Massive investment is required if mankind is to meet, and master, the challenges presented by global climate change.  A recent report by McKinsey & Company posits that capital spending on energy and land-use infrastructure alone will need to exceed $9 …

[Editor’s Note: We present this and the following two pieces as a symposium on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s proposed climate-disclosure rules released on March 21, 2022.]

After a considerable delay, the SEC finally told us last week in …

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 …

On March 21, 2022, the SEC formally launched one of the most significant initiatives ever taken in its nearly 90-year history: proposals for disclosure of climate-related risks. (SEC, The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors. Sec. Act. Rel. …

Over the past decade, ESG has morphed from a fringe concern into one of the most prominent topics in corporate governance – and a flourishing research area as well.[1] Nevertheless, some notable blindspots remain. Based on a recent survey, …

Intense debates are alive and well on the nature and meaning of corporate purpose and corporate personhood. In a new paper, I analyze proposals by the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission to require that all reporting companies make periodic, mandatory …

The Financial Economist Roundtable (“FER”) met in July 2021 to discuss current efforts to measure and require disclosure of firms’ ESG activities.[1]  The views of individual FER members about specific issues often differ, but the consensus was that financial …

At first glance, recent progress towards transparency in corporate climate-risk disclosures seems exceptional. Over 2,000 companies now publish annual reports showing their carbon emissions data (although most self-interestedly omit Scope 3 data). Many (including most recently ExxonMobil) have made a …

We are witnessing a shift in global economic activity from advanced markets to emerging ones.  According to the World Bank Group (2021) Global Economic Prospects report, emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs) have experienced higher real gross domestic product (GDP) …

At least since BlackRock boss Larry Fink’s annual letter to CEOs in 2019, investing in ESG assets has become a major topic among both retail and institutional investors. In a new article, we address the question of how economically attractive …