IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/ausact/v32y2022i3p315-333.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Reporting and Assurance of Climate‐Related and Other Sustainability Information: A Review of Research and Practice

Author

Listed:
  • Shan Zhou

Abstract

This literature review provides a summary of the key insights from recent studies that use an archival method. It covers two subject matters: climate‐related information and other sustainability information. For each, the paper reviews and summarises findings on current practices and the determinants and consequences of the reporting and assurance of climate‐related and other sustainability information in both voluntary and mandatory regimes. The review identifies areas that are close to saturation and those that are currently under researched. It also highlights key trends in this evolving area for future research to explore.

Suggested Citation

  • Shan Zhou, 2022. "Reporting and Assurance of Climate‐Related and Other Sustainability Information: A Review of Research and Practice," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 32(3), pages 315-333, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ausact:v:32:y:2022:i:3:p:315-333
    DOI: 10.1111/auar.12387
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/auar.12387
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/auar.12387?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Adriana Rossi & Lara Tarquinio, 2017. "An analysis of sustainability report assurance statements," Managerial Auditing Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 32(6), pages 578-602, June.
    2. Maria Steinmeier & Michael Stich, 2019. "Does Sustainability Assurance Improve Managerial Investment Decisions?," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(1), pages 177-209, January.
    3. Jody Grewal & Clarissa Hauptmann & George Serafeim, 2021. "Material Sustainability Information and Stock Price Informativeness," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 171(3), pages 513-544, July.
    4. Huang, Xiaobei “Beryl†& Watson, Luke, 2015. "Corporate social responsibility research in accounting," Journal of Accounting Literature, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 1-16.
    5. Lin Liao & Teng (Philip) Lin & Yuyu Zhang, 2018. "Corporate Board and Corporate Social Responsibility Assurance: Evidence from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 150(1), pages 211-225, June.
    6. Stacey Cowan & Craig Deegan, 2011. "Corporate disclosure reactions to Australia’s first national emission reporting scheme," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 51(2), pages 409-436, June.
    7. Frank Schiemann & Alice Sakhel, 2019. "Carbon Disclosure, Contextual Factors, and Information Asymmetry: The Case of Physical Risk Reporting," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(4), pages 791-818, August.
    8. Juhyun Jung & Kathleen Herbohn & Peter Clarkson, 2018. "Carbon Risk, Carbon Risk Awareness and the Cost of Debt Financing," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 150(4), pages 1151-1171, July.
    9. Ao Li & Marina Michaelides & Meina Rose & Mukesh Garg, 2019. "Climate‐related Risk and Financial Statements: Implications for Regulators, Preparers, Auditors and Users," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 29(3), pages 599-605, September.
    10. Zahra Borghei, 2021. "Carbon disclosure: a systematic literature review," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(4), pages 5255-5280, December.
    11. Wendy Green & Qixin Li, 2012. "Evidence of an expectation gap for greenhouse gas emissions assurance," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 25(1), pages 146-173, January.
    12. Hans B. Christensen & Luzi Hail & Christian Leuz, 2021. "Mandatory CSR and sustainability reporting: economic analysis and literature review," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 1176-1248, September.
    13. Diogenis Baboukardos, 2017. "Market valuation of greenhouse gas emissions under a mandatory reporting regime: Evidence from the UK," Accounting Forum, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(3), pages 221-233, September.
    14. Helena María Bollas‐Araya & Fernando Polo‐Garrido & Elies Seguí‐Mas, 2019. "Determinants of CSR Reporting and Assurance: An Analysis of Top Cooperative and Mutual Organisations," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 29(4), pages 692-707, December.
    15. Barth, Mary E. & Cahan, Steven F. & Chen, Li & Venter, Elmar R., 2017. "The Economic Consequences Associated with Integrated Report Quality: Capital Market and Real Effects," Research Papers 3546, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
    16. Frank Heflin & Dana Wallace, 2017. "The BP Oil Spill: Shareholder Wealth Effects and Environmental Disclosures," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(3-4), pages 337-374, March.
    17. Ans Kolk & Paolo Perego, 2010. "Determinants of the adoption of sustainability assurance statements: an international investigation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(3), pages 182-198, March.
