Who Qualifies to Assure? The Professional and Managerial Capture of Sustainability Assurance

Abstract

This study examines how the qualification of assurors in sustainability and environmental reporting assurance (SERA) is constructed and why it remains fiercely contested. Drawing on actor–network theory (ANT) and qualitative evidence from regulators, NGOs, assurors and reporting companies in India, we conceptualise ‘qualification’ as a ‘boundary object’ flexible enough for competing actors to invoke, yet too ambiguous to secure substantive credibility. Assurance standards do not license practitioners, a function ordinarily undertaken by regulators and professional bodies. Nevertheless, ISAE 3000 (Revised) requires the engagement partner to possess ‘sufficient competence in the underlying subject matter’ and requires practitioners who are not professional accountants to identify the equivalent professional requirements under which they operate. Our analysis examines what becomes of these competence requirements when no external mechanism consistently verifies the claims made. The findings reveal that assurance standards require competence but rely substantially on practitioners to identify and disclose the professional requirements governing their work, without themselves providing an external licensing or verification mechanism. This ambiguity enables professional and managerial actors to privilege reputational legitimacy over the transparent demonstration of expertise, potentially reducing assurance to a symbolic exercise rather than a mechanism of substantive accountability. The study contributes to the SERA literature by reframing qualification as a fragile, networked achievement rather than a fixed credential. It highlights the need for transparent, dialogic and enforceable mechanisms through which competence claims can be demonstrated, scrutinised and sustained, thereby safeguarding independence, rigorous materiality assessments and stakeholder trust. These findings offer theoretical and practical insights for standard setters and policy makers seeking to mitigate greenwashing and strengthen the integrity of sustainability assurance.