Conceptualising climate change governance and disclosure to enhance sustainability reporting

Climate change literature has received relevant attention from academics, stakeholders and investors to understand boards’ significance in governing and disclosing climate change-related information. The urgency is to theorise climate change governance and disclosure to enhance sustainability reporting. By exploring agency, institutional, legitimacy, stakeholders, resource dependency, and signalling theories, the chapter unfolds the significance of several factors - women on boards, independent and external board members, international experts on boards, and aged and long-tenured board members - in diversifying boards’ capabilities to enhance climate change governance and disclosure practice. The exploration of practical guidelines (TCFD), frameworks (CDSB), and standards (IFRS S2) unmasked the necessity of the independence of boards to recognise risks and opportunities. The chapter concludes with some avenues to combine practical guidelines with theoretical lenses for developing boards’ governance practices in light of diversity and expertise factors.