Purpose: The paper aims to assess the extent to which companies operating in Poland adopted the Task Force on Climate Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommended disclosures before the implementation of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), and to identify factors that influence their reporting decisions. Methodology/approach: The study uses legitimacy theory as a theoretical background and analyzes 154 large public interest companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, using a disclosure index based on the TCFD recommendations. The analysis evaluates disclosures by industry (high-stakes vs low-stakes) and selected corporate governance mechanisms. Findings: The overall level of TCFD disclosures is low and inconsistent. Risk Management is an area where companies perform better, while Governance shows the lowest compliance. Industry type does not influence the level of disclosures. However, all four governance mechanisms considered (board size, women on the board, foreign board members, and strategic approach to environmental issues) are found to be relevant. Research limitations/implications: The study is limited by focusing on only the largest companies and analyzing data from only one year. Originality/value: The paper contributes to the literature on TCFD-recommended disclosures by providing insights from a new context and by introducing previously unexplored determinants in the TCFD context, such as foreign board members and addressing environmental issues in corporate strategy.
Joanna Krasodomska (Tue,) studied this question.