Warren reintroduces bill mandating climate disclosures by companies

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on Wednesday reintroduced legislation in the Senate that would require public companies to disclose climate-related risks they are exposed to.

The Climate Risk Disclosure Act would direct the Securities and Exchange Commission, in consultation with climate experts at other federal agencies, to issue rules within the next year requiring companies to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions, fossil fuel assets and its risk management strategies related to the climate crisis.

A companion bill was introduced in the House by Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.).

{mosads}”It’s time to wake up and fight back against giant corporations that want to pollute our environment and ask taxpayers to clean up the mess,” Warren said in a statement. 

“I’m reintroducing the Climate Risk Disclosure Act to give investors, and the American public, the power to hold corporations accountable for their role in the climate crisis,” she said.

All Senators running for the Democratic nomination are co-sponsors on the legislation in the Senate, as well as Green New Deal proponent Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.).

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) was a co-sponsor of the House legislation. 

“Our bill utilizes market mechanisms to incentivize climate action by ensuring that corporations disclose the risks posed by climate action to the benefit of their shareholders and the public,” Casten said.