As Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) information has become an essential resource for investors, regulators have attempted to assure its quality. While more companies offer ESG disclosure, it is usually not fully substantiated with supporting information. Assurance is needed to verify that ESG reports are free of substantive errors. However, traditional financial audit approaches are less effective in providing ESG assurance due to the difference in the nature of evidence, difficulty in measuring and verifying ESG measures, and ever-changing ESG performance. To increase the effectiveness of ESG audit approaches, this study proposes Audit 4.0-based ESG assurance, which uses Big Data and emerging technologies of Audit 4.0 to capture evidence from the physical world and provide accurate assurance on ESG reports in a timely manner. We further perform a case study as a proof of concept of the proposed approach, which explores the integration of satellite-based methane estimation as ESG audit evidence. The use of satellite images provides opportunities for regulators and companies to monitor and assure ESG reports in a continuous manner.

随着环境、社会和治理 (ESG) 信息已成为投资者的重要资源，监管机构已尝试确保其质量。虽然越来越多的公司提供 ESG 信息披露，但通常无法通过支持信息得到充分证实。需要保证来验证 ESG 报告没有实质性错误。然而，由于证据性质的差异、难以衡量和验证 ESG 措施以及不断变化的 ESG 绩效，传统的财务审计方法在提供 ESG 保证方面效果较差。为了提高 ESG 审计方法的有效性，本研究提出了基于审计 4.0 的 ESG 保证，它使用大数据和审计 4.0 的新兴技术从现实世界中获取证据，并及时为 ESG 报告提供准确的保证。我们进一步进行案例研究作为所提出方法的概念证明，该方法探讨了将基于卫星的甲烷估算作为 ESG 审计证据的整合。卫星图像的使用为监管机构和公司提供了持续监控和确保 ESG 报告的机会。