In a move long sought by environmentalists, the Securities and Exchange Commission is proposing regulatory revisions to mandate that public companies disclose some of the financial risks that they face due to the climate crisis, including their own greenhouse gas emissions.
The proposed rule, released March 21 ahead of its publication in the Federal Register, would require a company to disclose information on its climate-related risks and processes for managing those risks; identify how any climate-related risks might have a material impact on the company’s financial statements; detail the ways that such risks are affecting its business plans; and highlight the impact of severe weather and other climate-related events on line items in the company’s financial statements, including estimates and assumptions.