledge Graph (MMKG)xu5938365kgc; [238]; TERAmyklebust2022prediction; SEARCH-KGshin2022knowledge; [241]
S	ProdRespCustSafe	FinProt	"consumer financial protection" | "financial consumer protection" | "fair lending" | "predatory lending" | "consumer credit risk" | "responsible lending" | "over-indebtedness" | "consumer protection regulation" | "financial conduct regulation" | "consumer financial rights"	N.A.
S	ProdRespCustSafe	DataSec	"data privacy" | "information privacy" | "cybersecurity" | "information security" | "personal data protection" | "data protection regulation" | "GDPR compliance" | "data breach" | "privacy by design" | "data security management"	[36]; [242]; [37]; IoT-Reg Knowledge Graphechenim2025automating; [39]; [244]; AttacKG+zhang2024attackg+; [38]; PrivComp-KGgarza2024privcomp; VulKGyin2024compact; [245]; [40]; [246]; [247]; IoT-Reg Knowledge Graphechenim2023iot; PRIVAFRAMEgambarelli2022privaframe; AttacKGli2022attackg; CSKG4APTren2022cskg4apt; Open-CyKGsarhan2021open; Cybersecurity Knowledge Graph (CSKG)shen2020data; SEPSES Cybersecurity Knowledge Graphkiesling2019sepses; [77]; [253]
S	ProdRespCustSafe	ProdQual	"product safety" | "product safety incidents" | "product recalls" | "safety defects" | "product quality" | "product quality assurance" | "product reliability" | "consumer product safety" | "product safety regulation" | "product conformity assessment"	[254]; ESKGzang2025event; MPKGwu2025automatic; QChsGwen2025novel; [103]; Causal Quality-related Knowledge Graph (CQKG)zhou2024causalkgpt; [55]; Human–Cyber–Physical Knowledge Graphwang2024intelligent; [258]; [259]; [260]; [261]; [262]; Manufacturing Knowledge Graph (MKG)he2019manufacturing
S	ProdRespCustSafe	HealVuln	"health and demographic risk" | "demographic risk" | "aging population risk" | "population aging" | "epidemiological transition" | "chronic disease burden" | "pandemic risk" | "population health trends" | "demographic change" | "health risk exposure"	Elderly Advantages Knowledge Graphli2025aging; [265]; [266]
S	ProdRespCustSafe	RespMkt	"responsible marketing" | "responsible advertising" | "product labeling" | "product labeling" | "marketing ethics" | "misleading advertising" | "green marketing claims" | "sustainability claims" | "fair marketing practices" | "truthful product information"	N.A.
S	ProdRespCustSafe	RSInv	"responsible investment" | "responsible investing" | "sustainable investing" | "ESG investing" | "ESG integration" | "ESG screening" | "stewardship investing" | "shareholder engagement" | "active ownership" | "fiduciary duty and ESG"	Social-Impact Funding Knowledge Graphli2020domain
S	ComRigRisks	ComRel	"community engagement" | "stakeholder engagement" | "social license to operate" | "indigenous rights" | "community impact" | "local community opposition" | "community consultation" | "community grievance mechanisms" | "community development programs" | "community benefit agreements"	[268]
S	ComRigRisks	HRDD	"human rights" | "human rights impact assessment" | "HRIA" | "salient human rights issues" | "UN Guiding Principles" | "UNGP implementation" | "OECD due diligence" | "corporate human rights assessment" | "human rights risk assessment" | "human rights grievance mechanism"	PREJUST4WOMANdamato2025automated; Observatory Knowledge Graph (OKG)blin2023okg
S	ComRigRisks	RiskSrc	"controversial sourcing" | "conflict minerals" | "responsible mineral sourcing" | "cobalt supply chain" | "palm oil sourcing" | "high-risk sourcing countries" | "responsible mineral supply chains" | "ethical mineral sourcing" | "responsible cobalt sourcing" | "responsible palm oil"	Supply Chain Knowledge Graph (SC-KG)kosasih2024towards
S	IncSolSocAcc	FinAcc	"access to finance" | "access to financial services" | "financial inclusion" | "microfinance" | "digital financial services" | "inclusive finance" | "unbanked populations" | "underserved customers" | "mobile money" | "SME access to finance"	[271]; [272]; [273]
S	IncSolSocAcc	HealAcc	"access to health care" | "access to medicines" | "affordable medicines" | "healthcare affordability" | "telemedicine services" | "healthcare availability" | "universal health coverage" | "healthcare equity" | "rural health care access" | "primary health care access"	HealthEQKGnananukul2025healtheqkg; [274]; NHANES Knowledge Graphqi2023demographic; Diseasomics knowledge graphtalukder2022diseasomics; [277]
S	IncSolSocAcc	DigIncl	"access to communications" | "digital inclusion" | "digital divide" | "access to internet" | "broadband access" | "mobile connectivity" | "ICT access" | "affordable connectivity" | "digital infrastructure" | "telecommunications access"	[278]; [279]
