Corporate ownership structure, energy and emissions disclosure: Does firm political connection encourage environmental sustainability in an emerging economy?

This study investigates how ownership structure influences the quantity of energy and emissions disclosed by the listed non-financial firms for 6 years (2016–2021), with a firm political connection as a moderator. The sample comprises 498 firm-year observations of listed non-financial listed non-financial firms. Content analysis was employed to compute environmental disclosure using Global Reporting Initiatives standards from the sampled firms. The study used a generalized method of moments (GMM) econometric model to evaluate the direct effects of the ownership structure on firm environmental disclosure. Panels corrected standard errors (HPCSE) and feasible least squares (FGLS) regressions were used to check the GMM regression results. The result reveals that institutional ownership is significantly related to environmental disclosure. The study documented that firm political connection has a negative influence on the relationship between family ownership, foreign ownership and environmental disclosure. The nation has mandated all firms to comply with environmental disclosure in Nigeria, this should be used as a way forward to compel all listed firms to improve their disclosure. Firms would gain sincerity by knowing that institutional investors encouraged environmental disclosure. Corporate bodies can successfully contribute toward improving the social welfare of various segments of society by controlling current and future climate issues. Society will surely benefit when firms control the pollution discharges within the community. This is the first study to the best of the author’s knowledge that provides empirical evidence on the relationship between ownership structure and environmental disclosure using political connection as a moderator.