Tom Steyer, co-executive chair of global investment firm Galvanize Climate Solutions, penned an op-ed in the Sacramento Bee yesterday reinforcing how California’s climate disclosure regulations, which require large companies to share information about their climate impact and how much climate-related risk they face, are good for business and for Californians.
The op-ed laid bare the risks of forgoing these kinds of regulations, and warned opponents of California’s laws: “If my home state can’t curb its greenhouse gas emissions, no one can.”
Key Point: Despite complaints and threats of lawsuits from some of America’s biggest emitters, these new rules are actually great for business … Companies that collect emissions data and connect it back to their overall strategy perform better.
- “They are better able to anticipate risks to their supply chains, see where they are wasting energy (and thus money) and make a more compelling case to customers who are increasingly demanding sustainable products.”
- “When companies use the data they collect, it can make them operate more efficiently and more profitably.”
- “A meta-analysis by the MIT Sloan School of Management found that higher environmental, social and governance (ESG) scores led to higher stock prices, while ESG downgrades lowered stock prices.
- “We are not alone either. The European Union has advanced a Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive. It has been in effect since January 2023 and requires EU businesses … to report on the environmental impact of their business activities, as well as on the business impact of their environmental efforts.”
You can read the full piece HERE.
