A new rule approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission this week requires large U.S. 公司报告他们的碳足迹. 规则, which was significantly watered down from its initial propsal in 2022, requires companies to disclose Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions—bascially the greenhouse gases a company directly produces and indirect emissions created by energy use. 公司不必报告范围3, 另一种形式的间接排放, 比如一家公司可能购买的供应品的碳足迹, or the emissions a product generates once it's in the hands of a customer.

Several Republican-led states have already sued, saying the rule goes too far. The Sierra Club 环境al group says it plans to sue as well—believing the rule does not go far enough. 

Asaf Bernstein教授 利兹商学院 是美国证券交易委员会前顾问和气候融资专家. 他给出了自己对这条规则的理解，以及接下来会发生什么.

美国证券交易委员会对这一披露做了什么? 

在目前的监管环境下, 公司 have a lot of discretion in terms of whether they report anything and how they report about climate related risks. 这包括物理风险, like the effects of flooding or potential sea level rise and also transition risks. 因此，随着法规的实施, 这可能会影响到过量排放的成本, these sorts of disclosures are scattershot; all over the place. 

Which means it’s hard to know whether 公司 are actually doing what we think they're doing or why they're doing it. And whether the goals and targets they've set up to either reduce emissions or manage climate-related risks are actually being managed appropriately, because we don't have a standardized consistent disclosure environment for them. 其核心是, the question the Securities and Exchange Commission is trying to tackle with this is how to provide consistent standardized disclosures across public U.S. 公司. 

谁应该关心这个问题?

我认为博彩平台推荐所有人都应该关心这件事. 在一天结束的时候, if 公司 are not accountable for the risks they're undertaking and managing, 博彩平台推荐都输了. 当没有问责制时, 人们想说什么就说什么, and it's hard to know where or why they really engage in that action, 从一开始就降低了参与行动的价值.

All 公司 lose from being in an environment with inconsistent reporting. 投资者亏损是因为他们不知道自己面临的风险. 更广泛地说, 作为利益相关者，博彩平台推荐都是输家, because in a world without 公司 being accountable for the risks they're taking, 或者他们试图抓住的转型机会, 企业不太可能抓住这些机会.

How have other countries handled this issue, and what can we learn from them?

In countries who already make 公司 disclose things like emissions more consistently, you see 公司 reducing their emissions when they're being held accountable. 

在美国.K. 和欧洲, when they've implemented standardized emissions disclosure requirements, 你会看到对股票价格的影响. So 公司 who might have emissions that are worse than expected see a decline in value. 这对投资者来说是件大事. 当博彩平台推荐考虑投资者保护时, 博彩app推荐资金配置, 这是一级考虑.

These international rules also give us a sneak preview on what to expect in terms of the extremes. 所以博彩平台推荐已经知道会发生什么. And the answer isn't a destruction of capital markets, nor is it going to save the world on its own. 但这是向前迈出的积极一步. 它是工具包中的一个工具，是旅程中的一步.

哪些公司、哪些公司必须遵守这项新规定?  

根据最终规则, 绝大多数将适用于大型公共实体, 博彩平台推荐称之为大型加速过滤器. Large accelerated filers and accelerated filers who would be subject to these rules might make up a third of total U.S. 公司. 但这三分之一代表了市场价值的95%, 它的所有者权益的总价值是多少. Having comparable metrics for things like emissions versus a cost to the 公司 themselves is a nice way to strike that balance by going for the largest amount of money but the least number of 公司.

有没有公司已经在这么做了? 自愿报告排放数据? 

当博彩平台推荐看最新的自愿报告数据时, 取决于规则的类型, it can be anywhere from 5% to 45% of companies voluntarily reporting. 比如排放报告, 大约有五分之一的公司自愿报告. And even when they do, there's a lot of inconsistency in how that reporting occurs.

也, 当博彩平台推荐想到自愿披露气候相关风险时, 很难说为什么会发生信息披露, 什么时候发生，什么时候不发生, 以及披露的类型. Because everyone's comparing apples and oranges by not necessarily putting forward the same standard, making it very hard to understand who's actually engaging in climate-related risk management or has climate-related risks that could matter to investors, 或者整个世界. 这就是为什么要有这样的标准, where you have consistent standardized reporting on these climate-related risks can be incredibly useful. 

人们和公司对这一规定作何反应? 

I think a good rule is a rule where people will be angry in both directions. 没有办法让每个人都满意. A rule like this does well when there are people who feel like it went too far, 谁是通情达理、见多识广的, 还有一些人觉得这还不够, 谁也通情达理，见多识广. 

I think there will be a lot of people excited about the positive step forward, 但也许失望的是，这一步没有他们希望的那么大. There will be members of the community who will be worried it's too big a step forward and wish it had been more incremental. But again, I think that's how you know you're kind of in the right place with a rule like this.