Climate Change Disclosures: Aligning with TCFD Recommendations in G-20 Countries
摘要
In transitioning the world towards a lower-carbon environment, policymakers, investors, and other stakeholders need more transparent, concrete, and consistent information about corporate climate risk exposure and its management ability. Thus, the present study intends to examine the level of corporate climate change-related financial disclosures and their compliance with the Recommendations provided by the Taskforce on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). Design/methodology/approach: To meet this objective, we have examined the level of compliance with climate-risk ereporting of the select energy companies from G-20 countries with the recommendations provided by the TCFD for the period of 2020–22. We have constructed a climate compliance index (CCI) with the help of “Guidance for All Sectors” of TCFD’s final report, 2017, to examine the compliance of climate risk disclosure by the sample companies. With the help of content analysis, the study has checked the absence or presence of climate-related material information in the sample company’s sustainability/ESG/climate/ integrated reports in accordance with the constructed CCI. The study shows that the sample companies’ disclosure of climate risk-related information sharply increased during the study period. The material climate risks mapping and reporting as per the TCFD guidelines vary across the companies. Though the four core areas, as suggested by TCFD, have equal importance in climate risk reporting, the sample companies have prioritised certain core areas while paying less attention to others. The study also shows that “Strategy” is the least compliant area among the other three TCFD recommendations. The current study contributes to the existing literature by focusing on the level and quality of climate change-related corporate disclosures following the recommendations provided by the TCFD, which was evidenced by select energy companies from G-20 countries.