S	IncSolSocAcc	NutriHeal	"nutrition and health" | "healthy foods" | "fortified foods" | "nutrition interventions" | "obesity prevention" | "diet-related health" | "healthy diet" | "nutrition security" | "functional foods" | "nutrition labeling"	[18]; [108]; NRKGma2024nutrition; Food4healthKGfu2023food4healthkg; GENAdang2023gena; KG4NHfu2023kg4nh; KG4NHfu2023multimodal; FoodKGchen2021personalized; [285]
G	CorpGov	BoardOvr	"corporate board" | "board independence" | "independent directors" | "board diversity" | "board gender diversity" | "board oversight" | "board composition" | "director overboarding" | "board refreshment" | "board tenure"	N.A.
G	CorpGov	ExecPay	"executive compensation" | "CEO compensation" | "CEO salary" | "say on pay" | "CEO pay ratio" | "incentive alignment" | "performance-based pay" | "remuneration policy" | "compensation committee" | "executive pay governance"	N.A.
G	CorpGov	OwnCtrl	"ownership and control" | "dual-class shares" | "pyramidal ownership" | "control rights" | "controlling shareholders" | "ownership concentration" | "ownership structure" | "family ownership" | "blockholder ownership" | "minority shareholder protection"	Equity Knowledge Graph (EKG)xu2025disclosing; LCAIM Knowledge Graphshaw2025knowledge; Company Knowledge Graphmagnanimi2023reactive; [78]
G	CorpGov	FinRepQ	"accounting irregularities" | "financial restatement" | "earnings management" | "aggressive accounting" | "audit quality" | "financial reporting quality" | "accounting fraud" | "financial statement fraud" | "creative accounting" | "accounting enforcement"	Financial Knowledge Graph (FKG)wang2025corporate; [289]; [87]; [28]; FSFD-TLKGcai2024explainable; Supplier–Customer Knowledge Graphli2023tracking; [71]; Manager Knowledge Graphwen2022analysis; Financial Knowledge Graph (FKG)zehra2021financial; FSFDshen2021financial
G	CorpCondInt	EthicsAC	"business ethics" | "corporate ethics" | "anti-corruption" | "anti-bribery" | "corruption risk" | "integrity management" | "ethics training" | "ethics and compliance program" | "corporate misconduct" | "ethical culture"	[293]; [294]
G	CorpCondInt	TaxTrans	"tax transparency" | "tax disclosure" | "tax avoidance" | "tax planning" | "effective tax rate" | "country-by-country reporting" | "tax policy" | "corporate tax strategy" | "tax justice" | "aggressive tax planning"	[93]; Tax Law Knowledge Graph (TaxKG)tan2025llama; Enterprise Knowledge Graphzheng2023machine; TaxGraph – Global Multinational Tax Planning Knowledge Graphludemann2020knowledge
G	CorpCondInt	PolEngage	"corporate political activity" | "corporate political engagement" | "lobbying activities" | "public policy advocacy" | "political contributions" | "political donations" | "policy influence" | "trade association lobbying" | "political spending disclosure" | "regulatory lobbying"	N.A.
G	CorpCondInt	RegComp	"socioeconomic compliance" | "regulatory compliance" | "non-financial compliance" | "competition law compliance" | "product regulatory compliance" | "social regulation compliance" | "legal non-compliance" | "fines and sanctions" | "compliance violations" | "regulatory enforcement actions"	GovGraphma2025govgraph; [80]; [23]; [73]; [22]; Regulatory Knowledge Graphershov2023case; [92]
G	CorpCondInt	RespProc	"responsible procurement" | "local procurement" | "local suppliers" | "inclusive procurement" | "responsible purchasing" | "sustainable purchasing policy" | "ethical procurement" | "supplier diversity" | "community-focused procurement" | "procurement sustainability"	N.A.
G	CorpCondInt	FairComp	"anti-competitive behavior" | "anti-competitive behavior" | "competition law" | "antitrust violations" | "cartel" | "price fixing" | "abuse of dominance" | "market collusion" | "bid rigging" | "fair competition"	[298]
G	CorpCondInt	Whistle	"whistleblower protection" | "whistleblowing system" | "speak-up culture" | "whistleblowing hotline" | "retaliation against whistleblowers" | "internal reporting channels" | "ethics reporting" | "whistleblower policy" | "whistleblowing in organizations" | "speak-up mechanism"	N.A.
G	CorpCondInt	AIEthics	"AI ethics" | "algorithmic accountability" | "algorithmic fairness" | "responsible AI" | "digital responsibility" | "AI governance" | "data ethics" | "ethical AI principles" | "AI risk management" | "trustworthy AI"	TAIR (Trustworthy AI Requirements) knowledge graphhernandez2025open
H	ESGIntAss	ESGRate	"ESG performance" | "ESG rating" | "overall ESG score" | "ESG benchmarking" | "sustainability score" | "ESG assessment" | "ESG index rating" | "issuer ESG rating" | "portfolio ESG rating" | "ESG ranking"	[10]; [111]; [51]; ESG-KGangioni2024exploring; [69]
H	ESGIntAss	ESGData	"ESG data integration" | "ESG data aggregation" | "ESG data harmonization" | "sustainability data platforms" | "ESG data pipelines" | "ESG data quality" | "ESG datasets" | "ESG data sources" | "ESG database integration" | "ESG data interoperability"	[42]
