Feb. 24, 2023
February 24, 2023 Corporate Sustainability and Governance has been vastly impacted by the green energy transition. It is ever more important for corporations to disclose climate-related risks to potential investors. This particular NOPR goes on to emphasize certain environmental impacts for corporations to disclose their plans, specifically targeting greenhouse gases. The NOPR should not narrow scope, but instead defer authority to the EPA on \"risky environmental impacts\". The EPA is expected to provide risk based assessments on an open-ended set of pollutants and environmental impacts. This deferral of authority and collaboration between the SEC and EPA could mitigate one of the primary challenges to it: that the SEC lacks statutory authority to require climate related disclosures. Allowing the EPA to provide the cost-risk analysis (through environmental impact statements) and setting a standard that companies must provide disclosures above a certain criteria may be more effective and less susceptible to litigation. A great case study on narrowing the scope too much could be the recent train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. This particular NOPR would not have addressed the Norfolk Southern investors' risk for the company transporting extremely hazardous materials. Investors deserve to know how a company may negatively impact the environment.