Committing to Widespread Disclosure of Carbon Impact

Abstract

The last decade has experienced an important expansion of openness on firm environmental practices and an increased level of environmental disclosure. An open question remains, however, on the extent to which firms fully commit to the principle of widespread disclosure of their impact on the environment, as opposed to meeting minimum standards of disclosure. We utilize a longitudinal study on a large panel of firms worldwide which have published their carbon emissions between 2008 and 2011 to show that the level of carbon management involvement by the firm and exposure to environmental regulations increases the propensity for widespread environmental disclosure. Moreover, larger companies and highly leveraged firms tend to communicate broadly on their carbon footprint, consistent with the increased demand for information from stakeholders in such firms.