September 13, 2023 - WorldOra Carbon News

California passed a first-of-its-kind bill mandating pollution … / It could become the first law in the US to force companies to publicly report their greenhouse gas emissions, and more mandated disclosures could be on the way.

Nation-leading climate disclosure bill passes Assembly A sweeping bill that would have national implications for the climate information that corporations need to disclose passed the California Assembly on Monday, putting the landmark legislation on track to reach Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk.

What happened: Sen. Scott Wiener’s (D-San Francisco) CA SB253 (23R) cleared the Assembly by a 41-20 vote after passing the full Senate earlier this year. Wiener took amendments last week to win over businesses and moderate Democrats after last year's attempt failed by one vote on the Assembly floor.

Previous stories on this covered by us:

Watershed blog post for businesses to understand how CA SB261, SB253 will effect compliance around the world. (Guide for companies)

Climate action in California has repercussions around the globe; the state has the fifth-largest economy in the world, and is forecast to become the fourth sometime this year. That’s why all eyes are on the Climate Accountability Package that was introduced in the California Senate in January and is now under consideration in the State Assembly.

Three separate bills are bundled into the Climate Accountability Package, though they share common goals: improving corporate transparency and standardizing corporate disclosures regarding carbon emissions; aligning public investments with climate goals; and raising the bar on corporate action to address the climate crisis. If these bills pass, they would compel thousands of companies doing business in California to disclose their scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas emissions and/or climate-related financial risk information. Some of these reports would be due as soon as December 2024.

Though these bills focus on companies that do business in the state, they are part of a global movement towards legislation that requires robust climate reporting from companies, including the SEC’s proposed climate disclosure rule in the US, and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive in Europe.

The first California bill, SB 252, applies only to two California state pension funds, so for the purposes of this article, we will focus on the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act (SB 253) and the Climate-Related Financial Risk Act (SB 261).

California's Next Climate Frontier: Corporate Disclosure The state assembly is about to vote on legislation that would force companies to reveal their emissions and climate risks. Here's why that matters. EMILY PONTECORVO- SEPTEMBER 05, 2023- Heatmap’s great story on the two California bills that will force corporate disclosure and calculations for carbon emissions. Two landmark bills that passed the California State Senate in May and head to a vote in the Assembly this week or next could finally put systems and standards in place, with wide-reaching effects, as California is the fifth largest economy in the world.

One would require companies doing business in the state with annual revenues over $1 billion to report their greenhouse gas emissions each year. It would cover an estimated 5,300 U.S. corporations, according to Ceres.

The second bill orders businesses with revenues of more than $500 million to produce annual assessments of their exposure to climate-related risks, and what they are doing about those risks. More than 10,000 companies would have to report on whether heat waves that idle outdoor workers could hurt their profits, for example, or how vulnerable their facilities are to wildfires and floods.

Though the federal Securities and Exchange Commission is considering similar disclosure rules, the California bills go further by applying to privately-owned firms in addition to public-traded companies. About 73% of the companies that would have to report their emissions to California are private, according to Ceres.

A Feb 2023 Law National Review report on CA SB261 four California state senators introduced a bill, SB 261, that would require businesses to prepare and submit climate-related financial risk reports. The bill would apply to any corporation or other business entity formed under the laws of California, the laws of any other state of the United States or the District of Columbia, or under an act of the Congress of the United States with total annual revenues in excess of $500,000,000 and that does business in California. Oddly, businesses formed under the laws of other countries would not be covered even if they do business in California. The bill also does not define what constitutes doing business in California. See You May Be Doing Business In California Even When Not Transacting Intrastate Business.