During his remarks at London City Week, SEC Chairman Gensler again highlighted the SEC's new focus on climate change disclosures. Specifically, Chairman Gensler identified climate change disclosures as his top priority, and stated that he had "asked staff to put together recommendations on mandatory company disclosures on climate risk and on human capital."
Chairman Gensler framed this focus as serving the needs of "investors [who] increasingly want to understand the climate risks of issuers," and who therefore require "consistent, comparable, decision-useful information to determine whether to invest, sell, or make a proxy vote one way or another." Notably, Chairman Gensler stated that the SEC staff was considering "specific metrics, such as greenhouse gas emissions" in the context of these disclosures. Further, it is noteworthy that Chairman Gensler specifically referred to the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) when discussing the "work of various groups" on crafting climate change disclosures.
Chairman Gensler's remarks mainly serve to reinforce what commentators have remarked on for months: the SEC will soon release new requirements mandating financial disclosures by public companies concerning climate change.
First, I’ve asked staff to put together recommendations on mandatory company disclosures on climate risk and on human capital. Today, investors increasingly want to understand the climate risks of issuers. Investors representing literally tens of trillions of dollars of assets under management are looking for consistent, comparable, decision-useful information to determine whether to invest, sell, or make a proxy vote one way or another. I’ve asked staff for recommendations for our consideration around governance, strategy, and risk management related to climate risk. In addition, staff are looking into a range of specific metrics, such as greenhouse gas emissions, to determine which are most relevant to investors in our markets. Further, I’ve asked staff to consider potential requirements for companies that have made forward-looking climate commitments, or that have significant operations in jurisdictions with national requirements to achieve specific, climate-related targets. We just received at the SEC more than 400 unique comment letters on these subjects in a public statement released by my fellow Commissioner Allison Herren Lee. Many comments referenced the work of various groups, such as the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).
https://www.sec.gov/news/speech/gensler-speech-london-city-week-062321
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