Measuring Greenwashing Accountability in Islamic and Emerging Capital Markets: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Abstract—Sustainability reporting has become near-universal, yet greenwashing, the combination of poor environmental performance and positive environmental communication, remains widespread. Prior systematic reviews of greenwashing measurement concentrate on developed economies and consumer-facing content, leaving Islamic capital markets largely unexamined despite their rapid growth and distinct exclusion-based screening logic. This study conducts a PRISMA-guided systematic review, applying a best-fit framework synthesis to map how four accountability dimensions, clarity of responsibility, data traceability, reporting consistency, and verification are operationalized in greenwashing measurement research. From 698 Scopus records (2021-2026), a tiered appraisal yielded a synthesized evidence base of 102 studies (24 with full-text MMAT appraisal, 78 with full-text dimensional mapping). Results show that clarity of responsibility (25%) and reporting consistency (46%) are the most substantively operationalized dimensions, while data traceability (10%) and verification (22%) remain markedly under-operationalized relative to their conceptual importance, despite a substantial subset of studies explicitly identifying verification as a needed direction for future research without measuring it. Islamic or Sharia-compliant contexts appear in only 13 of 102 studies (12.7%), none of which jointly operationalize all four dimensions. This combination of an under-operationalized measurement gap and an underexamined market context identifies a concrete opening for a four-dimensional accountability instrument to address accountability-based greenwashing risk in Sharia-labeled capital markets.

Keywords—greenwashing; accountability; sustainability assurance; systematic literature review; Islamic capital markets; emerging markets.