Corporate Carbon Footprint Disclosure Quality in Latin America: A Multi-Country Assessment Using the Carbon Integrity Index

Although responsible for 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, Latin America faces disproportionate vulnerability to climate-related events, making the need for clear, transparent, and rigorous action critically urgent. Corporate disclosure practices across the region show high variability in transparency and methodological consistency, posing a substantial obstacle in evidence-based measures against climate change. This study provides the first multi-country assessment of the quality and rigor of carbon footprint disclosures in the Latin American context, analyzing 103 company reports across five countries (Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, and Peru) with the Carbon Integrity Index, a 10-indicator standardized metric quantifying the transparency of Scopes 1, 2, and 3 and uncertainty disclosures. Three distinct patterns emerged from the analysis. Although 83.5% of companies disclose some value-chain emission data, Scope 3 disclosure quality remains a systemic deficiency across the region (average 0.19–0.31) with uncertainty quantification nearly absent (94% non-disclosure). Median scores for all five countries cluster narrowly (2.65–4.20), independently of heterogenous governance frameworks. Finally, disclosure deficiencies appear uniform across sectors, suggesting structural rather than industry-specific barriers. These findings suggest that voluntary or international frameworks produce regional convergence at low quality levels, whereas adequate transparency requires differentiated capacity-building initiatives and national enforcement frameworks in emerging market contexts.