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Carbon disclosure, emission levels, and the cost of debt

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  • Kleimeier, S.

    (Finance)

  • Viehs, P.M.

    (Finance)

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate the effect of voluntary carbon emissions disclosure on the cost of debt of publicly listed firms. Using a unique and comprehensive database on carbon emissions from CDP (formerly ‘The Carbon Disclosure Project’), we study whether firms which choose to voluntarily disclose their carbon emissions enjoy more favorable lending conditions - in the form of lower spreads on their bank loans - than their non-disclosing counterparts. Our empirical results reveal a significant and negative relation between voluntarily disclosing carbon emission levels and the cost of bank loans for informationally opaque borrowers. Furthermore, we find that higher industry- and firm-size-adjusted carbon emissions have a positive and significant effect on loan spreads. These effects are common to all loans and not limited to loans which have been arranged by norms-constrained lenders suggesting that spread premia are driven by environmental risks rather than investor preferences.

Suggested Citation

  • Kleimeier, S. & Viehs, P.M., 2016. "Carbon disclosure, emission levels, and the cost of debt," Research Memorandum 003, Maastricht University, Graduate School of Business and Economics (GSBE).
    • Handle: RePEc:unm:umagsb:2016003
    DOI: 10.26481/umagsb.2016003
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    Cited by:

    1. Mahmoudian, Fereshteh & Yu, Dongning & Lu, Jing & Nazari, Jamal A. & Herremans, Irene M., 2023. "Does cost of debt reflect the value of quality greenhouse gas emissions reduction efforts and disclosure?," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    2. Stefan Lewandowski, 2017. "Corporate Carbon and Financial Performance: The Role of Emission Reductions," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(8), pages 1196-1211, December.
    3. Yan, Huahong & Li, Xiaoyan & Huang, Ying & Li, Yuanhao, 2020. "The impact of the consistency of carbon performance and carbon information disclosure on enterprise value," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 37(C).
    4. Benedikt Downar & Jürgen Ernstberger & Hannes Rettenbacher & Sebastian Schwenen & Aleksandar Zaklan, 2019. "Fighting Climate Change with Disclosure? The Real Effects of Mandatory Greenhouse Gas Emission Disclosure," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1795, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    5. Anis Maaloul, 2018. "The effect of greenhouse gas emissions on cost of debt: Evidence from Canadian firms," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(6), pages 1407-1415, November.
    6. Downar, Benedict & Ernstberger, Jürgen & Reichelstein, Stefan & Schwenen, Sebastian & Zaklan, Aleksandar, 2021. "The impact of carbon disclosure mandates on emissions and financial operating performance," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 26(3), pages 1137-1175.
    7. Simona Malovana & Dominika Ehrenbergerova & Zuzana Gric, 2023. "What Do Economists Think About the Green Transition? Exploring the Impact of Environmental Awareness," Working Papers 2023/6, Czech National Bank.
    8. Jaehong Lee, 2022. "Voluntary Disclosure of Carbon Emissions Information, Managerial Ability, and Credit Ratings," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-13, June.
    9. Zhifang Zhou & Tao Zhang & Kang Wen & Huixiang Zeng & Xiaohong Chen, 2018. "Carbon risk, cost of debt financing and the moderation effect of media attention: Evidence from Chinese companies operating in high‐carbon industries," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(8), pages 1131-1144, December.
    10. Guangyang Wang & Xinxuan Lou & Jianfei Shen & Erli Dan & Xinyuan Zheng & Jiaxin Shao & Jingjie Li, 2022. "Corporate Carbon Information Disclosure and Financing Costs: The Moderating Effect of Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-16, July.
    11. Nguyen, Quyen & Diaz-Rainey, Ivan & Kuruppuarachchi, Duminda, 2023. "In search of climate distress risk," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    12. Christina Atanasova & Eduardo S. Schwartz, 2019. "Stranded Fossil Fuel Reserves and Firm Value," NBER Working Papers 26497, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Latino, Maria Elena & Menegoli, Marta & Lazoi, Mariangela & Corallo, Angelo, 2022. "Voluntary traceability in food supply chain: a framework leading its implementation in Agriculture 4.0," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    14. Guangyang Wang & Junwei Bai & Jian Xing & Jianfei Shen & Erli Dan & Xinyuan Zheng & Ludan Zhang & Peng Liu & Renchi Feng, 2023. "Operational Efficiency and Debt Cost: The Mediating Effect of Carbon Information Disclosure in Chinese Listed Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-18, January.
    15. Bell, Jennifer & Battisti, Giuliana & Guin, Benjamin, 2023. "The greening of lending: mortgage pricing of energy transition risk," Bank of England working papers 1016, Bank of England.
    16. Nguyen, Quyen & Diaz-Rainey, Ivan & Kuruppuarachchi, Duminda, 2021. "Predicting corporate carbon footprints for climate finance risk analyses: A machine learning approach," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    17. Lakshmi, Geeta & Tilley, Simon, 2019. "The “power” of community renewable energy enterprises: The case of Sustainable Hockerton Ltd," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 787-795.
    18. Jaehong Lee & Suyon Kim & Eunsoo Kim, 2021. "Voluntary Disclosure of Carbon Emissions and Sustainable Existence of Firms: With a Focus on Human Resources of Internal Control System," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-18, September.

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