ISSN : 2765-6934
Purpose: This study is designed to investigate the extent and nature of climate change disclosure of listed pharmaceutical companies of Bangladesh. Research design, data and methodology: In order to perform this research, a content analysis methodology is used. A climate change disclosure index is constructed to examine 12 different climate change disclosure issues. Information is collected from the annual reports of 29 pharmaceutical companies listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange for the year 2019. Results: This study finds that only 48.28% of the sample companies provided disclosure on at least one issue regarding climate change. ‘Energy savings’ is the mostly disclosed issue whereas ‘Pollution control expenditure’, ‘Biodiversity conservation initiatives’ are the least disclosed issues. Research implication: This study concludes 64.29% of the companies examined, use less than five sentences for climate change disclosure, which depicts unsatisfactory disclosure practices regarding climate change issues. Study findings would be helpful for different industries of Bangladesh to implement efficient climate change reporting Practice. Future studies can be conducted on other industries to obtain more comprehensive result.
ACCA. (2009). Carbon Accounting: Too liitle too late? London: Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).
ACI Formulations Ltd. (2020). Annual Report 2019.
Ahmad, N. N. N., & Haraf, A.S.F. (2013). Environmental disclosures of Malaysian property development companies: towards legitimacy or accountability? Social Responsibility Journal, Vol. 9(2), pages 241-258, May;https://ideas.repec.org/a/eme/srjpps/v9y2013i2p241- 258.html.
Ahmad, N.N.N., & Hossain, D.M. (2015). Climate Change and Global Warming Discourses and Disclosures in the Corporate Annual Reports: A Study on the Malaysian Companies. Global Conference on Business & Social Science. Kuala Lumpur: Elsevier Ltd.
Ahmed, H. U. (2019, November 27). Pharmaceutical sector flourishing. The Financial Express.
Azim, M., & Azam, S. (2013). Corporate sustainability reporting by pharmaceutical companies: Is it what it seems to be? Corporate Ownership and Control, 11(1), 754-765, DOI:10.22495/cocv11i1c8art6
Belal, A. R., Kabir, M. R., Cooper, S., Dey, P., Khan, N. A., Rahman, T., & Ali, M. (2010). Corporate environmental and climate change disclosures: empirical evidence from Bangladesh. Research in Accounting in Emerging Economies, Vol.10, pp. 145-167. Emerald. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-3563(2010)0000010011
Beximco Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (2020). Annual Report 2019.
Deegan, C., & Unerman, J. (2006). Financial Accounting Theory (European edition),. London: The Mc-Graw Hill Companies.
Dey, P. K., Nakib, M., & Dutta, P. (2017). Climate change disclosures in annual reports: Evidence from Bangladesh. Asian Journal of Finance & Accounting, 9(2), 88-102. https://doi.org/10.5296/ajfa.v9i2.11736
Gray, R., Kouhy, R., & Lavers, S. (1995). Corporate social and environmental reporting: A review of the literature and. Account. Audit. Account., 8(2), 47-77. https://doi.org/10.1108/09513579510146996
Hackston, D., & Milne, M. (1996). Some determinants of social and environmental disclosures in New Zealand. Account. Audit. Account., 9, 77-108. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09513579610109987.
Hoque, A., Clarke, A., & Huang, L. (2016). Lack of stakeholder influence on pollution prevention: A developing Organ. Environ., 1-19, https://doi.org/10.1177/1086026615623057.
Islam, J., Roy, S.K., Das, S.K., & Miah, M. (2020). A Review on Corporate Environmental Reporting (CER): An Emerging Issue in the Corporate World. Can. J. Bus. Inf. Stud., 2(3), 45-53, https://doi.org/10.34104/cjbis.020.045053
Khan, N., & Belal, A. R. (1999). The Politics of the Bangladesh Environmental Protection Act. Environmental Politics, 311-317. https://doi.org/10.1080/09644019908414449
Klerk, M.D., Villiers, C., & Staden, C.V. (2015). The influence of corporate social responsibility disclosure on share price. Pacific Accounting Review, 208-228. https://doi.org/10.1108/PAR-05-2013-0047
Marston, C., & Shrives, P.J. (1991). The use of disclosure indices in accounting research: A review article. British Accounting Review, 23, 195-210.
MoEF. (2009). Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan. Dhaka: Ministry of environment and forests, Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 172, 246-253. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.01.361.
Nurunnabi, M. (2015). Who cares about climate change reporting in developing countries? The market response to, and corporate accountability for, climate change in Bangladesh. Environment Development and Sustainability, 18(1). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-015-9632-3.
Omar, N., & Amran, A. (2018). Corporate Governance and Climate Change Reporting in Malaysia. The International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 7, 222-240. https://doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v7-i12/3607
Pender, J. S. (2008). What Is Climate Change? And How It Will Effect Bangladesh. Norwegian Church Aid.
Rahman, M. A., & Muttakin, M. B. (2005). Corporate Environmental Reporting Practices in Bangladesh - A Study of Some Selected Companies. The Cost & Management, 33(4),13-21.
Rankin, M., Windsor, C., & Wahyuni, D. (October 2011). An investigation of voluntary corporate greenhouse gas emissions reporting in a market governance system: Australian evidence. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 24(8), https://doi.org/10.1108/09513571111184751
The Acme Laboratories Ltd. (2020). Annual Report 2019.
The Daily Star (2020, November 16). Bngladesh on track to becoming a $6b pharma market by 2025.
The Daily Star. Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Ullah, M., & Rahman, M. (2015). Corporate social responsibility reporting practices in banking companies in Bangladesh: Impact of regulatory change. J. Financ. Report. Account., 13(2), 200-225. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFRA-05-2013-0038
Villiers, C.D., Naiker, V., & Staden, C. J.V. (2011). The Effect of Board Characteristics on Firm Environmental Performance. Journal of Management, 37(6), 1636-1663, https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206311411506
World Bank. (2015). Salinity Intrusion in a Changing Climate Scenario will Hit Coastal Bangladesh Hard. http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2015/ 02/17
Zeghal, D., & Ahmed, S. (1990). Comparison of social responsibility information disclosure media used by Canadian. Account. Audit. Account. J., 3, 38-53.