Do stakeholders’ demands matter in environmental disclosure practices? Evidence from Australia

Previous studies on the relationship between environmental performance and environmental disclosure have found mixed results. This exploratory qualitative study investigates the possible reasons for the environmental disclosures of nine companies listed in the top 200 Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) companies. This study reveals that the companies were more likely to disclose environmental information if their stakeholders, particularly from the financial markets (investors) and/or customers, demanded that they do so. Disclosure can then be seen as a function of stakeholders’ demand or pressure, and in the absence of such a demand, firms may disclose little or remain silent. The good and poor environmental performers in this study, as rated by the Corporate Monitor ratings of environmental performance, tend to exhibit the same disclosure behaviour, which may indicate that the environmental disclosure may not necessarily reflect the actual performance.