Abstract Risk management in an organization represents a decisive function in seizing opportunities and managing the risks that can affect a business's reputation, prosperity, growth, value creation, stakeholder engagement, long‐term survival, and a firm's contribution to sustainable development. For this paper, we conduct a systematic literature review of 148 indexed studies and uses the “Six Ws” (what, who, why, where, when, and how) approach to understand the linkages between sustainability and risk management. This study's findings reveal that the management of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) concerns plays a mitigation's function on business risks.