Bigger ESG Changes Loom After Climate Reporting Rules: Explained

Corporate reporting proposals released by both the U.S. securities regulator and the International Sustainability Standards Board in March would give investors more reliable details about the air pollution that companies emit and what steps they are taking to avoid risks that a warming planet poses to their operations.

But efforts to shed more light on greenhouse gas emissions are likely the beginning of a sweeping shift in corporate reporting requirements globally. On the international front, the ISSB and the European Commission are considering a wide range of disclosures—from clean water to biodiversity to human rights.

Those measures would go far ...