Environmental Data Management in SMEs, Technical and Organizational Challenges under Increasing ESG Demands

Sammanfattning

This study investigates the technical and organizational challenges Swedish small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) encounter when generating and managing environmental data through information systems for sustainability reporting under increasing ESG and CSRD-related value-chain demands. The study focuses on SMEs that are not directly subject to mandatory CSRD reporting but are affected through customers, larger value-chain partners, certifications, and internal environmental management practices. Using an interpretivist qualitative approach, the study draws on six semi-structured interviews with seven participants involved in environmental data, sustainability reporting, finance, operations, management, and consulting. The findings show that environmental data management in SMEs is a socio-technical challenge shaped by fragmented systems, spreadsheet-based work, manual coordination, weak integration, and limited formal governance. Environmental data is often actively constructed through interpretation, translation, estimation, and reconciliation of operational, supplier, and reporting information rather than extracted from integrated systems. Reporting expands beyond established environmental routines, especially through Scope 3 and value-chain data demands, increasing reliance on approximations and individual employees’ knowledge. The study contributes by conceptualizing SME sustainability reporting as an environmental data management problem and highlights the need for clearer data ownership, standardized definitions, documentation routines, and proportionate reporting requirements.