October 12, 2023

Reps. Vargas, Schiff, Colleagues Urge SEC to Include Stricter Greenhouse Gas Emissions Disclosures for the Biggest Corporations

Media Contact: Anzueth Barela | (202) 225-8045 | Anzueth.Barela@mail.house.gov

Washington, D.C. — Today, Representatives Juan Vargas (D-Calif.) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) led a letter to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler, urging the Commission to require the largest corporations to fully disclose their greenhouse gas emissions. Schiff and Vargas were joined by 24 members of the California delegation.

California recently passed legislation that takes on the fossil fuel industry by requiring giant corporations in California to accurately report their total greenhouse gas emissions. The letter urges the SEC to adopt California’s new legislation as the national standard, specifically advocating that public companies disclose all emissions throughout their supply chain. This measure would ensure that these massive corporations cannot keep investors and the public in the dark about their environmental impact.

“Comprehensive and reliable information disclosing public companies’ exposure to climate risk is critical to fulfilling the SEC’s stated mission to ‘protect investors; maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets; and facilitate capital formation,’” the letter said.

“Scope 3 emissions data, which covers all indirect emissions that occur in upstream and downstream activities in an issuer’s supply chain, is a key component to providing investors access to public companies’ climate-related financial opportunities and risks,” the letter continued.

This letter is signed by Representatives Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.), Julia Brownley (D-Calif.), Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.), Tony Cárdenas (D-Calif.), Judy Chu (D-Calif.), Mark DeSaulnier (D-Calif.), Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.), Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.), Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Mike Levin (D-Calif.), Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), Doris Matsui (D-Calif.), Kevin Mullin (D-Calif.), Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.), Katie Porter (D-Calif.), Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.), Mark Takano (D-Calif.), and Mike Thompson (D-Calif.).

You can find the letter here.

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