    18. Qingliang Tang & Le Luo, 2016. "Corporate ecological transparency: theories and empirical evidence," Asian Review of Accounting, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 24(4), pages 498-524, December.
    19. David Friederich & Lynn H. Kaack & Alexandra Luccioni & Bjarne Steffen, 2021. "Automated Identification of Climate Risk Disclosures in Annual Corporate Reports," Papers 2108.01415, arXiv.org.
    20. Michaela Rankin & Carolyn Windsor & Dina Wahyuni, 2011. "An investigation of voluntary corporate greenhouse gas emissions reporting in a market governance system," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 24(8), pages 1037-1070, October.
    21. Karl V. Lins & Henri Servaes & Ane Tamayo, 2017. "Social Capital, Trust, and Firm Performance: The Value of Corporate Social Responsibility during the Financial Crisis," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 72(4), pages 1785-1824, August.
    22. Gao, Lei & Zhang, Joseph H., 2015. "Firms’ earnings smoothing, corporate social responsibility, and valuation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 108-127.
    23. Robert G. Eccles & Michael P. Krzus, 2019. "Implementing the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures Recommendations: An Assessment of Corporate Readiness," Schmalenbach Business Review, Springer;Schmalenbach-Gesellschaft, vol. 71(2), pages 287-293, May.
    24. Balachandran, Balasingham & Nguyen, Justin Hung, 2018. "Does carbon risk matter in firm dividend policy? Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in an imputation environment," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 249-267.
    25. Robyn Moroney & Carolyn Windsor & Yong Ting Aw, 2012. "Evidence of assurance enhancing the quality of voluntary environmental disclosures: an empirical analysis," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 52(3), pages 903-939, September.
    26. Erin Marie Reid & Michael W. Toffel, 2008. "Responding to Public and Private Politics: Corporate Disclosure of Climate Change Strategies," Harvard Business School Working Papers 09-019, Harvard Business School, revised Jun 2009.
    27. Peter M. Clarkson & Yue Li & Matthew Pinnuck & Gordon D. Richardson, 2015. "The Valuation Relevance of Greenhouse Gas Emissions under the European Union Carbon Emissions Trading Scheme," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(3), pages 551-580, September.
    28. Freedman, Martin & Jaggi, Bikki, 2005. "Global warming, commitment to the Kyoto protocol, and accounting disclosures by the largest global public firms from polluting industries," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 215-232.
    29. Griffin, Paul A. & Lont, David, H. & Pomare, Carol, 2021. "The curious case of Canadian corporate emissions valuation," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(1).
    30. Christopher Marquis & Cuili Qian, 2014. "Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting in China: Symbol or Substance?," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(1), pages 127-148, February.
    31. Rong He & Le Luo & Abul Shamsuddin & Qingliang Tang, 2022. "Corporate carbon accounting: a literature review of carbon accounting research from the Kyoto Protocol to the Paris Agreement," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(1), pages 261-298, March.
    32. Ioannis Ioannou & George Serafeim, 2015. "The impact of corporate social responsibility on investment recommendations: Analysts' perceptions and shifting institutional logics," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(7), pages 1053-1081, July.
    33. Christensen, Hans B. & Floyd, Eric & Liu, Lisa Yao & Maffett, Mark, 2017. "The real effects of mandated information on social responsibility in financial reports: Evidence from mine-safety records," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 284-304.
    34. Manuel Castelo Branco & Catarina Delgado & Sónia Ferreira Gomes & Teresa Cristina Pereira Eugénio, 2014. "Factors influencing the assurance of sustainability reports in the context of the economic crisis in Portugal," Managerial Auditing Journal, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 29(3), pages 237-252, February.
    35. Katrin Hummel & Christian Schlick & Matthias Fifka, 2019. "The Role of Sustainability Performance and Accounting Assurors in Sustainability Assurance Engagements," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 154(3), pages 733-757, February.
    36. Aaron K. Chatterji & Rodolphe Durand & David I. Levine & Samuel Touboul, 2016. "Do ratings of firms converge? Implications for managers, investors and strategy researchers," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(8), pages 1597-1614, August.
    37. Peter Clarkson & Yue Li & Gordon Richardson & Albert Tsang, 2019. "Causes and consequences of voluntary assurance of CSR reports," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 32(8), pages 2451-2474, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jun, Xiao & Huang, Wenwei & Guo, Yiting & Cao, Yuqiang & Lu, Meiting, 2023. "Why does economic policy uncertainty increase firm-level pollutant emission?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    2. Yang, Xin & Wei, Luohan & Deng, Rantian & Cao, Jie & Huang, Chuangxia, 2023. "Can climate-related risks increase audit fees?–Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    3. Yong Hu & Qian Liu, 2023. "Local Digital Economy and Corporate Social Responsibility," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-20, May.
