Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Transparency in GHG emissions

A post by Legal Planet: The Environmental Law and Policy Blog discussed the policy reversal on the transparency of GHG emissions by companies to their shareholders. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission have ruled that companies now have to disclose climate risk information, a requirement that was non-existent with the previous administration. Shareholders have been demanding this information for years, since it directly pertains to the future success of that business and can now get information regarding the financial risks that are created by environmental externalities of the company.

In my opinion: it's about time. There are many environmental factors that play into a business that are just as important as a cash flow statement or a balance sheet...if not more. Businesses will realize more and more that they need to incorporate triple bottom line accounting practices into their financial statements...or lose investors.

This is just another forward step towards making businesses be more accountable and more transparent. In light of this, I think that everyone should demand this information from the companies they are invested in. This will not only help mitigate loss with your own portfolio, it will send the message to these companies that times have changed and they need to pay attention to their impacts on the environment and their global community.

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