Embedding and managing blockchain in sustainability reporting: a practical framework

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to evaluate blockchain’s enabling role for sustainability reporting. This study extends the scientific knowledge about the impacts related to the notarisation of mandatory sustainability reports through a publicly available blockchain. Design/methodology/approach: Building on the idea journey framework, this paper presents the case study of Banca Mediolanum in Italy, a first-mover who notarised its non-financial declaration on a public blockchain to mitigate the information asymmetries that negatively impact stakeholder engagement. Findings: The analysis reveals that the notarisation of the non-financial reports through a publicly available blockchain can represent a tool useful to mitigate the asymmetric information between organisations and stakeholders. Practical implications: Although academics and practitioners have observed the benefits of its implementation, only a few companies have adopted blockchain systems to ensure their information’s reliability. The findings underline the opportunity for socially responsible organisations to signal their orientation towards sustainable development through the adoption of an innovative tool. Social implications: The proliferation of non-financial reports prepared on mandatory basis mitigated the signalling effects related to the disclosure of non-financial information. The case study underlines the opportunity for socially responsible organisations to overcoming this criticism through notarisation. Originality/value: To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study about sustainability reporting practices and blockchain. This research contributes to the currently scarce discussion about the role of blockchain in non-financial reporting. In addition, the authors contribute to the scientific conversation about the need to rethink assurance in non-financial reporting practices.