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Last week, Bloomberg reported that the SEC was shelving its proposal to raise the Form 13F reporting threshold. If that’s true, it would come as a relief to the 2,238 people who penned letters to oppose the proposal – and disappoint all 24 who supported it.

As Lynn blogged and others pointed out, the higher threshold probably would made things more difficult for corporate folks involved in shareholder engagement. Keep an eye on future Reg Flex Agendas to see if this one comes back or just fades into oblivion.

Measuring “TCFD” Disclosures

According to this progress report from Climate Action 100+, 120 companies now have a board committee with express responsibility for oversight of climate risks and 59 companies now formally support the disclosure framework from the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures. The TCFD is a voluntary set of climate-related financial risk disclosures that is intended to help price climate risks – the task force is chaired by Mike Bloomberg.

As this Paul Weiss memo explains, although the TCFD’s recommendations were first published only three years ago, it’s one of the frameworks that’s become more popular. Late last week, TCFD issued its third annual status report to document progress. Here are a few of the key findings (for more benchmarking, also see this 15-page memo from Vigeo Eiris and Four Twenty Seven):

– Almost 60% of the 100 largest global public companies support the TCFD, report in line with the TCFD recommendations, or both

– The largest increase in disclosure was related to how companies identify, assess, and manage climate-related risk – but disclosure of the potential financial impact of climate change on businesses remains low

– Less than 1% of companies disclosed information on the resilience of their business strategy, taking into consideration different climate-related scenarios

– The most useful piece of info according to “expert users” is the impact of climate change on a company’s business & strategy – check out Appendix 5 beginning on pg 93 to see how these users ranked the usefulness of other information, which could help you prioritize your disclosure efforts

The TCFD also published two guidance documents:

– Guidance on Scenario Analysis for Non-Financial Companies: provides ways to use scenario analysis and ideas for disclosing resilience of strategies to different climate-related scenarios

– Guidance on Risk Management Integration & Disclosure: aimed at companies interested in integrating climate-related risks into their existing risk management processes and disclosing information on their risk management processes in alignment with the Task Force’s recommendations

Putting Sustainability into Action: 10-Year Roadmap

Recently, Ceres launched a 10-year sustainability action plan for companies to consider as a framework for governance, disclosure and strategic actions – along with this micro-site that includes performance milestones for each category of action, and other resources.

Speaking of putting sustainability into action, Coca-Cola recently announced that they would be discussing the company’s approach to sustainability, diversity and inclusion during a webcast for investors on November 13th. They’ll discuss the company’s sustainability strategy and goals, response to COVID-19 and stance on racial equity, among other topics.

– Liz Dunshee