CORPORATE ENVIRONMENTAL REPORTING PRACTICES

Environmental issues have emerged in recent decades as a major aspect of the discussion of the
problems of economic growth and development. Environmental problems associated with
industrial activities in the final decades of the last century have heightened public concerns about the non-financial performance of corporations and increased pressure for the disclosure of environmental information. Over the past decades, there have been plethoras of literature on
corporate environmental disclosures, including studies majorly from developed countries, while
the same is not true of developing countries, particularly Nigeria. Moreso, while there is an
extensive research on the role of the Global Reporting Initiative and the International
Organization for Standardization (ISO) guidelines in determining corporate environmental
performance indicators and the extent of disclosures in annual report in developed economies, in contrast, there is a dearth of studies conducted in the context of developing economies. To this end, this research investigated the extent and nature of corporate environmental reporting
practice among listed firms in Nigeria and South Africa. Also, using the stakeholder theory as
motivation for corporate environmental disclosures, the research examined the perception lobby
groups on the disclosure  of environmental performance information and the corporate
relationship with host community. To achieve this, a grand total of 900 copies of questionnaire
were distributed among members of the selected state/provinces using the Yaro Yamani sample
selection formula in determine the sample size of the study. In addition, while the content
analysis technique was used as a basis for eliciting data from the annual report and corporate
websites of the selected companies, the multiple regression method of data analysis was used to
investigate the relationships that exist between  operating performance, financial leverage
(nature), size of firms‟ and the level of corporate environmental disclosure   among the selected
listed firms in Nigeria and South Africa. The research as part of its findings observed that there is a significant positive relationship between the operating performance, size of firms and the level of corporate environmental disclosures among selected firms in Nigeria. This is however
consistent with existing prior studies. The study also observed that a significant negative
relationship exists between  the financial leverage of firms (proxied by debt -to-equity ratio) and the extent of corporate environmental disclosure. The study therefore concludes that despite the disclosure level noticed among firms,  corporate environmental reporting practice in developing countries like Nigeria and South Africa is still very  adhoc, general, self-laudatory and voluntary in nature.

Title Page --------------------------------------------------------------..  i
Declaration--------------------------------------------------------------  ii
Certification------------------------------------------------------------..  iii
Dedication--------------------------------------------------------------.  iv
Acknowledgements--------------------------------------------------------  v
Abstract----------------------------------------------------------------..  vi
Table of Content----------------------------------------------------------  vii
List of Tables------------------------------------------------------------.  viii
List of Figures------------------------------------------------------------  ix
Appendices--------------------------------------------------------------  x
Acronyms and Definitions--------------------------------------------------.  xi

CHAPTER ONE: Introduction
1.0  Background of the Study--------------------------------------------------  1
1.1  Statement of Research Problem----------------------------------------.. 5
1.2  Objectives of Study--------------------------------------------------.  8
1.3  Research Questions------------------------------------------------------------------..  9
1.4  Research Hypotheses------------------------------------------------------------------  9
1.5  Significance of the Study--------------------------------------------..  10
1.6  Justification of Study------------------------------------------------..  11
1.7  Scope and Limitation of Study------------------------------------------  11
1.8  Summary of Research Methodology------------------------------------..  14
1.9  Sources of Data  ----------------------------------------------------.  15

CHAPTER TWO: Literature Review and Theoretical Framework
2.0  Introduction  --------------------------------------------------.----  23
2.1  The Concept of Social Responsibility Accounting and Environmental
Accounting--------------------------------------------------------.  23
2.2  What is Environmental Accounting------------------------------..------..  25
2.3  The Emergence of Environmental Accounting--------------------------..--.  28
2.4  Scope of Environmental Accounting----------------------------..-------- 30
2.5  What are Environmental Costs------------------------------------------.  31
2.5.1  Identification of Environmental Costs----------..------------.. 31
2.6  Corporate Environmental Reporting------------------------..------------.  35
2.6.1  Types of Environmental Reporting--------------------------..  39
2.6.2  The Principles of Environmental Reporting--------------------  41
2.6.3  Why voluntary environmental reporting----------------------..  43
2.7  Global Environmental Reporting Practices--------------------------------..  45
2.7.1  Environmental Reporting Development in Europe--------------.  46
2.7.2   North American Environmental Reporting Practice--------------  48
2.7.3   The Asian Experience in Environmental Reporting----------..--..  50
2.7.4   The Development of Environmental Reporting in-Australia------..  50
2.7.5   Environmental reporting in African Continent----------.------.. 52
2.7.6   The Nigerian Scenario------------------------------------.  52
2.7.7  Historical Background on Environmental Regulation in Nigeria-and Firms‟ Attitude--------------------------------------------------.. 54
2.7.8  Environmental Waste Management Laws in Nigeria------------.