Corporate environmental disclosure in Libya: A little improvement

Nassr Saleh Mohamad Ahmad (Academy of Graduate Studies, Libya)

Fathi Ramadan Mousa (Academy of Graduate Studies, Libya)

World Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development

ISSN: 2042-5961

Publication date: 31 December 2010

Abstract

The practice of corporate environmental disclosure (CED) has been in existence for more than a decade now, rising to prominence as a result of the upsurge in environmental accounting in the 1990s. Ahmad (2004), by studying in the period of 1998‐2001, found that there is no evidence of environmental disclosure either in term of its quantity or in term of its quality, especially if the health and safety category is excluded; more than 5 years passed now. Some key changes happened in Libyan context such as establishment of Libyan Stock Market and issue of Libyan environmental law no, 15 of 2003. These changes may push CED in Libya steps forward. Thus, the objective of this study is to examine to what extent current CED practice in Libya has been improved. Content analysis is used in this study to investigate CED practices by all the 18 largest industrial companies quoted on Industrial and Mineralisation Secretary (IMS) in Libya. The results of this study reveal that CED in Libya, both in term of its quantity and quality, has been developed over the period between 2001 and 2007. Such development was explained in the shadow of reciprocal direct and indirect accountability model of industrial companies within the main central authorities especially, the relationship with IMS.