Sustainability reporting and assurance

Sustainability reporting and assurance is a relatively new phenomenon. This chapter begins with a description of the growing trend among companies to publish sustainability reports, which has increased attention towards the credibility and accuracy of sustainability information. External audits and assurance of sustainability reports have started to develop. This chapter describes that sustainability audit and assurance is an independent review of the company's internal sustainability processes and is used to increase the robustness, accuracy and reliability of information in sustainability reports for users in their decision-making. An approach with generic strategies for the sustainability audit process is described. This chapter contains a brief presentation of regulations and standards in sustainability assurance. It describes the four most well-known assurance standards: ISAE 3000, AA1000 AS, SA8000 and ISSA 5000. Finally, criticism and challenges are discussed with sustainability audits.