Artificial Intelligence in Sustainability Accounting and Assurance

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Introduction

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly reshaping how sustainability information is produced, validated, and trusted. This Special Issue invites research that explains what is changing, what is at stake, and what ‘good’ looks like when AI becomes embedded in sustainability accounting in broad terms and assurance (De Silva et al., 2024; De Villiers et al., 2024; Eisikovits et al., 2025; Olsen, 2026). 

Sustainability accounting and assurance are broad, complex and multifaceted subfields of accounting research (see, for example, (De Villiers & Maroun, 2018; Maroun & Prinsloo, 2020; Olsen, 2026). AI is undeniably a powerful tool for enhancing efficiency and effectiveness in sustainability accounting processes, for example in terms of reporting (Fedyk et al., 2022) and assurance (Fedyk et al., 2022; Nelson, 2025). Nevertheless, its application is not without risk, as AI systems can produce outputs that contain embedded biases. Furthermore, these technologies may reshape the very structure of training programs and professional workflows in accounting and assurance, as accountants and auditors will require new competencies and redesigned workflows to integrate AI effectively (Nelson, 2025). Thus, this call to investigate the role of AI in sustainability accounting and assurance is both timely and essential (Lehner & Knoll, 2023; Lodhia et al., 2025; Marton et al., 2024; Olsen, 2026) to the future of the accounting profession.

AI encompasses a wide range of technologies, including generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, and agentic AI tools such as AutoGPT, and refers to machine-based systems capable of planning, reasoning, and acting across diverse datasets and tasks, operating with varying levels of supervision and autonomy (e.g. European Parliament & Council, 2024; Kolt, 2025). Unlike traditional generative AI tools that primarily assist with single tasks, agentic AI tools can execute complex, multi-step processes such as audit planning, compliance monitoring, and fraud detection (Gu et al., 2024; Schreyer et al., 2024). These systems leverage iterative reasoning and goal-oriented autonomy to retrieve evidence, evaluate thresholds, and reconcile data across platforms, functioning as “autopilots” rather than “co-pilots” (Kolt, 2025). Recent reflections also consider how generative AI may shape sustainability accounting scholarship itself, raising questions about research practice, legitimacy, and impact (Apostol et al., 2024).

Building and extending current research calls on digital technologies (e.g., Lodhia et al., 2025) and AI in accounting and finance (e.g., Cheah et al., 2025), this Special Issue advances the literature by focusing specifically on the growing dominance of AI in sustainability accounting and assurance. It emphasizes both the potential of AI to enhance the quality, credibility, and effectiveness of sustainability accounting and assurance, and the need to critically examine and mitigate the unintended consequences that may arise from deploying AI in increasingly autonomous sustainability accounting and assurance work environments. We welcome high‑quality research that introduces diverse empirical, theoretical and methodological perspectives from different contexts to advance our understanding of how AI is reshaping sustainability accounting and assurance.

List of Topic Areas

• AI and the redesign of sustainability accounting systems, controls and measurement
• AI in sustainability reporting workflows (data extraction, analytics, drafting, targeting, personalization)
• Sustainability assurance in the AI era: planning, testing, evidence, documentation, continuous/real‑time assurance
• Algorithmic bias, model risk, hallucinations and their implications for sustainability report/disclosure credibility and sustainability assurance
• AI‑enabled greenwashing detection (and AI‑enabled greenwashing risks)
• Human judgement, accountability and professional skepticism when AI produces or co‑produces sustainability disclosures or evidence
• Governance and regulation of sustainability accounting and assurance: responsible AI, auditability, transparency, and the implications of the CSRD, EU Taxonomy and EU AI Act and related regimes
• Skills, education and labor market effects for sustainability accountants and assurance providers
• Interdependencies between AI‑supported sustainability accounting and AI‑supported assurance
• Social media analytics, AI and sustainability communications/disclosures

We encourage methodological, theoretical and contextual diversity, especially qualitative studies, experiments, archival analyses, field studies, and interdisciplinary work.

Guest Editors 

Carmen Olsen, Westen Norway University of Applied Science (HVL) & Inland University (INN), Norway, carmen.olsen@hvl.no

Mercedes Luque-Vílchez, University of Córdoba (UCO), Spain, mercedes.luque@uco.es

Sanjaya Chinthana Kuruppu, Adelaide University (AU), Australia, sanjaya.kuruppu@adelaide.edu.au 

Submissions Information

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Author Guidelines

Authors should select (from the drop-down menu) the special issue title at the appropriate step in the submission process, i.e. in response to “Please select the issue you are submitting to”. Submitted articles must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication anywhere else, while under review for this journal.

Key Deadlines

Opening date for manuscripts submissions: 1st March 2026

Closing date for manuscripts submission: 1st December 2026