A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF TRANSPARENCY IN SUSTAINABILITY REPORTS
Keywords:
Transparency, Sustainability reporting, Social and environmental disclosure, Standardization of sustainability reports, Critical literature reviewAbstract
The concept of transparency is widely used in accounting literature. However, its general use has caused confusion and opacity of information when linked to sustainability reports. Given the complexity of measuring sustainability aspects, the use of this construct may not be the most appropriate. It is possible that academics use the transparency concept in a way that is aligned with its use in financial accounting, regardless of its complexity. Thus, this study aims to critically analyze whether academics have a shared understanding of the transparency concept in the context of sustainability reporting, and the implications of it for accounting. To this end, a literature review was conducted considering the period from 2018 to 2022. The main result reveals that the publications present different understandings about transparency in sustainability reports. Given the complexity surrounding sustainability information, other alternative concepts could better contribute to the understanding of these reports. The contributions raise points for the academic community reflections, reporting organizations and regulators on the limited scope of transparency in sustainability reporting on the limited scope of transparency in sustainability reports given the imminent process of standardizing these reports.
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