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Assessment of TCFD Voluntary Disclosure Compliance in the Spanish Energy Sector: A Text Mining Approach to Climate Change Financial Disclosures

Author

Listed:
  • Matías Domínguez-Quiñones

    (Faculty of Statistical Studies, Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), 28040 Madrid, Spain)

  • Iñaki Aliende

    (Faculty of Economics and Business, Somosaguas Campus, Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), 28224 Madrid, Spain)

  • Lorenzo Escot

    (Research Institute for Statistics and Data Science, Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), 28040 Madrid, Spain)

Abstract

This study investigates voluntary compliance with the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) framework in 64 financial, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reports from six Spanish IBEX-35 energy firms (2020–2023) and explores the implications for intangible assets and corporate reputation, employing empirical quantitative text mining and Natural Language Processing (NLP) in Python. A validated scale-based taxonomy within the TCFD framework applies query-driven rules to extract relevant text. This enables an evaluation of aspects of the reports, facilitating the development of a compliance index measuring each company’s adherence to TCFD recommendations. All companies showed year-on-year improvements (2023 was the most comprehensive), yet none fully adhered due to information gaps. Disparities in the disclosures of Scope 1,2 and 3, persisted, suggesting reputational risks. A replicable methodological model generating a compliance index that assesses the ‘being’ (‘true performance’) versus ‘seeming’ (‘external perception’) dichotomy within sustainability reports and acts as a potential reputational barometer for stakeholders. By providing unprecedented evidence of TCFD reporting in the Spanish energy sector, this study closes a significant academic gap. Future research may analyze ESG reports using AI agents, study the impact of ESG on energy-intensive companies from AI data centers, supporting services like Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and extend this methodology to other industrial sectors.

Suggested Citation

  • Matías Domínguez-Quiñones & Iñaki Aliende & Lorenzo Escot, 2025. "Assessment of TCFD Voluntary Disclosure Compliance in the Spanish Energy Sector: A Text Mining Approach to Climate Change Financial Disclosures," World, MDPI, vol. 6(3), pages 1-30, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jworld:v:6:y:2025:i:3:p:92-:d:1692352
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