ANALYSIS: SEC Rule to Upset Environmental Shareholder Proposals

The SEC’s proposed rule on climate-related risks would require publicly traded companies to disclose information regarding their climate change risks and emissions in their Form 10-K. Shareholders have been targeting these topics for some time, so they’re logical starting points for the SEC’s first ESG disclosure-based rule. Proposals related to climate risks and emissions have consistently made up the majority of environmental shareholder proposals since at least 2018 (which saw an uptick in environmental shareholder proposals after President Trump withdrew from the Paris Agreement).

But if the new rule guarantees investors access to company information concerning climate risks and ...