What companies do not disclose about their environmental policy and what institutional pressures may do to respect

Abstract The information contained in corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports is a controversial issue, and it has generated an important debate among academics regarding company disclosure strategies. Environmental matters are especially relevant given their impact on sustainable development. The present study has two objectives. The first is to determine which Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) environmental indicators are reported less frequently. The second is to predict the evolution of these indicators in light of the institutional pressures that companies try to resist. Specifically, the study of the environmental dimension of the GRI focusses on an analysis of the following: materials, energy, water, biodiversity, emissions, effluents and waste, products and services, compliance, transport, environmental assessment, and environmental grievance mechanisms. A content analysis of CSR reports from some of the world's largest companies reveals that the indicators least disclosed by companies relate to the environmental aspects of biodiversity. The dissemination of environmental indicators is influenced by normative, mimetic, and (to a lesser extent) coercive pressures. In addition, we observe that mimetic institutional pressures under a national and industrial vision influence the dissemination of environmental information. In terms of cultural dimensions, companies located in long‐term, feminine, and collectivist countries tend to disseminate environmental information accordingly.