This paper aims to investigate the ESG risks and mitigation actions considered relevant and disclosed by companies in response to increasing pressure from investors and the institutional environment. Our research focuses on the 10-K forms of the four major aerospace and defence (A&D) companies in the US market. This context was chosen due to (i) the specific characteristics of the sector, based on knowledge-intensive businesses, (ii) the unclear and critical links between the sector and sustainability, and (iii) the mandatory nature of the risk disclosure required by SEC Regulation S-K. Drawing on Beretta and Bozzolan’s (2004) framework for analysing corporate risk communication, we have focused on three attributes (‘width’, ‘depth’, and ‘mitigation’). Our analysis shows that companies consider the following themes as the most relevant: meeting the expectations of the sustainable investor, ensuring data security, attracting talent, and embracing new technologies, as well as proactively defining mitigation tools for the last three topics. By systematising the current level of disclosure of ESG risks in the US context, our research provides a starting point for future analysis aimed at understanding what risk management processes companies will need to implement to meet new ESG risk disclosure requirements arising from regulatory developments in Europe and beyond.