Climate Disclosures Continuing To Increase Among Major Companies

According to a recent ESG report from the Conference Board, the number of major companies issuing climate change risk factor disclosures has increased significantly over the past two years. Specifically, of the companies in the S&P 500, only 64.2% disclosed climate change risk disclosures in 2021, but fully 84% did so in 2023. Similarly, over the same time frame, the percentage of companies disclosing climate change risk factors among the Russell 3000 increased from 29.6% to 64.0%. Other relevant ESG factors--e.g., the disclosure of climate change policy, climate change opportunities, or board responsibility for climate-related risks--displayed similar levels of increase over the same time period. Notably, though, the Conference Board also acknowledged that larger companies were more likely to engage in this type of disclosure than smaller companies, and, unsurprisingly, that "[c]limate risk disclosure was most prevalent in sectors with existing regulatory and