Financing Our Future: Improving Corporate Climate Impact Disclosures

Insurer vacancies resulting from recurring natural losses in California, Florida, and Louisiana point to the fact that climate change is among the greatest threats to companies’ bottom lines within the coming years and decades. As a result, investors want greater transparency when it comes to the environmental risks of publicly-traded organizations.  

A recent decision from the Securities and Exchange Commission addresses this investor demand. In March, the SEC adopted a new rule mandating that companies disclose how climate change has affected or is affecting their strategies, finances, and organizational outlook. This legislation is scheduled to go into effect later this month.  

Last fall, California passed similar but more thorough disclosure requirements in the form of two laws. The Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act requires companies operating in the state with $1 billion or more in annual revenue to disclose both direct and indirect emissions associated with their operations. The Climate‐Related Financial Risk Act requires companies exceeding $500 million in revenue to report their climate-related risks every other year. In February, this legislation became the subject of a lawsuit brought against the state by the California Air Resources Board.  

Listen to this first installment in the 10X “Financing our Future” series— an ongoing investigation into the ways in which markets and governments are adapting to climate impacts in the I-10 corridor and beyond. In this episode, Ten Across founder Duke Reiter speaks with Steven Rothstein, Managing Director of the Ceres Accelerator for Sustainable Capital Markets, about the lead up to and intended results of this national and state climate legislation which his organization helped craft.


Articles/sources referenced in this podcast:  
 
Arizona lawmaker calls climate research ‘anti-God,’ pushes to ban it at state universities (AZCentral, March 2024) 
 
Americans overwhelmingly support mandatory climate disclosure for US companies (Ceres, February 2022) 
 
Jamie Dimon fears for the future of the free world and US debt (CNN, April 2024) 
 
Ceres Accelerator webpage 
 
Ceres Roadmap 2030 
 
Freedomtoinvest.org