Jun. 16, 2022
June 16, 2022 Climate change is already affecting every region of the world, and its effects - including extreme weather and related climate-fueled disasters - are accelerating. The risks to companies posed by climate change are well documented by numerous government studies and impact companies financials. Thus, they are important information for investors, the public, and other market participants to know when making investment-related decisions. By ensuring public companies disclose climate-related information in a reliable, consistent, and comparable manner, the SEC is ensuring that investors have access to standardized information about companies carbon pollution and the climate-related risks that companies face so they can make informed investment decisions. The public needs this information too, in order to make better consumer decisions on products and services offered by publicly-traded companies. Transparency is fundamental to the SECs goals and the functioning of the capital markets - this proposal will also help ensure that investors and other market participants have all the information they need to make informed decisions in the face of climate impacts. Last year in the U.S. alone, climate change fueled extreme weather caused at least $145 billion worth of damage. Over the next decade, these climate disasters are predicted to only increase in number and severity, resulting in physical risks to companies such as damaged or destroyed facilities from floods, fires and storms. In order to ensure that investors and the public have the best information possible, the SEC must make this proposal as strong and legally durable as possible.