Evaluating voluntary greenhouse gas disclosure by Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed food producers

Abstract

Background: Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are increasingly important sustainability indicators. Because corporate GHG disclosure remains voluntary in South Africa, reporting is often inconsistent and difficult to compare across companies. Food producers face stakeholder pressure to disclose emissions transparently.
Aim: To evaluate the extent to which JSE-listed food producers in the farming, fishing and plantation subsector disclose their GHG emissions in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) 305 standard.
Setting: The study focused on JSE-listed food producers where sustainability disclosure is shaped by voluntary frameworks.
Method: Content analysis was conducted on the 2024 integrated, sustainability and environmental, social and governance (ESG) reports of six purposively selected JSE-listed food producers. Disclosure was assessed using a GRI 305-based coding index comprising 30 items per company across five categories, resulting in 180 company-level disclosure observations scored on a three-point ordinal scale.
Results: Most companies disclosed gross Scope 1 and location-based Scope 2 emissions, and several reported emissions intensity and reduction initiatives. However, Scope 3 disclosure was minimal, and key supporting information (such as base years, emission factors, methodologies and gases included) was frequently omitted.
Conclusion: Although GHG reporting remains voluntary in South Africa, the findings indicate limited alignment with the full set of GRI 305 disclosure requirements, reducing transparency and comparability. More complete and methodologically transparent disclosure, particularly for Scope 3, would improve decision usefulness for stakeholders.
Contribution: The study provides a GRI 305-based assessment of GHG reporting among JSE-listed food producers and offers a replicable coding approach to support future research, benchmarking and policy development.