Carbon disclosure project disclosures of GHG emissions for megacities: an expectation gap

Purpose – This paper aims to explore an aspect of sustainable development disclosure at the ecosystem level and compare it with public expectations. One way to look at sustainable development disclosure at the ecosystem level is to review mega-cities’ sustainable development disclosure. This study examines
GHG emissions using the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) and compares the emissions data with society’s expectations in relation to disclosure.
Design/Methodology/approach –This paper analyses the CDP’s questionnaire for cities and uses content analysis as a research technique to explore the ecosystem (megacities) GHG disclosure to CDP. The ‘expectation gap’ framework is applied to compare cities’ disclosed information and public expectation of disclosure.
Findings – This study finds that cities disclosed information that was outdated, incomplete, inconsistent, less credible and not comparable. Therefore, cities’ current GHG disclosures may not be useful for decision making and meeting society’s expectation, suggesting significant room for improvement.
Research Implication - Our findings are important for policymakers designing cities’ GHG reporting standards, for stakeholders trying to understand cities’ carbon performance, and for managers responsible for measuring, reporting and mitigating emissions.
Originality/Value – Prior studies focus on corporate GHG disclosure to CDP, whereas this paper examines GHG disclosures at the megacity level. It is novel in taking an ecosystem approach.