Auditable but Private: Layer-2 Smart Contract Models for Carbon Accounting, Green Finance Verification, and Confidential Sustainability Disclosure
Main article
Abstract
This study develops a layer-2 smart contract model for sustainability data environments in which firms must prove carbon-accounting integrity, green-finance covenant compliance, and sustainability disclosure reliability without exposing commercially sensitive operational data. Building on privacy-preserving optimistic rollup logic, refereed replicated computation, and audit-oriented disclosure governance, the paper proposes an auditable-but-private architecture that separates raw evidence, off-chain verification, on-chain commitments, and selective public disclosure. The model is designed for non-reactive accounting computations such as emissions aggregation, emission-factor matching, green bond use-of-proceeds verification, and loan-margin adjustment checks. The central argument is that sustainability assurance requires more than a public blockchain record: it requires a protocol that discourages lazy validators, detects copy and no-action behavior, limits unnecessary leakage during disputes, and provides auditors with reproducible evidence trails. The paper offers a conceptual framework, a protocol design, a simulated data analysis, and a governance discussion. Results from the scenario analysis indicate that private layer-2 verification reduces public data exposure while preserving audit confidence, although dispute complexity and verifier behavior remain key determinants of total transaction cost. The findings contribute to business and green innovation research by linking carbon accounting, confidential disclosure, green finance verification, and layer-2 security design into a single governance model.
