Corporate Environmental Disclosures and Role of Top Management: Evidence Based on the Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting in India

ABSTRACT With rising climate change issues, firms globally are increasingly asked to disclose environmental‐related information. An increasing number of stakeholders and investors now require companies to disclose more detailed environmental or carbon‐related information, such as GHG emissions, to support effective decision‐making and corporate planning. This study focuses on the effect of top‐level management commitment on the quality of firm‐level environment‐related disclosures. For this purpose, a comprehensive environmental disclosure index based on the business responsibility and sustainability report (BRSR) of India's top‐listed firms is developed to capture the level and quality of disclosures. Our results show that firms with dedicated board‐level environments and sustainability committees perform better on environmental disclosures. This relationship remains valid even after considering differences in firm‐level disclosure differences arising from firm ownership. Further, our results also show a positive association between the percentage of women on the board and the quality of firm‐level environmental disclosures. This study provides important policy implications for regulating corporate environmental disclosures in emerging economies.