H	ESGIntAss	EconImp	"economic performance" | "economic value generated" | "economic value distributed" | "indirect economic impacts" | "local economic impact" | "inclusive economic growth" | "economic development impact" | "social return on investment" | "socioeconomic impact assessment" | "economic contribution analysis"	Spatiotemporal Knowledge Graph (STKG)wang2025intelligent
H	ESGIntAss	DualMat	"materiality assessment" | "ESG materiality" | "double materiality" | "impact materiality" | "financial materiality" | "sustainability materiality" | "materiality matrix" | "stakeholder materiality assessment" | "ESG topic prioritization" | "material issues identification"	[26]
H	ESGIntAss	ESGScen	"ESG risk management" | "sustainability risk modeling" | "climate-related financial risk analysis" | "transition and physical climate risk evaluation" | "ESG scenario-based analytics" | "climate-aligned scenario planning" | "ESG exposure and vulnerability assessment" | "sustainability stress-test analytics" | "climate-financial impact projection" | "climate-ESG risk propagation"	LinkClimate knowledge graphwu2022linkclimate
H	ESGIntAss	ESGRept	"ESG reporting" | "sustainability disclosure" | "ESG disclosure" | "sustainability statement" | "ESG transparency" | "corporate sustainability reporting" | "non-financial disclosure" | "integrated ESG reporting" | "ESG narrative reporting" | "ESG metrics disclosure"	[9]; ESGSenticNetong2025esgsenticnet; [29]; Power Equipment Management Using Knowledge Graphdriller2024unlocking; [301]
H	ESGIntAss	GreenWH	"greenwashing" | "green hushing" | "greenhushing" | "misleading environmental claims" | "misleading sustainability claims" | "green claims" | "environmental claim substantiation" | "sustainability claim verification" | "green claims directive" | "ESG communication integrity"	[82]; EmeraldGraphKaoukis2025EmeraldMindAK
H	ESGIntAss	ESGIncid	"ESG controversies" | "ESG controversy" | "sustainability controversies" | "ESG incident database" | "ESG incident detection" | "ESG news monitoring" | "adverse ESG events" | "ESG negative screening" | "controversial business practices" | "controversy scoring"	[43]
H	SDFrame	SDGs	"SDGs" | "Sustainable Development Goals" | "Agenda 2030" | "sustainability targets" | "SDG indicators" | "SDG alignment" | "SDG monitoring" | "SDG integration" | "SDG evaluation" | "sustainable development framework"	SDG-KGbenjira2025sdg; [302]; Regional Graph (RG) + Intent Graph (IG)wang2025unveiling; [304]; [305]; [306]; [307]; UrbanKGandrona2024knowledge; SustainGraphfotopoulou2022sustaingraph; DaanMatch Knowledge Graph (DaanKG)debellis2023daankg; [309]; [310]; [311]; [312]
H	SDFrame	ImpInv	"impact investing" | "impact investment funds" | "impact measurement" | "impact financing" | "social impact investing" | "environmental impact investing" | "impact evaluation" | "impact reporting" | "impact fund strategies" | "sustainable impact investing"	N.A.
H	SDFrame	ReptStd	"sustainability reporting" | "GRI standards" | "SASB standards" | "GRI/SASB alignment" | "sustainability reporting framework" | "non-financial reporting standards" | "GRI-compliant reporting" | "SASB-based disclosure" | "sustainability reporting taxonomy" | "ESG reporting standards"	ESG Metric Knowledge Graph (ESGMKG)yu2024ontology; [19]; RSOKGzhou2024towards; [21]; [314]; [6]
H	SDFrame	TaxMap	"ESG taxonomy" | "sustainable finance taxonomy" | "EU taxonomy" | "green taxonomy" | "ESG classification system" | "ESG standard mapping" | "ESG standards alignment" | "sustainability reporting standards" | "ESG ontology" | "sustainability ontology"	[315]
H	SysSustMod	CircLoop	"circular economy" | "closed-loop supply chains" | "resource circularity" | "material circularity" | "product life extension" | "reuse and remanufacturing" | "circular business models" | "industrial symbiosis" | "circular value chains" | "circular economy metrics"	[89]; [316]; Housing Passport Knowledge Graph (HPKG)keena2025housing; W2RKGzhao2025construction; [317]; [90]; ScrapKGvasileiadis2023leveraging; [319]
H	SysSustMod	SCSust	"sustainable supply chains" | "end-to-end supply chain sustainability" | "ESG in supply chains" | "supply chain sustainability assessment" | "multi-tier supply chain ESG" | "responsible global supply chains" | "sustainable sourcing and logistics" | "supply chain sustainability metrics" | "supply chain ESG performance" | "holistic supply chain risk"	[74]; [95]; [97]; [98]
H	SysSustMod	JustTrans	"just transition" | "climate justice" | "energy justice" | "low-carbon transition pathways" | "socially just decarbonization" | "green jobs transition" | "coal phase-out justice" | "inclusive climate transition" | "socio-ecological transformation" | "just transition planning"	GeoOutageKGfrakes2025geooutagekg

