Women on board, institutional ownership and emissions disclosure practices as tools for attaining sustainable development goals in Nigeria

Purpose This study aims to examine how women on board influence quality and quantity disclosure of emissions discharge by the listed non-financial firms for the period of six years (2016–2021), with institutional ownership as a moderator. Design/methodology/approach The study obtained data from a sample of 83 listed non-financial firms. A content analysis technique was employed to compute emissions disclosure indexes using Global Reporting Initiatives standards from the sampled firms. Random and fixed effect regression analyses were run for both direct and moderation models. Based on the results of the Hausman tests, random results were adopted and used in examining the relationship. Findings The result reveals that women on board are significantly related to emission disclosure. The study also documented that institutional owners have not influenced the relationship between women directors and emissions disclosure. Practical implications The study's findings have practical implications for emerging economies, corporations and other business organizations seeking to actively involve the emissions control and reduction issues toward sustainable development goals 5, 7 and 13 in their business models and successfully communicate these efforts to stakeholders. Social implications Listed firms in emerging economies would gain sincerity through the women directors’ knowledge, skills, demographics and ethnicity in the society. Therefore, corporate bodies in emerging economies can successfully contribute toward improving the social welfare of various segments of society by controlling current and future climate issues. Additionally, society will surely benefit when firms control the pollution discharges within the community. Originality/value This is the first study, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, that provides empirical evidence on the effect of the presence of women on board on emissions disclosure using institutional ownership as a moderator in Nigeria.