Corporate Environmental Disclosures in the Nigerian Manufacturing Industry: A Study of Selected Firms

Abstract

The state of the world‟s environment and the impact of mankind on the ecology of the world have led to increased public concern and scrutiny of the operations and performances of organisations. Despite some variations among countries in different regions, corporate environmental disclosures have increased globally in both size and complexity over the past two decades. Some developed countries have initiated mandatory disclosures in the reporting requirements. However, in most developing countries, environmental disclosures still heavily rely on voluntary initiatives of the reporting entities. In addition, despite the increase in research, studies in this area in the developing countries are still very scarce. This study therefore adopting the stakeholder‟s theory examined the level of corporate environmental reporting practices in the selected manufacturing companies, listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. The study as part of its findings observed that the level of environmental disclosure practices in the industry is still very low and is still at its embryonic stage in Nigeria. The paper therefore calls for concerted efforts on the part of the Nigerian Accounting Standards Board and the government to take another look at making CED mandatory.

Keywords: Environmental reporting, Listed companies, Manufacturing, Corporate, Organisation