This is how much the new SEC climate disclosure rules will cost your company

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By Trey Thoelcke Published
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This is how much the new SEC climate disclosure rules will cost your company

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By David Callaway, Callaway Climate Insights

(Bill Sternberg is a veteran Washington journalist and former editorial page editor of USA Today.)

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Callaway Climate Insights) — Shortly after the Securities and Exchange Commission approved its landmark climate disclosure plan last month, I asked SEC Chair Gary Gensler how much it would cost companies to comply with the new regulations.

Gensler, who was more interested in talking about how the proposed rules would help investors, ducked the question, referring me instead to the 506-page document. Sure enough, buried inside the proposal is a lengthy “benefits and costs” discussion, which I read so you wouldn’t have to.

The benefits of mandating corporate disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions and climate risks are easily expressed: Investors would gain access to climate-related information that is more consistent, reliable and accessible than what’s currently available. Companies that haven’t measured their carbon footprints, or considered their vulnerability to extreme weather, would be required for the first time to do so.

The costs, which haven’t received much attention, are harder to summarize. But they are crucial for a couple of reasons. . . .

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Photo of Trey Thoelcke
About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.

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