Climate change reporting: a systematic literature review

Abstract

Climate change is one of the most crucial issues with implications for the natural environment, communities, economies, and companies worldwide. In particular, companies are subject to growing pressures to communicate their climate risks, carbon mitigation initiatives, achievements, and opportunities. This paper thus explores the status of the research on climate change reporting and future research perspectives through a systematic literature review of 80 articles published in influential accounting and management journals from 2015 to 2021. Our overview demonstrates that since climate change reporting is mainly voluntary, the lack of universally recognised standards and guidelines makes it difficult to compare research. Several drivers affect climate change reporting, while companies have to identify, manage, and report their climate-related risks to establish mitigation actions. This review therefore highlights specific opportunities to integrate and expand the existing climate change reporting knowledge, offering new insights for future research.