Current Developments in Sustainability Assurance: Impact of Emerging Regulations

Abstract

Over the past three decades, the practice of voluntarily obtaining independent assurance for sustainability disclosures has grown significantly. We are now on the verge of a monumental shift in sustainability assurance due to emerging mandatory assurance requirements introduced by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopting rules to standardize climate-related disclosures, the state of California passing three climate disclosure bills (SB253, SB261, and AB1305), and the EU passing the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive. This paper provides an overview of the three regulations, including their current implementation status; identifies four key elements of the sustainability assurance requirements within them; and discusses the challenges and implications for practice.JEL Classifications: M420; M490.