    4. Le Luo & Qingliang Tang & Hanlu Fan & Jamie Ayers, 2023. "Corporate carbon assurance and the quality of carbon disclosure," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(1), pages 657-690, March.
    5. Qian Liu & Yiheng You, 2023. "FinTech and Green Credit Development—Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-23, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Le Luo & Qingliang Tang & Hanlu Fan & Jamie Ayers, 2023. "Corporate carbon assurance and the quality of carbon disclosure," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(1), pages 657-690, March.
    2. Hans B. Christensen & Luzi Hail & Christian Leuz, 2021. "Mandatory CSR and sustainability reporting: economic analysis and literature review," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 1176-1248, September.
    3. Rong He & Le Luo & Abul Shamsuddin & Qingliang Tang, 2022. "Corporate carbon accounting: a literature review of carbon accounting research from the Kyoto Protocol to the Paris Agreement," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(1), pages 261-298, March.
    4. Bradbury, Michael & Jia, Jing & Li, Zhongtian, 2022. "Corporate social responsibility committees and the use of corporate social responsibility assurance services," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(2).
    5. Zahra Borghei, 2021. "Carbon disclosure: a systematic literature review," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(4), pages 5255-5280, December.
    6. Fan, Hanlu & Tang, Qingliang & Pan, Lipeng, 2021. "An international study of carbon information asymmetry and independent carbon assurance," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(1).
    7. Kılıç, Merve & Kuzey, Cemil & Uyar, Ali, 2021. "An international investigation on assurance of integrated reports: Institutions, assurance quality, and assurers," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 42(C).
    8. Mumtaheena Anwar & Sohanur Rahman & Md. Nurul Kabir, 2021. "Does national carbon pricing policy affect voluntary environmental disclosures? A global evidence," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 23(2), pages 211-244, April.
    9. Warren Maroun & Andre Prinsloo, 2020. "Drivers of combined assurance in a sustainable development context: Evidence from integrated reports," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 3702-3719, December.
    10. Tsang, Albert & Frost, Tracie & Cao, Huijuan, 2023. "Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) disclosure: A literature review," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(1).
    11. Qingxia (Jenny) Wang, 2023. "Financial effects of carbon risk and carbon disclosure: A review," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(4), pages 4175-4219, December.
    12. Patrick Velte & Martin Stawinoga, 2017. "Empirical research on corporate social responsibility assurance (CSRA): A literature review," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 87(8), pages 1017-1066, November.
    13. Carmelo Reverte, 2021. "Do investors value the voluntary assurance of sustainability information? Evidence from the Spanish stock market," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(5), pages 793-809, September.
    14. Warren Maroun, 2020. "A Conceptual Model for Understanding Corporate Social Responsibility Assurance Practice," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 161(1), pages 187-209, January.
    15. Thomas J. Chemmanur & Dimitrios Gounopoulos & Panagiotis Koutroumpis & Yu Zhang, 2022. "CSR and Firm Survival: Evidence from the Climate and Pandemic Crises," Working Papers 935, Queen Mary University of London, School of Economics and Finance.
    16. Jieun Chung & Charles H. Cho, 2018. "Current Trends within Social and Environmental Accounting Research: A Literature Review," Accounting Perspectives, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(2), pages 207-239, June.
    17. Tesfaye T. Lemma & Martin Feedman & Mthokozisi Mlilo & Jin Dong Park, 2019. "Corporate carbon risk, voluntary disclosure, and cost of capital: South African evidence," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(1), pages 111-126, January.
    18. Isabel-María García-Sánchez & Nicola Raimo & Víctor Amor-Esteban & Filippo Vitolla, 2023. "Board committees and non-financial information assurance services," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 27(1), pages 1-42, March.
    19. Parvez Mia & Tarek Rana & Lutfa Tilat Ferdous, 2021. "Government Reform, Regulatory Change and Carbon Disclosure: Evidence from Australia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-17, November.
    20. Le Luo & Qingliang Tang, 2021. "Corporate governance and carbon performance: role of carbon strategy and awareness of climate risk," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(2), pages 2891-2934, June.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:ausact:v:32:y:2022:i:3:p:315-333. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=1035-6908 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.