Corporate South Africa and carbon disclosure: A differential analysis of 2011 and 2012 carbon disclosure performance

Abstract

This paper examined the performance of corporate South Africa in the 2012 Carbon Disclosure Project [CDP]. It is motivated by the growing shift to climate performance amongst the JSE listed companies in South Africa; hence the paper showcases the commitment of corporations in South Africa towards carbon disclosure. It thus shows exemplary commitment by corporations in an emerging economy to curb GHG emission through disclosure. The paper compared corporate South Africa carbon disclosure performance in 2012 with the 2011 disclosure performance. First, the performance of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) 100 carbon performance leaders were examined; and using a statistical t-test of difference in means, the paper finds that the 2012 carbon performance improved remarkably over the 2011 performance; hence the T-test indicates a significant difference in means between the 2012 and 2011 carbon performance. Secondly, the paper also examined the climate performance of the JSE 100 companies and also found a significant difference between the 2011 and 2012 performance which also depicts an improvement over the 2011 climate performance. It is perceptible that the 2011 UN Climate Conference in South Africa, coupled with the SA’s outstanding role in global climate change negotiations and the Carbon Disclosure Project is driving corporate SA to ‘walk the talk’ on climate change. In conclusion the paper highlights the need for further corporate climate initiatives, and calls on governments of developing countries to take a bold stance on climate negotiations as this is a key to encouraging the corporate toward climate friendly and carbon reduction initiatives