 Reliability and Comparability of GHG Disclosures to the CDP by US Electric UtilitiesElizabeth Stanny Social and Environmental Accountability Journal, 2018, vol. 38, issue 2, 111-130 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. Date: 2018 Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:seaccj:v:38:y:2018:i:2:p:111-130 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from DOI: 10.1080/0969160X.2018.1456949 Access Statistics for this article Social and Environmental Accountability Journal is currently edited by Jeffrey Unerman, John Ferguson and Jan Bebbington More articles in Social and Environmental Accountability Journal from Taylor & Francis Journals |
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