Exploring bluewashing practices of alleged sustainability leaders through a counter-accounting analysis

This paper is aimed at analyzing, through a counter-accounting approach, to what extent companies considered to be sustainability leaders release transparent and balanced information on their commitment to the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). A content analysis was conducted on the sustainability reports of a sample of 28 companies from the UNGC LEAD program, and the results were compared with information disclosed by external sources not controlled by the studied organizations. Corporate disclosure counter-accounting reveals that more than 80% of the significant negative events related to LEAD companies were not reported or were only partially reported in their sustainability reports. Contrary to researchers' initial expectations, the length of the sustainability reports was not positively associated with their completeness or transparency. The findings of this study contribute to the literature on bluewashing and counter-accounting. They question the performance of companies considered to be sustainability leaders and the transparency of their reporting practices. From a managerial standpoint, the analysis of the results points at the necessity to shift the focus from the quantity of reports to their quality and transparency.