This research examines the carbon disclosure of 75 electricity generation companies in Asia. Using a self-developed carbon disclosure index to assess the disclosure made in the annual reports for the year 2013, we find low level of disclosure among the sample companies (i.e., average score = 12%). The highest level of disclosure is 60%, while 27 reports made no reference to climate change or carbon emissions. The level and extent of disclosure can be attributed to the companies' country of origin with Japan and Hong Kong reported the highest. Most of the disclosure were related to risks and opportunities and plans and strategies to reduce emissions. However, there still lack of quantitative data and, when disclosed, the data were not externally verified. This scenario indicates the need to revisit the reporting requirements pertaining to carbon information. Index Terms-Asia, carbon disclosure, electricity companies. I. INTRODUCTION The electricity sector accounts for a significant share of global carbon dioxide (CO 2) emissions. In year 2013, the industry accounted for 42-percent of CO 2 emissions which has seen an increase of 70 percent since year 1990 [1]. It is also documented that two-thirds of global emissions for 2013 originated from just ten countries in which six of them are Asian, namely China (ranked 1 st), India (3 rd) , Japan (5 th), Korea (7 th), Islamic Republic of Iran (9 th), and Saudi Arabia (10 th) [1]. Since greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is the factor contributing to climate change (of which 77% is CO 2 emissions) [2], it is rational to pay special attention to the electricity sector and Asian countries. Carbon disclosure is the provision of information by corporations emphasising on concerns, initiatives, or performance related to carbon emissions/climate change [3]. This can be done using various media including annual reports, stand-alone sustainability reports, and corporate websites. Furthermore, legitimacy theory posits that companies would be more likely to provide disclosures when their operations are perceived as inconsistent with societal expectations [4]. Due to reputation as 'dirty' companies, it is expected that electricity companies in Asia would be more forthcoming in disclosing carbon disclosure. However, most Manuscript
On the basis of institutional governance perspectives, it examines internal and state factors influencing the carbon emission disclosures among 75 electricity companies in Asia. It content analysed the annual reports and stand-alone sustainability reports for the year 2013. Overall, the findings suggested that the adoption of GRI Sustainability Reporting Guidelines and a country’s strength of law enforcement and commitment towards the environment had a significant influence on the extent of carbon emission disclosures. Other variables – environmental management system, environmental committee, voluntary participation in CDP programmme, corporate governance, and country’s legal origin – are not significant. Considering electricity industry and Asian region are among the main contributors to the global carbon emissions, there is a pressing need for the leaders within the industry and across the countries to institute mechanisms to combat climate change including through making corporate disclosures mandatory.
Urbanization has extensively impacted the climate change issues as the ground level temperatures are dramatically increased from the greenhouse gas emissions (carbon emissions) caused by business operations globally. Consistently, the main contributor of climate change is from the power generation sector that emitted the highest carbon emissions from their coal burning activities. Amidst these circumstances, the growth of the development of policies and commitments in mitigating the issues had exponentially taken place globally. This research aims to observe the level of carbon emissions and climate change engagement through corporate reporting in Malaysia. Thus, this research analyses the main power producer in Malaysia, Tenaga Nasional Berhad for the year 2015 to year 2021. Based on the content analysis of annual reports, sustainability reports, and website’s statements, the overall results indicate that the level of reporting had significantly increased in 2018 with the introduction of new mandatory guidelines from Bursa Malaysia as well as the adoption of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in their corporate reporting. The findings suggest that the awareness on the company to mitigate the issues as a goal congruence with Malaysia’s commitments internationally on climate change by communicating through corporate reporting.
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