Companies should report their greenhouse gas emissions, the impact of climate risk on financial statements and other metrics to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the agency said Monday.
In a 3-1 vote, the SEC proposed rules that would address a lack of standardization among company reporting on climate risk, making it easier for an apples-to-apples comparison on key metrics and provide the most significant update on climate-related financial risk since the SEC’s 2010 guidance.
“I believe the SEC has a role to play when there is this level of demand for consistent, comparable information that may affect financial performance,” Chairman Gary Gensler said during the meeting. “Today’s proposal thus is driven by the needs of both investors on one side and issuers on the other.”
