Friday, July 27, 2012

The SEC Weighs in on Climate Change


Climate change is a fact and, according to the powerful U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, it's a material fact that companies must disclose to their investors in SEC filings.  Agribusiness has obvious climate change vulnerabilities, everything from floods and droughts to pests.   This vulnerability to climate change impacts now has to be addressed, brought out in the open.

This has led the Ceres business consultancy, in conjunction with Oxfam USA and Calvert Investments, to issue a report, "Physical Risks from Climate Change."  The report, available free in pdf format, canvasses both disclosure obligations and specific risks to industry by sector, including agriculture, apparel, electricity, oil and gas, insurance, mining and tourism.   The document ends with a discussion of risk management strategies and an investor disclosure checklist.

Politicians can continue to duck and weave on climate change.   A good many of them are paid to do just that.   But it's the private sector and the regulatory agencies that are overtaking the political classes.   They can't pretend that climate change is a myth, a hoax.   They have to work from the bottom line.

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