Jun. 14, 2022
Secretary Vanessa A. Countryman Countryman, On the verge of destroying the conditions for viable human civilization on this planet, we must do everything in our power, and immediately, to address the climate crisis. As investors, we must have the information we need to assess our investments and to hold companies responsible for their contributions to the climate crisis. We need access to standardized, comparable information about public companies’ vulnerability to climate change, their current greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and their plans to manage climate risks and make good on their public climate commitments. The current practice of permitting companies to voluntarily choose what and how they want to report, and even whether or not they want to disclose their climate-related financial risks, makes it impossible for investors and other market participants to fully understand and compare the risks and opportunities associated with different investments. I support the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s recent proposal (87 FR 21334; File No: S7-10-22) to require public companies to make standardized, mandatory disclosures about their climate-related financial risks within annual SEC filings. I support the inclusion of Scope 1 (business operations) and Scope 2 (purchased energy) GHG emissions reporting, in absolute and intensity terms. We strongly encourage the SEC to strengthen the final rule by requiring Scope 3 GHG emissions (e.g., product and supply chain emissions) disclosure from all large registrants, and to include disclosures around environmental justice, Indigenous rights, a just transition for dislocated workers, and community-level impacts. This proposal is a vital step forward to fix a broken system of inadequate, not comparable, voluntary climate risk disclosure. It will protect investors, encourage prospective retirement savers to invest in the U.S. capital markets, and provide market participants with the climate-related information they need to accurately price climate risk and make well-informed investment decisions. Sincerely, John Lent