Corporate environmental disclosure in the integrated reporting regime: The case of listed mining companies in South Africa
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Date
2020
Authors
Iredele, O.O.
Moloi, Tankiso
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
AOSIS
Abstract
Orientation: The emergence and adoption of integrated reporting (IR) opens up a new agenda
for improving the level of environmental disclosures, especially for listed companies. This study
explores the environmental information disclosed by mining firms that are listed on the
Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and in essence expects that the level of corporate environmental
disclosure (CED) will improve compared to the periods prior to the mandatory requirement of IR.
Research purpose: This article examines the extent to which IR has influenced the level of CED
among mining firms listed on the JSE. In addition, it determines variation in the level of CED
on account of corporate governance attributes and firm-based characteristics.
Motivation for the study: The natural capital is an integral fundamental concept upon which
the other five capitals depend. The negative impacts of mining activities on the environment
necessitate that mining firms demonstrate higher levels of commitment in this regard.
Research approach/design and method: This study utilises data for the top 100 mining firms
in the JSE between 2015 and 2018. This study obtained data on environmental and other
variables through content analysis of the annual integrated and sustainability reports of
sampled mining firms. Data analysis involves descriptive statistics and a one-way analysis of
variance (ANOVA), with the aid of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 21.
Main findings: We found no improvement in the level of CED under the IR approach compared
to earlier periods. Further, the study found that firm size and board size are associated with the
level of CED.
Practical/managerial implications: If greater disclosure of information is preferable to less,
policy-makers and regulators should give particular attention to environmental issues by
extending the minimum regulatory requirements concerning the concept of the natural capital.
Contribution/value-add: This study is one of the first few studies that bring to fore the
relevance of IR to CED in the South African mining sector.
Description
Environmental reporting
Keywords
orporate environmental disclosure; , Integrated reporting , Mining , South Africa , Johannesburg Stock Exchange
Citation
Iredele, O.O. & Moloi, T., 2020, ‘Corporate environmental disclosure in the integrated reporting regime: The case of listed mining companies in South Africa’, Journal of Economic and Financial Sciences 13(1), a481. https://doi.org/ 10.4102/jef.v13i1.481