The Quality Evaluation of Environmental Accounting Information Disclosure for the Steel Industry Driven by the “Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutrality” Goal: An Analytic Hierarchy Process Approach

Against the backdrop of China’s “Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutrality” goal, the steel industry faces mounting pressure to improve its environmental accounting information disclosure as part of its green and low-carbon transition. This study evaluates the quality of environmental accounting disclosure among 30 listed Chinese steel companies from 2019 to 2023, using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and content analysis across disclosure channels and content dimensions. Three key findings are revealed: (1) Annual reports remain the dominant disclosure channel, while the share of standalone environmental reports rises from 3.33% to 53.33% but remains low and inconsistent. (2) Disclosure exhibits a pattern of “strong hard indicators but weak soft indicators and excessive positive information but scarce negative information”; environmental liability carries the highest weight (0.3083); and the quantitative disclosure of industrial solid waste and other specific metrics remains below 30%. (3) A weight-driven stratification pattern exists: high-weight hard indicators have improved under policy and market pressure, whereas low-weight soft indicators and negative information remain largely neglected. Based on these findings, this study proposes optimization paths from institutional norms, corporate governance, and external supervision. The conclusions provide practical implications for enhancing disclosure quality and supporting the green transformation of the steel industry under the “Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutrality” strategy.