
Is Now the Right Time to Mandate Costly Climate Disclosure?
In August 2021, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (“IPCC”) found that “unless there are immediate, rapid and large-scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, limiting warming to close to [the Paris Agreement’s goal of] 1.5°C or even 2°C [by 2050] will be beyond reach.”[1] The IPCC’s conclusions, among others, prompted President Biden’s government-wide mandate to advance climate policy, as articulated in a series of executive orders.[2]
The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) responded with gusto, hiring its first-ever Senior Policy Advisor for Climate and ESG,[3] directing the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance to enhance its … Read more