Greenwashing: The Role of Board Governance in Mitigating Symbolic ESG Decoupling Among Malaysian Public Listed Companies

As Malaysia accelerates its transition toward mandatory climate reporting under the National Sustainability Reporting Framework (NSRF), public listed companies face immense institutional pressure to demonstrate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) accountability. Consequently, a critical risk of "sustainability washing", where firms symbolically decouple extensive external disclosures from substantive internal operations has emerged. This conceptual paper investigates the vital role of internal board governance mechanisms in mitigating this symbolic decoupling within the Malaysian capital market. Synthesizing Institutional, Agency, and Resource Dependence theories, the study constructs a conceptual framework evaluating how board independence, gender and cognitive diversity, and dedicated sustainability committees drive authentic ESG integration. Furthermore, to bridge the gap between theory and future empirical validation, this research outlines a novel quantitative methodology. It proposes a dynamic panel-data design utilizing two-step System GMM to address endogeneity, operationalizing sustainability washing by mathematically contrasting Natural Language Processing (NLP) that derived disclosure volumes against objective operational metrics, such as carbon intensity. The proposed framework offers actionable diagnostic tools for policymakers, investors, and corporate boards navigating the updated Malaysian Code on Corporate Governance (MCCG), positing that structurally agile internal governance is the essential catalyst for translating symbolic impression management into genuine corporate sustainability.