Abstract
This article contributes to the growing scholarship on the topic of assurance services for sustainability reports. We first synthetically illustrate the main international standards for the implementation of assurance services regarding the subject documents. The second part of our article is an empirical analysis of reports drawn up on the basis of the current Global Reporting Initiative 2006 guidelines, and looks at how effectively these standards have been implemented, analyzing the different typologies of assurance statement.
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Abbreviations
- AA1000 AS:
-
Accountability 1000 Assurance Standard
- FEE:
-
Fédération des Experts Comptables Européens
- GRI:
-
Global Reporting Initiative
- G3:
-
Sustainability Reporting Guidelines Version 3.0
- IAASB:
-
International Auditing and Assurance Standard Board
- IFAC:
-
International Federation of Accountants
- ISA:
-
International Standard on Auditing
- ISAE 3000:
-
International Standard on Assurance Engagement 3000
- ISEA:
-
The Institute of Social and Ethical Accountability
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Their research interests are in the field of corporate social responsibility and management accounting for not for profit organizations. Although this article is the result of a joint effort, Sections “Introduction, Essential elements of assurance services according to the ISAE 3000 and Criticisms regarding future assurance standards” has been written by Giacomo Manetti, Section “Empirical evidence from GRI reports” by Lucia Becatti, and Section “Conclusions” jointly by both authors.
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Manetti, G., Becatti, L. Assurance Services for Sustainability Reports: Standards and Empirical Evidence. J Bus Ethics 87 (Suppl 1), 289–298 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-008-9809-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-008-9809-x