Audit Watchdog Urged to Oversee Corporate Climate Report Vetting

Consumer advocates and environmental organizations are urging the US audit regulator to issue standards for firms that review the reliability of public companies’ climate-related disclosures.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board should address climate disclosures as part of an update to its attestation standards, the groups said in a Jan. 12 letter to board chair Erica Williams. Groups that signed the letter include nonprofit consumer advocate Public Citizen and environmental organization Sierra Club.

Typically, companies hire an audit firm or other third-party to vet their reporting and draw conclusions about the accuracy of information, in other words to attest that ...