Finally, the Selected Works column lists one or more representative KGs from our curated corpus that we judged to be closely aligned with the corresponding focus. These examples are obtained via manual inspection of titles, abstracts, and skimming full texts, not automatically from search results.

Why selected exemplars can surface under multiple foci. Because focus term lists intentionally include synonyms, disclosure hooks, and closely related terminology to increase recall, the same KG paper can be retrieved by multiple focus-level searches. We treat this overlap as a feature rather than a defect: it reduces false negatives in ESG, where vocabulary is inconsistent across sectors, jurisdictions, and standards, and where many systems are genuinely multi-topic.

Accordingly, all retrieved candidates are merged and deduplicated before screening, and each included work appears only once in the KG4ESG corpus even if it was surfaced by several focus queries. The Selected Works column in the query dictionary is therefore illustrative: we list each exemplar under the single focus that it most directly instantiates based on manual judgement from title/abstract plus full-text inspection. This choice is made for table readability and to provide a clean “most-suitable anchor” for readers, not to claim exclusivity; multi-focus relevance is preserved in our internal coding (and will be retained in the released annotations).

Appendix D.2. Scope and Corpus Construction

We target research whose primary contribution is to construct, extend, or apply a knowledge graph (or closely related ontology-style graph) for ESG- or sustainability-related tasks. We accept both academic and industrial papers, including system descriptions, provided that the KG is a first-class artefact rather than a minor internal component.

Starting from the union of all KG-anchored query results and additional manual venue searches (e.g., ACL-like venues, environmental informatics, sustainability and climate conferences, finance and accounting venues), we harvest candidate papers and apply the screening steps shown in Figure A3. After deduplication of workshop and journal versions, this yields the papers that form the KG4ESG corpus used throughout the survey.

