Hey there!
The question how much sustainability reporting and assurance should be controlled or even legislated is a tricky one. My opinion is that today sustainability assurance is still a very young industry and we still need time and innovation. That is why AccountAbility does open source standards and allows all kind of individuals and organisation to use it.
In terms of policing the AA1000AS:
AccountAbility recognizes the problems of bad AA1000AS assurance. At present there is no formal mechanism to root out bad practice. There is a
Certified Sustainability Assurance Practitioner qualification administered by IRCA which relates to the AA1000 series but there are no requirements relating this qualification to the AA1000AS. AccountAbility is exploring options relating to organizational accreditation which would provide greater control of practice, but the difficulties are how to implement this and encourage the wider provision and use of assurance. If the barriers are placed too high at this stage it could be a limiting factor.
What do you think: To prove accountability of assurance providers, would it be useful if they disclosed information on any commercial or important informal relationships with clients in assurance statements?