Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Reporting: The Role of Assurance Services
The study reviews extant literatures on the need for assurance service on environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting. The study revealed that as the corporate world tends to have more of sustainability reporting by making sure all stakeholders in an organisation are being taking care of during a particular financial year and therefore to produce both financial and non-financial report. It was established in the study some companies greenwash by giving a false non-financial information to portray that their company is doing well in the area social and environmental activities to entice potential investors that might be interested in environmentally friendly products. The rise in this false reporting as noted by some studies gave rise to the need an assurance service to be provided on non-financial information reported as it is in financial information. This study explored literatures on ESG reporting, the areas to be reported, ESG frameworks in Nigeria, ESG reporting assurance (sustainability auditing), and the need for sustainability audit report. The study established the possible prospect of giving assurance on ESG reporting. The study's conclusion is that rating agencies are essential for assessing a company's sustainability performance since non-financial information is becoming more and more important to market players. Assurance services may help to make this evaluation practicable as it will ensure high quality, comparability, and relevant non-financial reporting that close the credibility gap between the company and market regarding sustainability reporting.
Keywords: ESG Reporting, Sustainability Auditing, Environmental Auditing, Social Auditing, Assurance Services.
Citation: Abiloro, T.O., Enofe, A.O., & Obaretin, O. (2025). Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Reporting: The Role of Assurance Services. International Journal of Innovative Research in Accounting and Sustainability, 10(1), 98-106.