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Since issuing disclosure guidance in 2010 (“Commission Guidance Regarding Disclosure Related to Climate Change,”) the SEC has been expecting public companies to address climate change in their SEC filings, but the resulting disclosures have been disappointing to certain constituencies, including institutional investors, certain members of Congress,1 and the Democratic appointees to the Commission. In an unsurprising move, Acting Chair Allison Lee2announced Wednesday that she was directing the Division of Corporation Finance to enhance its focus on climate-related disclosure in public company filings.3 As a result, public companies, at a minimum, should expect their climate change disclosures, or lack thereof, to be scrutinized in 2021 as part of this targeted review in the form of comment letters from the Division’s Staff. It remains to be seen whether the ultimate product of this review will extend beyond Acting Cha
This paper attempts to provide a definition and context for the term,
Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”), explain how and why it is used, demonstrate how investors are driving the proliferation of ESG reporting, illuminate how investor reliance on ESG information creates new risks for reporting companies, and suggest steps attorneys can take to help mitigate the risks. This paper also provides a short summary on some hot topics in the ESG world.
I. The Evolution of ESG Disclosures
A. What is ESG?
In basic terms, ESG is a collection of information about a company’s operations in three broad areas of activity: Environmental, Social and Governance. It is data-based as well as narrative, and typically static or backward-looking. Increasingly, ESG reporting is goal-oriented and aspirational. Oftentimes, ESG is used interchangeably with the term “sustainability.”