In March, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission released a rule proposal to mandate certain climate-related disclosures by public companies. As written, it is an extremely significant and far-reaching proposal that would effectively create an extensive new disclosure regime.
To gather as much feedback on the proposal as possible, NIRI held a Town Hall meeting, and encouraged members to submit their thoughts, questions and concerns directly via email. The NIRI Board and Advocacy Committee provided input, and NIRI also consulted with a variety of industry partners. It was also a topic of discussion with attendees at the recent NIRI 2022 Annual Conference in Boston.
The product of this effort is NIRI’s comment letter filed with the SEC. In summary, NIRI recommends the SEC employ a more flexible, principles-based approach rooted in the materiality standard for any new disclosure standards.
Thank you to everyone involved for their comments, suggestions and recommendations. For any company or chapter that remains interested in a submitting a comment letter, here is the process:
- Submit the letter in PDF format to: rule-comments@sec.gov
- The email subject line should read: Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors – File No. S7-10-22
- The Commission expects to issue its final rule sometime during calendar year 2022. NIRI will provide any
relevant updates on the rule proposal as they become available.
Resources
SEC Fact Sheet: https://www.sec.gov/files/33-11042-fact-sheet.pdf
SEC Rule Proposal: https://www.sec.gov/rules/proposed/2022/33-11042.pdf
About NIRI: The Association for Investor Relations
Founded in 1969, NIRI is the professional association of corporate officers and investor relations consultants responsible for communication among corporate management, shareholders, securities analysts, and other financial community constituents. NIRI is the largest professional investor relations association in the world with members representing over 1,500 publicly held companies and $12 trillion in stock market capitalization.