The institutionalisation of sustainability information assurance: preparing for upcoming obligations in the EU

Purpose: With the enforcement of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), many companies within the European Union will face assurance obligations for sustainability information, which will lead to a significant increase in demand for sustainability information assurance. This study aims to identify the institutionalisation of sustainability information assurance from the perspective of assurance providers. Design/methodology/approach: The study draws evidence from semi-structured interviews with 23 people from sustainability information assurance providers involved in the assurance of sustainability information based in Austria and Germany. The data analysis was carried out using a thematic analysis approach. Findings: The findings indicate that the new obligations exert significant institutional pressure for sustainability assurance providers, necessitating action or institutional work in various areas such as establishing required competencies and ensuring adequate personnel resources. However, the findings also show that assurance providers have not yet taken as active a role in the institutionalisation process as the institutional theory perspective or the high regulatory pressure would suggest and that there is still room for institutional work. Originality/value: Studies on the institutionalisation of the assurance of sustainability information have thus far focused on voluntary settings. In contrast, given the CSRD, this study focuses on the institutionalisation of the assurance of sustainability information in a mandatory environment, which has implications for the legitimation or institutional work of the assurance providers.