Reclaiming Transparency in a Changing Climate

In “Reclaiming Transparency in a Changing Climate,” Ceres, the Environmental Defense Fund and the Center for Energy and Environmental Security reviewed more than 6,000 SEC filings from S&P 500 companies between 1995 and 2008. The report finds that just 5 percent of annual reports from these firms laid out a strategy for managing climate change-related risks, while 76 percent of companies didn’t even mention climate change in their reports.

The report breaks down risk awareness and mitigation strategies by sector and finds them by and large falling short. The utilities industry scored highest, with over 96 percent of companies at least mentioning climate change, and over 35 percent identifying at least one risk and a strategy to address it. The IT and telecommunications sectors fared poorest, with no companies in either category identifying risks or solutions, and zero telecom firms mentioning climate change and just 6.5 percent of IT firms doing so.