How Governance and CSR Reporting Shape Emission Outcomes: A Firm-Level Study from BRICS Countries

This study investigates the relationship between corporate governance mechanisms, CSR sustainability reporting, and emission performance in BRICS countries. Based on a panel dataset of 862 firms covering the period from 2018 to 2023, this study investigates the impact of audit committee presence, audit committee expertise, board gender diversity, and board members’ sustainability-related skills on firms’ emission performance. We employ fixed effects models and, to address potential endogeneity concerns, two-stage least squares (2SLS) regression models. The results show that audit committee expertise (β = 2.254, p < 0.01) and board-specific sustainability skills (β = 0.129, p < 0.01) significantly enhance emission performance. Moreover, CSR sustainability reporting positively moderates these relationships, with interaction effects showing stronger environmental outcomes for audit expertise (β = 0.083, p < 0.01) and board sustainability skills (β = 0.001, p < 0.1). In contrast, board gender diversity shows an insignificant or diminishing marginal effect when interacted with CSR reporting. Robustness checks using 2SLS confirm the stability of these findings. The study provides novel evidence on how internal governance structures and sustainability disclosure jointly shape environmental responsibility in emerging economies. Policy recommendations are offered to encourage transparent reporting and strengthen governance mechanisms to support climate-related goals.