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CR Comments on SEC Climate Disclosure Rule

On Friday June 17, 2022 Consumer Reports submitted comments to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)  on a proposed rule entitled ‘The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors.’ The Rule will require SEC-registered companies to disclose their climate-related risk and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in SEC filings.

By requiring SEC filings, the proposed rule will provide consumers with critical, comparable, and credible information about companies’ GHG emissions, and about companies’ financial risk as a result of climate change. Such information is not only important for consumers who are making investment decisions, or who have retirement plans such as a 401K, a pension or an IRA, but also for consumers making purchasing decisions based on a company’s climate commitments.

There is a growing consensus among financial regulators that climate change poses a major risk to the stability of the U.S. financial system, which highlights the need for these regulations. In order to be able to make more informed and sustainable investment decisions, consumers have the right to know a company’s climate impacts, and its vulnerability to climate change. Consumer Reports strongly supported the proposed rule, but urged the SEC to strengthen the rule to include more stringent indirect emission reporting requirements.

Learn more about the proposed rule and see CR’s comments on the rule-making in this comment letter.