Abstract
Growing global awareness of environmental issues and the increasing demand for transparent environmental disclosures have highlighted the critical role of corporate governance. This has driven companies worldwide to adopt strategies aimed at minimizing environmental harm by providing stakeholders with reliable environmental data. While numerous studies in developed economies have explored the extent of environmental disclosures through annual reports and company websites, such research remains limited in developing countries. This study examines how corporate governance attributes influence the quality of environmental reporting in publicly listed Nigerian firms. It specifically analyzes the effects of board education, foreign ownership, and audit committee independence on disclosure quality. Using annual reports and websites from 2014 to 2023, panel least squares regression was used to test the hypotheses. The findings reveal a significant positive impact of board education and foreign ownership on environmental reporting quality, while audit committee independence has a significant negative influence. Overall, the study concludes that corporate governance enhances information transparency, as the level of environmental disclosure in Nigerian public companies is generally commendable.
Keywords: Board education, audit committee independence, foreign ownership, environmental reporting quality