Developing approaches to the sustainability assurance

Abstract

Subject. This article discusses the approaches to assurance of sustainability information disclosed in various types of corporate reporting. Objectives. The article aims to assess the prospects for enhancing trust and confidence in sustainability information due to issuing the proposed Exposure Draft International Standard on Sustainability Assurance (ISSA) 5000, General Requirements for Sustainability Assurance Engagements. Methods. For the study, I used analysis, synthesis, comparison, generalization, and abstraction. Results. Based on the study of the international practices of disclosure and confirmation of information in the field of sustainable development and consideration of the essence of the proposed Exposure Draft International Standard on Sustainability Assurance (ISSA) 5000, General Requirements for Sustainability Assurance Engagements, the article assesses the prospects for applying this Standard in Russian practice. Conclusions. The requirements of the proposed Exposure Draft of the first profession-specific standard, which lays the foundation for the development of the ISSA-series standards system to express a certain degree of confidence by practitioners regarding the reliability of information on various aspects of sustainable development generated in accordance with a particular reporting system, develop a methodology for confirming information on sustainable development. The Standard can be directly applied or become the basis for the development of Russian standards for confirming information in the field of sustainable development presented both in the sustainability report and in other types of corporate reporting other than financial statements. The article contributes to improving awareness of all stakeholders about trends in the field of verification of information in the field of sustainable development.