Climate Change Accounting and Value Growth of Financial Institutions in West Africa

The study investigated the impact of climate change accounting on the value growth of financial institutions in West Africa. The study used 10 years of annual reports of 47 financial institutions in Ghana and Nigeria. The climate change disclosure scores were determined based on the task force's recommended components on climate-related financial disclosure. A panel data regression technique was used for the analysis. The study found a positive and significant relationship between climate change accounting and the value of financial institutions in West Africa. This result implies that the firms' value would improve should they concentrate and enhance their climate change disclosure activities. The findings also revealed that the impact of climate change accounting on the value of financial institutions is positively and significantly higher in countries with stronger investor protection. These findings enable us to expand our understanding of the process of generating value for investors in financial institutions and society, generally.