Securities and Exchange Commission unveils its long-anticipated draft rules
Washington — The US securities regulator on Monday proposed requiring US-listed companies to disclose a range of climate-related risks and greenhouse gas emissions, part of President Joe Biden’s push to join global efforts to avert climate-related catastrophes.
SEC chair Gary Gensler said the agency was responding to investor demand for consistent information on how climate change will affect the financial performance of companies they invest in. But prominent Republicans accused the regulator of overstepping its authority, and the US Chamber of Commerce vowed to fight parts of the rule.
Companies that have set emissions goals or announced other plans to transition away from fossil fuels would also have to provide details on how and when they expect to do so. “Companies and investors alike would benefit from the clear rules of the road,” Gensler said. “This proposal will be the light in a pathway towards addressing President Biden’s priority of disclosing climate risk to investors and all areas of our society,” said Tracey Lewis, a policy counsel at advocacy group Public Citizen.
The Chamber of Commerce, the country’s biggest business lobby, called the proposal too prescriptive and complained it would force companies to disclose information that was largely immaterial at the expense of more meaningful data. Corporate groups say there is no agreed methodology for calculating Scope 3 emissions, and that providing that detail would be burdensome and would expose companies to litigation if third-party data ends up being wrong.
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