Determinants of Climate Change Disclosure by Central Governments: Exploratory Research Through Sustainable Development Goal 13

This research examines the extent of voluntary climate change disclosure by central governments worldwide through Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13 targets and analyzes determinants that may influence this disclosure. Using qualitative and quantitative methods, a content analysis of SDG13 and its targets was applied to the voluntary national reviews reports published by 136 countries. Consequently, a range of sociodemographic, socioeconomic, institutional, and environmental factors was analyzed using an ordinary least squares (OLS) regression model to assess their influence on voluntary disclosure of SDG13. Political stability, the percentage of women's seats in parliament, environmental exposure risk, and a country's climate vulnerability appear to affect its voluntary SDG13 disclosure practices. This paper contributes to enriching an underdeveloped field of research by defining the aspects of climate change on which central governments' disclosures focus and by offering a deeper understanding of contextual factors that could influence the extent of SDG13 disclosure.