Insights from the 2nd Meeting of the Climate Science online journal club: Perspectives on Climate Change Reporting

The second meeting of the climate science online journal club was held on Wednesday 26 April 2023. We discussed the book chapter, “Climate Change Reporting among Mining Firms in Africa: Practice, Theory and Policy”, authored by King Carl Tornam Duho (Dataking Research Lab, Dataking Consulting, Accra, Ghana).

Key Highlights of the Presentation (created with the aid of otter.ai)

The author noted that climate change is a multi-faceted issue with health, economic, ecological, environmental and social implications. Thus, climate action (mitigation and adaptation efforts) is required from both public and private sector actors. He explained that a critical avenue to drive corporate transparency and accountability is through reporting on or disclosure of climate change actions. Corporate climate change reporting is an essential aspect, emphasising a commitment of businesses to achieving the aims established in the Paris Climate Change Agreement.

The current reporting regime on climate change is complex, with most companies using different (or even multiple) reporting standards. This leads to an inability to compare across years and among firms, and paves the way for greenwashing or using boilerplate language.

He discussed recent changes in corporate sustainability reporting, touching on frameworks such as those developed by the Global Reporting Initiative, the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures, Climate Disclosure Standards Boards, the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board and the recent establishment of the International Sustainability Standards Board. He argued that the current reporting regime on climate change is complex, with most companies using different (or even multiple) reporting standards. This leads to an inability to compare across years and among firms, and paves the way for greenwashing or using boilerplate language.

He also presented an empirical regression analysis of the determinants of climate change disclosures among mining firms in Africa. Using data covering the period from 2006 to 2019, the chapter argues that corporate governance factors like board size, board independence and aspects like firm size, human development level, corruption perception and the United Nations Global Compact are among the determinants of climate change disclosure. The author discussed some critical climate change issues in South Africa, Morocco and Ghana, noting that multi-stakeholder action is needed to achieve positive climate action.

These results have direct implications for policymakers and climate science actors.

Article Reviews and Questions with a Focus on Research or Policy Linkages

Short reviews and critical questions were offered by some members of the journal club.

Dr Byron Zamasiya queried, “How does stock exchange listing affect disclosure; in which mineral do we find the highest level of compliance? How does membership of international accreditations (e.g., Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance [IRMA], London bullion) affect disclosure?”

King noted that though there was some analysis on cross-listing as part of the study (with results suggesting that listing on multiple stock exchanges did not enhance climate change reporting among firms), the current study did not consider listing status. Also, the data do not disaggregate minerals to see if there are differences in compliance, as firms may mine different minerals and reporting is not mineral resource-focused. But he also noted that these issues are areas for consideration for future research and the issues of membership of international accreditation could be explored by future researchers.

Another reviewer, Shashikant Nishant Sharma, noted that the presentation was impressive but he wished that some comparative analysis or trendline could be added to show which country has performed well in reporting climate factors. Together with another participant, Eucharia Oluchi Nwaichi, they suggested that the author could develop a policy-focused brief based on the findings arguing for mandatory Climate Impact Assessment Reporting for large African firms operating in the mining or other environmentally sensitive sectors. Other participants also raised concerns about the possibility of launching book series to capture some of the climate science issues.

Yet another participant asked if “Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) contributes a high percentage of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission, and whether the data is fully available for all African countries?” The author noted that climate data at the national level is available from various sources, but there is evidence that shows that although SSA countries contribute relatively low volumes to GHG emissions, the growth in these emissions is increasing significantly.

Shashikant Nishant Sharma, again, asked whether there are efforts to move beyond only reporting to actual assurance or auditing of climate disclosures to ensure that companies are actually doing what they are reporting. The author noted that, as of now, auditing and assurance are still at the early stages and there is a need to move beyond reporting to ensure real climate action matched by a reduction in GHGs.

Publication of Book Chapter Versus Journal Articles: A Comparison

As part of this session, Andy Nobes asked the author to speak about his experience with book chapter publication as compared with journal publication.

While journal articles must always be written as a standalone piece, book chapters are usually structured as part of a set of chapters that make a whole.

King noted that he realises that, generally speaking, book chapter publication is more flexible than journal publication, although it depends on the quality of where your book will be published and the commitment of the editors of the book. He noted that while journal articles must always be written as a standalone piece, book chapters are usually structured as part of a set of chapters that make a whole.

He also noted that the current chapter was written based on primary data and that it could be seen as a journal style, but that he worked on other book chapters that are purely reviews or analyses of secondary research. He complained about the low citation potential of book chapters but argued that publishing with recognised publishers and sharing one's work with new research tech tools could increase citation rates.

This session followed the first session; the next session will be on Tuesday 30 May 2023.

Kindly access a recording of the session here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1p9i0LOMN0

Thank you to the following:

Chapter author: King Carl Tornam Duho

Moderators and secretary: Scholastica Akalibey, Sarah Akpan and Rhoda Ladjer Akuaku

Reviewers: Dr Byron Zamasiya, Shashikant Nishant Sharma, Hendrik, and Eucharia Oluchi Nwaichi

Would you like to join the journal club? Use this link to join our WhatsApp group: https://chat.whatsapp.com/E1hhLTlM2XV7TGFUxjyEIo