Stand-alone Environmental Reports Research Articles

Environmental accounting disclosure practices of quoted manufacturing companies in Nigeria

The study assessed the level of environmental disclosure practice of manufacturing companies in Nigeria. Anchored on the legitimacy theory, the ex-post facto research design was adopted by the study. The sample was drawn from the population of sixty quoted manufacturing companies on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange as at 31 December, 2017 using the judgmental sampling technique. The study variables were sourced from the annual reports and the stand-alone environmental reports of the selected companies from 2007-2017. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) environmental disclosure index was adopted in assessing the disclosure practice of the companies over the years. The findings showed that the environmental disclosure practice of the quoted manufacturing companies was low in the areas of material, energy, emissions, effluent and waste, water and biodiversity. A good number of the manufacturing companies disclosed very well the theme “others” in the area of environmental expenditure and investment. The study further observed a non-significant statistical difference in the disclosure practice of manufacturing companies over the years (t = -1.440, p = .223). The study concluded that there exists no significant difference in the level of environmental disclosure practice of manufacturing companies in Nigeria from 2007 to 2017.

The relationships between reporting format, environmental disclosure and environmental performance

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to assess whether European companies issue standalone environmental reports in an attempt to gain and maintain legitimacy with relevant stakeholders. This is achieved by creating and empirically testing a model of the relationships between corporate reporting format, industry membership, environmental disclosure, and environmental performance.Design/methodology/approachData are collected from 100 large European companies in carbon and non-carbon-intensive industries. Hypothesis testing is conducted via structure equation modeling.FindingsEvidence exists that companies which disclose environmental information in standalone environmental reports tend to provide higher levels of environmental information than companies which combine financial and environmental disclosure in annual reports. The findings support greenwashing as a new perspective of legitimacy theory: companies in carbon-intensive industry use standalone environmental reports to pose as good corporate citizens even when they are not.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample companies are large European companies and this could limit the generalizability of research findings. The authors call for longitudinal studies examining how the relationship between reporting format and environmental disclosure changes.Practical implicationsThis paper suggests that reporting format be considered a proactive, strategic communication-driven activity rather than a decision that managers passively make in response to external scrutiny.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to the literature by adding to the scarce evidence of the relationship between reporting format and environmental disclosure. Greenwashing as a new perspective of legitimacy theory is used to develop research hypotheses.

Environmental Disclosure and the Cost of Capital: Evidence from the Fukushima Nuclear Accident

We exploit the Fukushima nuclear disaster as a source of variation in the demand for environmental information to study the economic consequences of environmental disclosure. Using a large, hand-collected sample of Japanese firms, we find that firms that issue stand-alone environmental reports incur a less severe — although economically and statistically negligible — increase in the cost of capital after the disaster than non-disclosing firms. Most important, we document that, within disclosing firms, those reporting verifiable information on their expected environmental performance experience a lower increase in the cost of capital compared to both non-disclosing firms and to firms that do not report information on their expected performance. Finally, firms react to the disaster by increasing the disclosure of forward-looking information, with a larger effect for firms with histories of forward-looking guidance. Taken together, our results help to clarify the circumstances under which the disclosure of non-financial and unregulated information affects the cost of capital.

The Relevance of Environmental Disclosures for Investors and Other Stakeholder Groups: Are Such Disclosures Incrementally Informative?

This study examines the impact of voluntary environmental disclosure on the cost of equity capital and firm value, and on the public perception about a firm’s environmental performance. A salient feature of the study is that our analysis controls for corporate environmental performance using actual toxic emissions data and for firms’ general disclosure propensity. We measure voluntary environmental disclosures in standalone environmental reports, CSR reports, and corporate web sites using a disclosure index consistent with the Global Reporting Initiative disclosure framework. Using a sample of firms from the five most polluting industries in the U.S., we find that voluntary environmental disclosures are incrementally informative for investors over current toxic emissions data in our firm valuation analyses. We also find that investors appear to use toxic emissions data to assess the firm risks and unbooked future environmental liabilities. In addition, we find that voluntary environmental disclosure is positively associated with the Janis-Fadner coefficient, consistent with voluntary environmental disclosure enhancing non-investor stakeholder perception about firms’ environmental performance. However, we do not find evidence that voluntary environmental disclosures affects firm’s cost of equity capital.

Content Analysis of Voluntary Environmental Disclosure Made in Stand-alone Environmental Reports or Company Web-sites: Focusing on the Interrelations between Disclosure Quality, Environmental Performance and Economic Performance

Content Analysis of Voluntary Environmental Disclosure Made in Stand-alone Environmental Reports or Company Web-sites: Focusing on the Interrelations between Disclosure Quality, Environmental Performance and Economic Performance

Is environmental reporting changing corporate behaviour?

Increasingly the business community is being asked to respond to growing societal concerns about the environment (Gray et al., 1996; O'Donovan, 2002; Raar, 2002; Adams, 2002, 2004; KPMG, 2002). One business response which has been widely researched from a number of aspects has been the development of standalone environmental reports (Brown and Deegan, 1998; Deegan and Gordon, 1996; Adams et al., 1998; Holland and Foo, 2003; Buhr, 1998; Cormier and Gordon, 2000; Deegan et al., 2000; Milne and Patten, 2002; O'Donovan 2002; Rahaman et al., 2004). However, one key aspect which has not yet been fully investigated is the impact of environmental reporting upon organisational activity (Dillard et al., 2004; Larringa-Gonzalez and Bebbington, 2001; Ball, 2007). Using an institutional theory perspective, this paper provides a framework for the examination of the embedding of environmental reporting structures into organisational processes and culture. Using this outline framework to analyse existing literature, the paper concludes that there are many issues about the impact of environmental reporting which are still unclear and that many of the attributes of the environmental agenda suggest that it could be another management fad.

Comparative studies of standalone environmental reports – European and Asian airlines

This study is based on a survey of the environmental reports of a sample of airlines in Europe and the Asia Pacific region to identify the status and progress of environmental reporting. The findings reveal that only airlines in 12 countries have published standalone environmental reports. These reports were examined. Looking at 16 elements in the environmental reports. It was found that most elements were mentioned in the reports but that the definition of fuel efficiency in the environmental performance element differed between them making benchmarking a problem.

Environmental Reporting of Airlines in the Asia Pacific Region

This study investigates environmental reporting in the Asia Pacific airline sector. The findings indicate that only five airlines (all in four developed countries in the region) have published standalone environmental reports. The environmental reports of those five airlines were examined, using the assessment model developed by Adams (1998). Fifteen elements from Adams’ framework plus one additional element were employed to analyse the content of the reports. At least 69% of the 16 elements were mentioned in the reports. Comparisons of environmental policy statements and environmental management systems used by the airlines were also made.