Relação da Intensidade de Carbono e o Custo de Capital das Empresas Brasileiras

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between carbon emissions intensity and the cost of equity capital of 328 Brazilian publicly traded companies that disclose information on carbon and cost of equity capital. Using panel data regression models for the period from 2021 to 2023, we investigate whether carbon intensity is positively related to the cost of equity capital. The results indicate a positive relationship between greenhouse gas emissions and the cost of equity. However, a second hypothesis was studied, providing a negative relationship between carbon reduction targets and the cost of equity. The results indicated that there was no statistically significant relationship with the cost of capital, suggesting that, in the Brazilian context, investors do not consider these targets sufficiently reliable or adequate to produce a perceived risk reduction effect. In addition, we explored whether the estimated total emissions were related to the cost of capital, which was statistically significant. This study presents reflections on the importance of sustainability factors for the decision-making of investors in Brazilian companies, given that investors are incorporating into their risk analysis process both the absolute amount of a company's emissions and its carbon intensity, i.e., how much carbon is emitted for each monetary unit of the company's sales. This demonstrates how investors are attentive to a company's efficiency in relation to its emissions. These findings are important for companies, investors, stakeholders, and regulators.