Social and Environmental Reporting Practices in Zambia: A Scoping Review of Evidence.

Abstract

Social and Environmental Accounting and Reporting (SEAR) has become an important mechanism for promoting corporate transparency, accountability, and sustainable development by disclosing the environmental and social impacts of organizational activities. In Zambia, increasing stakeholder expectations, environmental concerns associated with extractive industries, and evolving international sustainability reporting standards have heightened the importance of SEAR. However, evidence on SEAR practices remains fragmented across sectors and disciplines. This study presents a scoping review to systematically map and synthesize the existing literature on Social and Environmental Accounting and Reporting practices in Zambia. Guided by the Arksey and O'Malley scoping review framework and reported in accordance with the PRISMA-ScR guidelines, the review examined peer-reviewed and grey literature published between 2000 and 2025. The review explored the nature and extent of SEAR practices, identified major themes and trends, examined the determinants of sustainability disclosure, and highlighted gaps requiring further research. The findings indicate that sustainability reporting in Zambia has expanded considerably, particularly among mining, financial services, manufacturing, and other large organizations, driven by stakeholder pressure, regulatory developments, international reporting frameworks, and the pursuit of organizational legitimacy. Nevertheless, reporting practices remain uneven, with significant challenges including limited technical capacity, weak regulatory enforcement, inconsistent reporting quality, high implementation costs, and low levels of awareness among many organizations. The review also highlights Zambia's ongoing transition toward internationally aligned sustainability reporting through the adoption of IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards (IFRS S1 and IFRS S2), creating new opportunities to strengthen corporate accountability. The study contributes to the literature by providing the first comprehensive synthesis of SEAR practices in Zambia and offers evidence-based recommendations for policymakers, regulators, professional bodies, and practitioners to improve sustainability reporting frameworks, institutional capacity, and reporting quality. It also identifies priorities for future research on the quality, effectiveness, and impact of sustainability reporting in Zambia.