Washington, D.C. (March 19, 2021) -
Following previous steps to enhance its focus on climate-related
disclosures (see our previous alert from March 8), the
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on March 15,
2021 that it was accepting public comment on climate
change disclosure requirements for public company filings. Acting
Chair Allison Herren Lee opened a 90-day comment period on whether
current disclosure requirements provide investors with adequate
information on climate-related impacts and, if not, what additional
rules should be considered. The announcement invites public input,
including a set of specific questions, on the SEC's 2010
Climate Change Guidance (82 Fed. Reg. 6,290 (Feb. 8, 2010)). It
also responds to requests that the SEC issue rules requiring
corporate climate risk disclosure and calls for greater consistency
and guidance on inadequate or misleading climate change
disclosures. Stakeholders should consider engagement with the SEC
to ensure informed and appropriate requirements are included in any
new regulations, policies, or frameworks governing climate-change
disclosures. Comments are due by June 15, 2021.
Why Is This Important?
Recent SEC statements signal where it will focus its efforts. For
example, the SEC's February 24, 2021 statement on the review of climate-related
disclosure suggests that the SEC seeks "standardized,
consistent, reliable and comparable Environmental, Social, and
Government (ESG) disclosures investors need to protect their
investments and allocate capital toward a sustainable
economy." And more recently, Acting Director Lee highlighted
the SEC's climate-ESG priorities, focusing on the
following:
- Climate and ESG issues are front and center for the SEC.
- Investors are asking for more information and demand is not being met by the current voluntary framework.
- Not all companies do or will disclose without a mandatory framework.
- Investors are not getting the benefit of comparability without
standardization.
- What data and metrics are most useful?
- Should we have an industry specific approach?
- What can we learn from existing, voluntary frameworks?
- Should we consider development of a dedicated sustainability standard setter?
- Better reporting on human capital, workforce, and board diversity is needed.
These priorities shed light on where the SEC may be headed and
highlight the importance of engagement by companies that file
disclosure statements. Issues relating to standardization of
disclosure metrics are particularly urgent and are the subject
of a recent Bloomberg Law
Insights article published by the authors of this
alert.
Lewis Brisbois' Sustainability and ESG Practice draws upon
sophisticated expertise from a seasoned, multi-disciplinary
complement of practitioners across the firm to provide clients with
an integrated problem-solving team targeted to their specific
opportunities and risk mitigation needs. The attorneys who comprise
this practice regularly work with clients on compliance with ESG
and climate change-related legal requirements under federal, state,
and foreign law, and assist companies in optimizing knowledge of
evolving standards for disclosure and reporting standards.
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