Accounting, Reporting, Assurance and Governance for Circular Economy: Rethinking for Sustainable Development

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Introduction

​​The transition toward a circular economy has become a strategic priority for advancing sustainable development and addressing pressing environmental and social challenges. Unlike traditional linear economic models, characterized by the ‘take-make-use-dispose’ approach, circular economy principles emphasize resource efficiency, closed-loop systems, waste elimination, and the regeneration of natural systems. These principles strongly support many United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including responsible consumption and production, climate action, and sustainable industry, innovation, and infrastructure. 

Despite its growing global significance, the shift toward circularity poses substantial challenges for accounting, reporting, assurance, and governance practices in business. Conventional accounting systems, designed around linear economic flows, often struggle to capture the value generated through circular business models. Practices such as resource recovery, remanufacturing, product-as-a-service models, circular supply chains, and sharing platforms introduce complexities that traditional financial and management accounting frameworks are not fully equipped to measure or report. As a result, organizations face critical gaps in monitoring performance, verifying value creation, and ensuring accountability and transparency within a circular economy context. This highlights an urgent need for scholarly inquiry into how accounting, reporting, assurance, and governance systems can be reimagined to better support circular economy practices and policies. 

In response, this Special Issue seeks to stimulate and advance interdisciplinary research at the intersection of accounting, reporting, assurance, and governance in the context of the circular economy. It aligns closely with the mission of the Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal (SAMPJ) to foster research that addresses urgent social and environmental challenges while generating actionable insights into policy and practice. By encouraging critical reflections, empirical investigations, and innovative frameworks, this Special Issue aspires to shape both academic discourse and practical approaches in the evolving fields of accounting, reporting, assurance, and governance for the circular economy.​

List of Topic Areas

• Accounting and measurement innovations for advancing the circular economy
• Corporate governance models supporting the transition toward a circular economy and sustainable development
• Risk management and resilience strategies within circular economy business models
• Management control systems and performance measurement frameworks for circular economy practices
• Multiple capitals and value creation in the context of circular business models
• Circular economy accounting and reporting as enablers of sustainable development
• Assurance and credibility mechanisms for circular economy disclosures and reporting
• Regulatory frameworks and standards for accounting, reporting, and assurance in circular economy contexts
• Accountability, governance, and transparency practices for organizations adopting circular economy principles
• Digital technologies, data analytics, and traceability solutions supporting circular economy measurement and reporting
• Circular economy accounting and reporting within public sector and not-for-profit organizations
• Sector-specific approaches to circular economy accounting, reporting, and governance​​.

Guest Editors 

Prof. Samanthi Senaratne, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka, [email protected]

Dr. Nuwan Gunarathne, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka, [email protected]

Dr. Miguel Marco-Fondevila, University of Zaragoza, Spain, [email protected]

Prof. Sabina Scarpellini, University of Zaragoza, Spain, [email protected] 

Submissions Information

Submissions are made using ScholarOne Manuscripts. Author guidelines must be strictly followed.

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Author Guidelines

Authors should select (from the drop-down menu) the special issue title at the appropriate step in the submission process, i.e. in response to “Please select the issue you are submitting to”. Submitted articles must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication anywhere else, while under review for this journal.

Key Deadlines

Opening date for manuscripts submissions: 15th February 2026

Closing date for manuscripts submission: 15th August 2026