According to research published by researchers at the University of California, voluntary green disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions by companies produces positive returns to shareholders. For small companies, mean adjusted share prices increases significantly, by 2.32 percent over days -2 to 2 around the date of release of the information. Shareholders of large companies also benefit from voluntary green disclosure but less significantly.

This information, which relates to US companies, provides a further factor that should encourage companies to voluntarily release GHG data. Those that do not may be criticized for failing to provide best value to shareholders.

The study is available at http://ssrn.com/abstract=1995132 and the full article is available by clicking on One-Click Download at the top of the page.