Sustainability and sustainable development: an investigation on the role of Islamic finance and other determinants in the OIC member countries

For the last three decades, sustainability has become a more prominent topic of global discussion. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations are regarded as benchmarks for country-level sustainability attainment. Recognising the MDGs and SDGs as the established framework for advancing the global developmental agenda, their primary rules governing social, economic, and environmental development are compatible with Islamic tenets. This study conducts a comprehensive review of the pertinent literature to determine whether Islam promotes a distinctive model of sustainable development and contributes to framing complex development challenges. Considering Islamic finance as a tool for achieving sustainable development, this study provides a critical examination and elaboration on two primary debates. First, this study examines the impact of Islamic finance development and other determinants on the achievement of the sustainable development at the country level from 2013 to 2019. Second, the study examines the relationship between Islamic banks’ sustainability disclosure practises and financial performance from 2016 to 2019. The Sustainable Development Index (SDI) and Corporate Sustainability Disclosure Practices (CSDP) scores are developed to assist the empirical stage of this study. Within these two contexts, a study of OIC member countries is considered empirically. This clarifies the nature and objectives of Islamic finance as a component of possible development policies. The evidence presented in this study does not appear to corroborate the SDI’s assertion that Islamic finance has a substantial influence on sustainable development in OIC member countries. In addition, this research reveals that membership in the GCC, which is typically regarded as a benefit since it is the only high-income group in the OIC, does not necessarily correspond with a greater degree of sustainability practices at the firm level