As California moves toward implanting its landmark climate disclosure laws, Ceres, in partnership with sustainability consulting and research firm Governance & Accountability Institute (G&A), recently released a new analysis from the first voluntary climate risk disclosure reports.
The report, Trends in Climate Risk Reporting: Lessons From Initial Voluntary Corporate Reports under California’s SB 261, examined 154 voluntary corporate reports
from public and private companies on climate risk submitted under California's Climate-Related Financial Risk Act. It found that all company reports mentioned climate risks, and many included Scope 3 analysis in these voluntary reports. Still, just 12% mentioned having a formal transition plan to address these risks. The report also offers a wide range of approaches to identifying, assessing, and managing climate risk.
This research from California—one of the world’s largest economies—comes as state-level climate disclosure takes on a larger role in the absence of U.S. federal disclosure mandates.
Without a national disclosure mandate, many companies have begun voluntarily disclosing climate risk to meet investor demand. Too often corporate climate disclosures are inconsistent, incomplete or nonexistent. For investors, having decision-useful disclosure information means not just understanding what climate risks a company
faces but also how those risks impact financial performance.
This analysis offers an early snapshot into how companies are disclosing climate risks. These early results will effectively shape reporting practices for thousands of companies nationwide.
We appreciate the partnership with Governance & Accountability Institute.
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Ceres is a nonprofit advocacy organization working to accelerate the transition to a cleaner, more just, and resilient world.
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