Appendix D.3. Search Sources and Workflow

The query dictionary in Appendix D.7 encodes the search patterns used for corpus construction. Each row corresponds to one focus area in the ESG-RFM and provides a KG-anchored query of the form “knowledge graph” (term1 OR ...OR term10). We execute these queries across four complementary sources: Google Scholar5 (broad recall), ACL Anthology6 (NLP venue completeness), and Semantic Scholar7 + OpenAlex8 (structured metadata and citation-graph support). We additionally perform backward/forward citation chasing from seed and newly included papers to reduce keyword and indexing bias. All candidates are merged and deduplicated before PRISMA-style screening.

Primary aggregator (Google Scholar). We use Google Scholar as a first-stage aggregator because of its broad, cross-disciplinary coverage and documented high recall relative to single-publisher databases [120,121]. At the same time, relevance ranking and metadata quality can be noisy [120,121]. We mitigate this by (i) deriving structured, taxonomy-grounded queries (Appendix C and Appendix D.7), (ii) explicitly anchoring searches on the phrase “knowledge graph”, and (iii) applying PRISMA-style screening with pre-defined criteria.

Targeted NLP venue coverage (ACL Anthology). Because KG4ESG is NLP-centered and many relevant papers appear in ACL-family venues, we additionally run targeted searches in the ACL Anthology to reduce the chance that conference/workshop papers are missed or poorly indexed by general-purpose aggregators. Results are merged into the same candidate pool prior to screening.

Structured metadata and citation graph (Semantic Scholar and OpenAlex). We use Semantic Scholar and OpenAlex to (i) cross-check bibliographic fields (venue, year, identifiers), (ii) support high-precision deduplication via DOI/arXiv/normalized titles, and (iii) enable citation-based expansion and verification. In practice, these databases improve reproducibility and reduce errors caused by inconsistent metadata across engines.

Citation chasing and saturation logic. To reduce keyword and indexing bias, we perform backward (reference list) and forward (citing papers) citation chasing from (i) a seed set of high-centrality ESG/sustainability KGs and (ii) borderline-but-included papers discovered during screening. Citation chasing continues iteratively until newly surfaced candidates are predominantly out-of-scope or duplicates under our criteria.

Deduplication and counting conventions. All retrieved candidates from the four sources are merged prior to screening. We deduplicate using a layered strategy: DOI/arXiv identifiers when available, followed by normalized-title matching with manual verification for collisions (e.g., workshop vs. journal extensions). Query-level hit counts are treated only as coarse indicators of topical volume (rather than stable statistics), consistent with bibliometric practice [120,122]. Our overall workflow follows the logic of systematic reviews and meta-analyses [1,122], adapted to the evolving KG/NLP landscape in which many contributions explicitly self-identify with the “knowledge graph” label.

Appendix D.4. Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria

We include a paper in the KG4ESG corpus only if it satisfies all of the following:

• It defines, instantiates, or operationalises a knowledge graph or ontology that is used as a central computational artefact (e.g., for retrieval, reasoning, recommendation, or downstream analytics).
• Its application domain lies within the ESG and sustainability topics delineated by our taxonomy (i.e., we can assign at least one pillar–theme–focus label).
• It contains a non-trivial text-centric component (e.g., extraction from reports, scientific articles, regulations, news, or user-generated content), even if the overall system is multimodal.

We exclude works that:

• do not use KGs or ontologies in a substantive way (e.g., purely vector-space or tabular models);
• conduct general ESG text mining (topic modelling, sentiment analysis, etc.) without a KG layer;
• focus exclusively on bibliometric analysis of publications rather than on domain-level ESG KGs;
• operate far outside the corporate-oriented ESG space (e.g., purely scientific climate or ecological models) even if they use KGs, while still acknowledging that insights from those communities are highly relevant.

Appendix D.5. Threats to Validity

The curation process introduces several sources of bias:

• Search bias. Anchoring queries on “knowledge graph” risks missing ontology- or graph-based work that does not use that exact phrase. We mitigate this by complementing Google Scholar with ACL Anthology (NLP venue coverage), Semantic Scholar and OpenAlex (structured metadata and citation graph), and iterative backward/forward citation chasing from prominent KGs and newly included papers.
• Hit-count noise. Google Scholar hit counts are approximate and time-dependent. The volume labels in Table A5 should be read as coarse activity indicators, not as precise bibliometric measures.

