Environmental disclosures in the management report: transparency, responsibility and communication

The study examines the features of environmental disclosures in the management reports of medium and large enterprises of Ukraine for 2018-2019, as well as non-financial reports of leading global companies, highlights the positive aspects and problematic issues in terms of information content, provides recommendations to improve approaches to environmental disclosures and enhancement the quality and public confidence in the reports. The methodological basis of the study is Ukrainian regulatory framework and recommendations of non-governmental world organizations on environmental disclosures, comparative analysis, theoretical studies, and best practices. In the course of the research were collected and processed empirical data of 78 medium and large enterprises of 7 leading sectors of Ukraine's economy and data from some of the world's largest energy, mining, agricultural, transport, pharmaceutical, food, and construction companies. The conducted research confirms that the lack of mandatory indicators regarding disclosing environmental information and sanctions for non-provision and improper disclosure of data does not ensure transparency and comparability of reports. In order to monitor the environmental situation in Ukraine, it is recommended to disclose environmental information to all enterprises, regardless of their size; creation at the level of the regulator of a model report with the inclusion of a list of mandatory indicators of public importance and additional industry indicators; strengthening responsibility for improper information and incomplete disclosure and concealment of significant financial and non-financial environmental information; introduction of the statutory audit of management reports.