Female representation on boards of directors and environmental disclosure: evidence of the Brazilian GHG protocol program

Abstract

PurposeThis study aims to identify a relationship between the presence of women on the board of directors (BOD) of Brazilian companies and the firms’ disclosure and participation in projects or initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.Design/methodology/approachThe research used an adaptation of the model by Ben-Amar et al. (2017), added two other gender variables and analyzed a sample of 42 companies listed on the Brazilian stock exchange that participate in the Brazilian GHG protocol program. As for the models with the variables of interest, the most significant was the female percentage, Blau’s index, the dummy of female presence, the number of women on BOD, total years with the woman on board and the number of committees the board women were.FindingsThe results for the sample showed that women were present on the BOD 475 times, against a male presence of 4,538 times. Empirical evidence confirms the research hypothesis that there is a positive relationship between the presence of women on the BOD and the likelihood of participation in the Brazilian GHG protocol program.Research limitations/implicationsThe fact that few companies are listed on Brasil, Bolsa and Balcão and participate in the Brazilian GHG protocol program. Therefore, the impact of these findings may be reduced when compared with countries presenting more listed companies that have joined this type of program to diminish GHG emissions.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the literature on accounting, discussing carbon accounting in the field of environmental accounting and emphasizing that climate change-related risks greatly influence business and corporate assets. According to an article published by the World Resources Institute Brasil (2019), Brazil is the seventh country with the highest GHG emissions in the world.