Companies that produce more carbon dioxide (CO2) are more likely to publish environmental reports, according to a new study from Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU Vienna).
It found the more impact companies have on climate change, the more likely they are to issue climate reports, in a further blow to efforts to reduce greenwashing.
According to the research, undertaken by Katrin Hummel, Head of the Accounting & Reporting Group at WU Vienna, and her colleague Emira Jasari (University of Zurich), by voluntarily reporting on their climate impact, companies actively try to appear “greener” on paper than they actually are.
The study also found, however, that investors are not fooled by this strategy and only consider the disclosure of legally required, mandatory environmental data as positive.
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