In 2007, a handful of states, public interest groups and New York City asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to mandate broader disclosure of climate-related risks. They may be about to get their wish.
Yesterday the SEC posted public notice that it plans to vote on "whether to propose amendments that would enhance and standardize registrants' climate-related disclosures for investors." The vote will be held on Monday, March 21.
Advocates of expanded disclosure, including SEC Chair Gary Gensler, argue that such requirements are necessary to ensure that investors are properly informed of the risks climate change, and climate change policies, pose to their investments, and that climate-related risks are accurately reflected in share prices. Critics question whether climate risks are sufficiently distinct from other broad, systemic or policy-related risks to justify specific disclosure requirements. There are also questions as to whether climate-related disclosures could be held to the same legal standards for accuracy as are more traditional financial disclosures. Last year, I moderated a webinar (embedded below) exploring these questions featuring Professors Madison Condon (BU) and Kevin Haeberle (W&M) for the Coleman P. Burke Center for Environmental Law at Case Western Reserve University.
