The British Accounting Review
Shareholders’ requirements for corporate environmental disclosures:
A cross country comparison
a b s t r a c t
We survey individual shareholders in Australia, the UK and the US regarding corporate
environmental disclosures. In general, respondents in the three countries are interested in,and positively disposed towards, these disclosures. We observe country and gender
differences with Australian and female respondents more in favour of environmental
reporting than others. Specifically, respondents require disclosure of an overview of
environmental risks and impacts, the environmental policy, performance against
measurable environmental targets and information on a range of environmental costs.
Most shareholders require environmental disclosures to be audited. Shareholders call for
environmental information because they believe managers should be accountable to
shareholders for their companies’ environmental impacts. Furthermore, shareholders haveindicated the uses for specific types of environmental information. Our results imply thatlegislators, standard setters and companies have to consider the policy implications of
these shareholder views.