New Public Company Disclosures Required about Climate Risk?
I have been a part of more than my share of 10Ks and S-1s through the years, so I found this blog post very interesting.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) issued an interpretive release on February 2, 2010, entitled Commission Guidance Regarding Disclosure Related to Climate Change. The release does not create any new rules or change any of the SEC’s disclosure requirements. Instead, its purpose is to provide guidance to public companies regarding the SEC’s existing disclosure requirements as they apply to climate change matters.
The SEC states that the four principal areas, which are discussed in more detail below, in which its rules may require disclosure relating to climate change are:
• The impact of existing or pending legislation or regulations that relate to climate change;
• The effect of treaties or other international accords;
• The consequences, both positive and negative, including reputational harm, of regulations or business trends; and
• The physical impacts of climate change.
You can read the full blog post here.
Although the SEC has not mandated anything, this looks certainly like an issue that will soon be commonplace in all US public filings.
Hi. I read a few of your other posts and wanted to know if you would be interested in exchanging blogroll links?
Sure, Stacey. That would be great.
FYI, the largest developer of shopping malls in the US, Simon Property Group and Liberty Property Trust both already provide detailed energy efficiency reporting in their 10-Ks.