The Role of Environmental Auditing in Promoting Sustainability and Accountability in Corporate Reporting

Posted: Nov 01, 2021

• Natalie Banks
• Harrison West
• Daphne Ortiz

Abstract

The escalating global environmental crisis has precipitated an unprecedented demand for corporate accountability regarding environmental impact. Environmental auditing has emerged as a critical mechanism for verifying corporate environmental claims and ensuring the integrity of sustainability reporting. However, traditional environmental auditing approaches have predominantly focused on regulatory compliance and procedural verification, often failing to assess the substantive quality and verifiability of environmental disclosures. This research addresses this significant gap by developing and validating a novel multidimensional environmental auditing framework that integrates computational methodologies to evaluate both the form and substance of corporate environmental accountability. Corporate sustainability reporting has evolved from voluntary environmental statements to comprehensive disclosures mandated by regulatory frameworks and stakeholder expectations. Despite this evolution, concerns persist regarding the credibility and substantive value of environmental information presented in corporate reports. The phenomenon of 'greenwashing'—where organizations exaggerate or misrepresent their environmental performance—remains prevalent, undermining the potential of sustainability reporting to drive achieving meaningful progress toward sustainability goals.