Climate Change Reporting and Corporate Governance among Asian and African Energy Firms

Abstract

This paper examines the extent of climate change disclosure among energy firms operating in Africa and Asia, as well as the firm, country and global determinants of the disclosures. A quantitative approach was applied to evaluate an unbalanced panel data of 31 firms in 18 countries across Africa and Asia for 2015 to 2020. Data was collected from the GRI database and a composite index was constructed to measure the extent of climate change disclosure using “GRI 305: Emissions” indicators. The study used a regression model to find the nexus between climate change disclosure and its determinants. Comparatively, Asian energy firms disclose more than their African counterparts. The determinants of climate change disclosure are board size, board diversity, multinational status, profitability, cross-listing status, membership to the United Nations Global Compact and the Human Development Index of the countries within which firms operate. This study provides insights about the extent of GRI 305: Emissions usage by energy firms in Africa and Asia. It also adds to the limited knowledge on climate change disclosure in Africa and Asia. With the recent COP26 conference in mind, this study extends knowledge on how businesses are taking action in line with the Agenda 2030 (specifically Sustainable Development Goal 13), the Paris Agreement and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.