Sustainability Assurance Practices And Stakeholder Engagement: The Case Of Environmentally Sensitive Firms In Ghana

ABSTRACT

The study examined the sustainability assurance practices of environmentally sensitive firms in Ghana. The study also explored firms’ preference for a sustainability assurance provider and the use of stakeholder panels in the assurance practice. A qualitative research approach was adopted for the study. The study employed interviews in collecting data from participants. Participants were drawn from environmentally sensitive firms in Ghana using the purposive sampling technique. The results of the study show that environmentally sensitive firms attribute different meanings to sustainability assurance. The study again finds that sustainability assurance is not entirely voluntary, as some parts of the assurance practice are mandatory for some firms. Due to this, there exist differences in the scope of sustainability assurance among the environmentally sensitive firms examined. Some firms from the manufacturing industry undertake environmental assurance while firms from the mining, telecommunication and banking industries ascribe to environmental, social and governance assurance. The study also finds that most environmentally sensitive firms undertake sustainability assurance to enhance their corporate reputation and to comply with regulatory and ethical requirements. With regard to the use of stakeholder panels, the findings show the existence of stakeholder panels in some firms, particularly the mining firms examined. This shows that there is little focus on stakeholder panel use in sustainability assurance among environmentally sensitive firms. The study recommends that stakeholder panels to be established as part of firms’ policies to undertake sustainability assurance in addition to other assurance providers. This is because the panel will bring onboard diverse skills and expertise in addressing issues of social and environmental concerns.