SEC’s Climate–Related Disclosure Rule & CFTC’s Climate–Related Financial Risk RFI – An Update

SEC will require publicly–traded companies to disclose Scope 1 and 2 emissions of greenhouse gasses (GHG), and for some companies their Scope 3 emissions (i.e., GHG emissions from third–parties upstream and downstream in the company’s value–chain). Companies must also disclose their exposure to climate–related physical (i.e., extreme weather) risks and transition risks.  CFTC’s Request For Information (RFI) asks market participants about Climate–Related Financial Risks and whether market participants have access to products necessary to hedge such risks. Topics discussed will include: (i) an update and summary of both SEC and CFTC initiatives, (ii) whether SEC’s required disclosures will produce standardized and comparable information for investors, (iii) whether SEC’s disclosure requirements, CFTC’s hedging products, and Congressional tax credits will restrict carbon offsets, carbon capture, and methane emission reductions that verifiably reduce GHG emissions, and (iv) whether such policies will allow clean applications of fossil fuels, renewable resources such as solar and wind, GHG emissions–free nuclear power, and “blue” and “green” hydrogen to collectively create a national strategy for the U.S. (and the world) to achieve net zero by 2050.

Learning Objectives: Gain an understanding of the SEC and CFTC initiatives, what climate–related risk disclosures are required, what climate–risk hedge products are available, and whether the SEC and CFTC collectively are advancing a coherent and achievable national strategy to achieve net–zero by 2050. 

CLE – 1HR; CPE – 1HR