Environmental Law Commons^™

Legal Tools For Climate Adaptation Advocacy: Securities Law, Nina Hart

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

Corporations today face increasing risks from climate change. These risks threaten not only the operations and infrastructure of the corporations, but ultimately their long-­‐‑term financial soundness as well. For example, as has been noted with respect to the oil and gas industries, refineries often do not have high profit margins because most of the profits come from extraction. Therefore, refineries, which frequently are near the coasts and vulnerable to increasing sea levels and storms surges, could suffer material financial losses if their operations were disrupted.1 To prevent this physical infrastructure or operational damage, as well as the attendant financial losses, …

Moving At A Glacial Pace: What Can State Attorneys General Do About Sec Inattention To Nondisclosure Of Financially Material Risks Arising From Climate Change?, Nina Hart

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

In recent years, two certainties have created a mass of uncertainty for public companies. First, companies must disclose material financial information in their annual statements, known as 10-Ks, to the SEC. Second, climate change poses financial risks to the way businesses operate. Together, these principles have generated significant uncertainty within the regulatory and law enforcement arenas. Specifically, companies and law enforcement officials are uncertain about what risks stemming from climate change must be disclosed in 10-Ks, and how that information should be presented.

The actor primarily responsible for clarifying disclosure requirements is the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC). This Note …

Climate Change Securities Disclosures In Australia, Amanda Liu

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

This working paper looks at the extent to which current securities filings regulations with the Australian securities authorities require (or alternatively, recommend) listed Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) entities to disclose climate change risks on the performance of a listed entity. The paper also reviews what in practice is being reported for the 2013 reporting year.

Analysis Of California, Washington, And New York Insurer Climate Risk Surveys For The 2011 Reporting Year, Irene Shulman

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

Climate change has the potential to affect the availability and affordability of insurance across most major insurance categories. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) adopted the Insurer Climate Risk Disclosure Survey in 2009, and in February 2012, California, Washington, and New York administered the survey to insurance companies that write in excess of $300 million in premiums annually. This working paper summarizes and analyzes the survey responses that were submitted to California, Washington, and New York in 2012 for the 2011 reporting year. The working paper found that the majority of the 400 survey responses indicated that climate change …