Washington, D.C. — This morning, the commissioners of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) held a public meeting and adopted a final rule calling for enhanced standardization of climate-related disclosures by publicly traded corporations. Following a brief review of the final rule, Alexandra Thornton, senior director of financial regulation at the Center for American Progress, released the following statement:
The Securities and Exchange Commission, an independent agency responsible for protecting investors, today takes an imperative step toward ensuring that investors and other capital market participants receive improved disclosures from companies about the climate-related risks they face—information that is increasingly essential to any investment decision.
Though incomplete, the final rule, if enforced, will help investors by enhancing the reliability, consistency, and comparability of these disclosures from companies, which have long been required to disclose material climate-related information. Companies, many of which already follow the guidelines of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures, the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, and other voluntary private standards, should welcome the standardization of these disclosures.
While this is a step in the right direction, there is more that the commission must do to fulfill its mandate from Congress to protect investors, including workers whose hard-earned savings are invested for their retirement. That includes requiring Scope 3 emissions disclosures, which are recognized by investors and experts in the United States and around the world as a key factual indicator of a company’s resilience and profitability.
For more information or to speak with an expert, please contact Sarah Nadeau at [email protected].