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Reliability and Comparability of GHG Disclosures to the CDP by US Electric Utilities

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  • Elizabeth Stanny

Abstract

This exploratory study analyses voluntary disclosures of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) by the largest emitters in the US utilities sector. We compare the amounts that firms voluntarily disclose to the CDP to mandatory amounts that should be less than them and find that the opposite is true for some firms. Examining the comparability of the CDP amounts, we find that firms calculate them using different reporting boundaries and accounting methodologies. We analyse how the choice of boundary affects emissions and find that it results in differences in emissions amounts. We also find that most firms do not have their reported amounts verified by third parties. Our analysis indicates that the amounts that some of the largest emitters disclose to the CDP are unreliable and incomparable. Our results suggest caution in relying on voluntary GHG emissions disclosures.

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  • Elizabeth Stanny, 2018. "Reliability and Comparability of GHG Disclosures to the CDP by US Electric Utilities," Social and Environmental Accountability Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(2), pages 111-130, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:seaccj:v:38:y:2018:i:2:p:111-130
    DOI: 10.1080/0969160X.2018.1456949
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    Cited by:

    1. Rong He & Le Luo & Abul Shamsuddin & Qingliang Tang, 2022. "Corporate carbon accounting: a literature review of carbon accounting research from the Kyoto Protocol to the Paris Agreement," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(1), pages 261-298, March.
    2. Olivier Boiral & Marie‐Christine Brotherton & Léo Rivaud & David Talbot, 2022. "Comparing the uncomparable? An investigation of car manufacturers' climate performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 2213-2229, July.
    3. Mumtaheena Anwar & Sohanur Rahman & Md. Nurul Kabir, 2021. "Does national carbon pricing policy affect voluntary environmental disclosures? A global evidence," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 23(2), pages 211-244, April.
    4. Nicolo, Giuseppe & Zampone, Giovanni & Sannino, Giuseppe & Tiron-Tudor, Adriana, 2023. "Worldwide evidence of corporate governance influence on ESG disclosure in the utilities sector," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    5. Fan, Hanlu & Tang, Qingliang & Pan, Lipeng, 2021. "An international study of carbon information asymmetry and independent carbon assurance," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(1).
    6. Ivan Ruiz Manuel & Kornelis Blok, 2023. "Quantitative evaluation of large corporate climate action initiatives shows mixed progress in their first half-decade," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-15, December.
    7. Walid Ben‐Amar & Mohamed Chelli, 2018. "What drives voluntary corporate water disclosures? The effect of country‐level institutions," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(8), pages 1609-1622, December.
    8. Timo Busch & Matthew Johnson & Thomas Pioch, 2022. "Corporate carbon performance data: Quo vadis?," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 26(1), pages 350-363, February.
    9. Le Luo & Qingliang Tang & Hanlu Fan & Jamie Ayers, 2023. "Corporate carbon assurance and the quality of carbon disclosure," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(1), pages 657-690, March.
    10. Popescu, Ioana-Stefania & Gibon, Thomas & Hitaj, Claudia & Rubin, Mirco & Benetto, Enrico, 2023. "Are SRI funds financing carbon emissions? An input-output life cycle assessment of investment funds," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 212(C).
    11. Sadiye Oktay & Serdar Bozkurt & Kübra Yazıcı, 2021. "The Relationship Between Carbon Disclosure Project Scores and Global 500 Companies: A Perspective From National Culture," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(2), pages 21582440211, May.

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