Climate risk disclosure, compliance, and regulatory drivers: a textual tone analysis

Dokumenttyp:	Zeitschriftenartikel
Erscheinungsjahr:	2022
Titel einer Zeitschrift oder einer Reihe:	Company and Securities Law Journal
Band/Volume:	39
Heft/Issue:	1
Seitenbereich:	47-72
Ort der Veröffentlichung:	Rozelle
Verlag:	Thomason Lawbooks
ISSN:	0729-2775
Verwandte URLs:	https://sites.thomsonreuters.com.au/jour... https://research.monash.edu/en/publicati...
Sprache der Veröffentlichung:	Englisch
Einrichtung:	Fakultät für Betriebswirtschaftslehre > ABWL u. Corporate Finance (Maug 2006-)
Fachgebiet:	330 Wirtschaft 340 Recht
Abstract:	The way in which companies disclose and manage climate-related financial risks is a matter of increasing interest and concern for market stakeholders, particularly institutional investors. Building on prior studies which have analysed emerging disclosure practices in Australia, this article presents a textual analysis of the tone of climate risk disclosures by ASX200 companies. Drawing on disclosures from 2015-2019, the study explores the most common tones of language used, whether and how they differ across economic sectors, how disclosure tone is influenced by corporate governance and other company characteristics, as well as whether approaches are changing over time. It is well established that disclosure tone, along with other factors such as its location and length, can influence the judgements and decision-making of market stakeholders. In the emerging, fast developing field of climate risk disclosure, textual analysis therefore presents an alternative analytical tool to help market stakeholders explore and assess a company’s perceptions and managerial judgement about climate-related risks to feed into their broader analysis about the preparedness of a company to manage these risks and seize associated opportunities. It also offers insights for regulators as they develop guidance to scaffold existing legal obligations and oversee compliance in this area.