Between saying and doing, in the end there is the cost of capital: Evidence from the energy sector

One of the crucial challenges in energy management is the conversion to sustainable operations. The present work is an attempt to verify whether financial institutions are able to identify and valorize those energy companies that have embarked on a virtuous process of emissions reduction. The analysis aims to verify the extent to which environmental disclosure measures are negatively associated with the cost of debt, focusing on a sample of international energy enterprises, observed over a time span from 2003 to 2016. Moreover, it tests whether measures relating to the emission of GHG are positively associated with the cost of debt. The empirical analysis is conducted through panel models, and the results show that a higher environmental disclosure is negatively associated with the cost of debt. Disclosure strategies allow energy companies to communicate their sustainability policies, which are generally connected to lower environmental risks and the implementation of more sustainable production processes; such processes are associated with a lower risk perceived by financial institutions and, in turn, with a lower cost of debt. The results also show that measures related to the emission of GHG are positively associated with the cost of debt. Higher emissions show less attention towards sustainability policies and, therefore, reflect a higher overall risk of companies. The empirical analysis suggests that environmental policies and disclosure may be tools to achieve higher financial soundness of companies, encouraging the conversion process towards new and more sustainable business perspectives.