Appendix D.6. Limitations

The KG4ESG corpus should be interpreted as a carefully curated but non-exhaustive sample of ESG and sustainability KGs. It is shaped by our taxonomy, our query patterns, and our inclusion criteria. In particular:

• some adjacent graph or ontology work may be missing because it does not self-identify as a “knowledge graph”;
• fast-moving areas (e.g., LLM- and agentic KG workflows) may be under-represented in the most recent years;
• borderline cases between pillars or themes may reasonably admit alternative classifications.

We therefore release the taxonomy and query dictionary as reusable artefacts so that future work can extend, refine, or contest the KG4ESG corpus as the literature evolves.

Appendix D.7. KG4ESG Corpus Query Dictionary

For every focus in ESG-RFM, we define a small query dictionary used to retrieve candidate literature.

KG-anchored query construction. Because this survey targets knowledge graph methods, every retrieval query is anchored with the fixed phrase “knowledge graph”. The table below reports only the focus-specific term list (an OR-list). On engines that accept multi-term keyword queries (Google Scholar, ACL Anthology, OpenAlex), the executable KG-anchored query is instantiated by prepending the anchor phrase and grouping the terms with OR. Concretely:

“knowledge graph” ($ter{m}_1$ OR $ter{m}_2$ OR ...OR $ter{m}_k$),    $k\le 10$.

For example, the Greenhouse Gas Emissions focus instantiates:

“knowledge graph” (“GHG emissions” OR “CO2 emissions” OR ...OR “Scope 3 emissions”).

All searches were executed in December 2025.

Two query patterns and year-wise execution. For each focus area, we execute two complementary query patterns: (i) a KG-anchored query that explicitly includes the “knowledge graph” constraint, and (ii) a background query that omits this anchor while reusing the same focus-specific term list. For Google Scholar and OpenAlex, both query patterns are executed year-wise for each year from 2015 to 2025 using the corresponding year filters provided by the platforms. For ACL Anthology, due to search-engine limitations that do not support reliable year-level filtering, each query pattern is executed without explicit year constraints, and publication years are subsequently resolved from the retrieved metadata during corpus curation.

Semantic Scholar execution (OR-by-union). Semantic Scholar’s public web search does not support Boolean operators (e.g., OR-lists), although it supports quoted phrases.9 Therefore, the OR-list cannot be issued as a single query. Instead, we decompose each focus-year query into k single-term sub-queries (with phrases quoted) and then combine the results by set union:

“knowledge graph” “term₁”, “knowledge graph” “term₂”, ..., “knowledge graph” “term_k”.

We apply the same decomposition for background retrieval (dropping the anchor and querying “term_i”).

Why up to ten terms per focus? We cap each focus term list at ten terms ($k\le 10$) as a practical compromise between (i) recall (covering common synonyms, abbreviations, metric/reporting language, and standard-specific hooks) and (ii) portability and auditability (keeping queries short enough to run consistently across engines and to inspect/maintain as a curated dictionary). Term lists are derived from the focus definition and the MSCI/GRI/ESRS/SASB crosswalk vocabulary, then augmented with frequently used synonyms and abbreviations observed in pilot searches and seed papers. The cap is also important for Semantic Scholar: because OR must be implemented by decomposition, k directly controls the number of required sub-queries.

Illustration (coverage-oriented term selection). To increase topical coverage beyond a single keyword, term sets intentionally mix (i) phenomenon-level language and (ii) disclosure / reporting language. For instance, the Physical Climate Risk & Vulnerability focus includes both risk/hazard terms (e.g., “physical climate risk”, “climate vulnerability”) and disclosure hooks (e.g., “TCFD reporting”, “scenario analysis”), while Biodiversity, Habitats & Land Use combines ecological processes (e.g., “deforestation”, “land use change”) with emerging standards vocabulary (e.g., “TNFD”). Despite these safeguards, no fixed dictionary can be exhaustive in ESG: terminology is sector-, jurisdiction-, and time-dependent. We therefore treat the query dictionary as a recall-oriented scaffold and further mitigate residual keyword/indexing bias through backward/forward citation chasing and iterative screening refinement (Appendix D.3).

Each row in the table below corresponds to one focus area and contains the following fields:

• Pillar / Theme / Focus — the position of the focus in the ESG-RFM pillar–theme–focus hierarchy.
• Searched Terms — the focus-specific term list of up to ten phrases used to instantiate the KG-anchored query (and the corresponding background query).
• Selected Works — one or more representative KG4ESG papers from our curated corpus that directly instantiate or strongly target the focus. These examples are selected manually via full-text inspection.