Environmental, social, and governance disclosure in the Middle East and North Africa region: trends, insights, and future research agenda

Purpose This study aims to review environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure research in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, examining its trends, challenges, and opportunities within the context of evolving corporate governance frameworks. Design/methodology/approach A systematic review of 213 articles sourced from Scopus and Web of Science (WoS) was conducted, covering English-language publications up to January 13, 2025. Bibliometric techniques, including keyword co-occurrence and citation analyses, were applied to map this landscape. Findings The results indicate an increasing emphasis on ESG disclosures following regional reforms, such as Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 and the United Arab Emirates’ Green Economy Strategy. However, ESG reporting remains uneven, particularly in non-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, highlighting the importance of governance quality for disclosure credibility. The literature clusters around corporate governance, integrated reporting, board dynamics, and performance, but these clusters are weakly integrated, resulting in a segmented knowledge structure. Explanations are dominated by internal governance mechanisms, while macro-institutional conditions, enforcement heterogeneity, and socio-political drivers receive limited attention, especially outside the GCC. Methodologically, the field relies heavily on firm-level quantitative designs, which enhance comparability but constrain understanding of how regulation, politics, and stakeholder contestation shape disclosure credibility across the MENA region. Research limitations/implications Although this study offers valuable insights, its scope is limited to articles published in English and indexed in Scopus and WoS. Practical implications The findings offer actionable recommendations for policymakers, academics, and businesses, particularly in non-GCC countries, to standardize ESG reporting practices, enhance corporate governance frameworks, and promote sustainability and transparency in the region. Social implications This study highlights the importance of ESG disclosures in fostering responsible business practices in the MENA region and aligning corporate actions with global sustainability objectives. Originality/value This review advances ESG disclosure research in the MENA region by moving beyond descriptive coverage to identify a governance-centric mechanism linking monitoring, disclosure credibility, and market outcomes. It maps the concentration of theoretical lenses and their limitations, and clarifies how sub-regional institutional differences condition both disclosure practices and research designs. These insights underpin a future research agenda that calls for greater theory diversification and multi-level approaches to capture enforcement heterogeneity and institutional variation beyond the listed GCC contexts.