Corporate sustainability disclosure and measures to mitigate greenwashing

While in the field of financial disclosure, the communication and information control system has been established and regulated for some time and has found a certain balance, the field of non-financial information and its assurance is relatively new.
Corporate information represents a tool of "guarantee" and protection for investors, savers, banks, intermediaries, consumers and, in general, for all stakeholders. Over time, the increasing environmental complexity and the multiple relationships that companies have had to manage in the economic and social context in which they operate, have led to an increase in the number of stakeholders towards the disclosure to be produced. The latter, consequently, has become increasingly rich in content and information, necessary to meet the multiple interests of an increasingly diverse group of subjects. Furthermore, with the increasing sensitivity of stakeholders and institutions to non-financial issues, and in particular to corporate sustainability, non-financial information has been increasingly subject to regulation, both with regard to the mandatory reporting and regarding to the verification of reliability. This paper, basing on the main theories, literature and European regulations, deals with the risk of greenwashing and the attempts of regulations to mitigate its negative effects, encouraging good practices.