From sustainability to risk governance: visualizing the ESG–ERM overlap in the literature

Abstract

This paper aims to systematize and visualize where environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks overlap with enterprise risk management (ERM) in the academic literature and to provide a compact framework for enterprise-wide risk governance. Although ESG risks are increasingly financially material, they are frequently addressed through sustainability reporting and compliance functions rather than embedded within ERM architectures, leaving the interface between the two domains fragmented and difficult to operationalize. To address this gap, we conduct an exploratory structured literature review of publications retrieved from the Web of Science and Scopus databases and apply descriptive keyword-based thematic mapping (illustrated using word-cloud visualizations) to identify dominant themes and recurring concepts linking ESG and ERM. The synthesis indicates that ESG and ERM converge around six core areas: (1) materiality and value protection; (2) governance and accountability; (3) risk appetite and strategic decision-making; (4) risk identification and integration within enterprise processes; (5) internal controls, assurance, monitoring, and internal reporting; and (6) stakeholder-oriented disclosure and transparency. The resulting conceptual map clarifies terminology and offers a practical translation logic for linking ESG topics to ERM artefacts such as risk taxonomies, ownership, control activities, and reporting routines, supporting follow-on empirical research and implementation.