Disclosing environment-focused SDGs in emerging markets: the role of climate governance and contextual moderators

Abstract

This study aims to examine how climate governance influences corporate disclosure of environment-focused sustainable development goals (En_SDGs) in emerging Asian economies, where firms face increasing pressure to address climate risks and environmental accountability. Drawing on stakeholder, resource dependence and signalling theories, the study analyses 300 large non-financial firms over the period 2016–17 to 2021–22. A climate governance index (CGINX) is constructed using six governance mechanisms, while En_SDGs disclosure is measured through content analysis based on the global reporting initiative framework. The hypotheses are tested using a panel Tobit model. The results show that climate governance is positively associated with En_SDGs disclosure, indicating that structured governance mechanisms facilitate more extensive and credible environmental reporting. The findings further reveal that this relationship is strengthened by firm profitability and national carbon emission intensity, suggesting that both internal resource capacity and external environmental pressure condition the effectiveness of climate governance. Robustness checks confirm the stability of these results. The findings highlight the importance of strengthening climate governance and supportive institutional environments to enhance environmental transparency, providing relevant insights for firms, investors, regulators and policymakers. This study contributes to the literature by linking climate governance to SDG-specific environmental disclosure in an emerging market context and by demonstrating that governance effectiveness varies across firm- and country-level conditions.