Abstract:
This study examines the perspectives of regulatory and quasi-regulatory bodies on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) disclosures and assurance in Ghana. Despite the increasing role of accountants in ESG issues, a lot remains unknown with several controversies regarding accountants providing ESG assurance. Also, regulatory and quasi-regulatory bodies who have been identified as crucial to ESG issues almost seem marginalized and under-researched particularly in developing countries. Using an exploratory qualitative research approach, data is collected from a sample of regulatory and quasi-regulatory bodies in Ghana via semi-structured interviews. The findings reveal that ESG disclosures are not unknown in Ghana and not limited to environmentally sensitive industries. Generally, the results show a low preference for the use of accountants as ESG assurors except for governance disclosures. The local audit firms together with the internal audit function similarly receive a low endorsement as ESG assurance providers on grounds of inadequate expertise, resources and lack of independence. Regardless, there is a high preference for regulators as ESG assurance providers with calls for the use of strategies such as legislation, laws, public education, awards and incentives or ratings to advance ESG disclosures and assurance in Ghana.
The findings change how we should understand ESG disclosures and assurance as well as the attention given to regulators as ESG assurors. Attentions should also be given to accountants, internal auditors and local audit firms in upgrading their skills and resources for environmental and social disclosures. By coming up with an emergent framework called the ESG Perspective framework (ESG-P framework) for studying individuals’ perspectives on ESG disclosures and assurance and by focusing on regulators and quasi-regulators in a developing country (Ghana), the study enriches the current knowledge and literature on ESG disclosures and assurance.
