Separating fact from fiction: the role of sustainability committees in greenwashing

Nguyen Thi Kim Oanh and Huong-Trang Pham

Chapter 16 in Advancing Corporate Governance Research, 2026, pp 324-336 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter examines the role of sustainability committees and their integration with existing governance mechanisms in addressing corporate greenwashing—a primary concern of key stakeholders regarding environmental performance disclosure. It introduces various forms of sustainability committees that firms can establish to suit their organizational structures before focusing on standalone sustainability committees, analyzing their size, composition, and governance procedures through which they can effectively mitigate greenwashing. The discussion emphasizes the importance of a proper committee structure with clearly defined responsibilities for overseeing the firm's environmental performance. Furthermore, it explores how these committees coordinate various functions, such as internal audit, risk management, and remuneration, to ensure transparency and verifiability of environmental disclosures. By examining the interplay between sustainability committees and other corporate governance mechanisms, this chapter contributes to the ongoing discourse on effective strategies for promoting genuine corporate sustainability efforts and combating greenwashing practices.

Keywords: Sustainability committees; Greenwashing; ESG; CSR (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035324958
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.elgaronline.com/doi/10.4337/9781035324965.00030 (application/pdf)
Our link check indicates that this URL is bad, the error code is: 403 Forbidden

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:elg:eechap:22953_20

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.e-elgar.com

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Chapters from Edward Elgar Publishing
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Jack Sweeney ().